When Henry Howland, the great philanthropist, feels his health failing, he makes his will and entrusts it to his nephew, Walter, to file away in his private safe. Impelled by curiosity, Walter opens the will and discovers that his uncle has cut him off with a mere pittance, leaving the major portion of his estate to charity. He cleverly forges a new clause to the will, and is in the act of substituting it for the original when surprised by his uncle. After a heated argument, Howland dies of heart failure and Walter, panic-stricken, carries him to his own room and notifies the coroner. Later, Walter accompanies Gladys Brooks, with whom he is in love, to the retreat of a Hindoo mystic, a crystal gazer, who bares Walter's life while in a mesmeric trance.