While out walking with his Aunt Maria, Sonny Jim, who has been left in her care by his parents, steals over to a crowd of youngsters standing entranced before some circus posters. Auntie abruptly hauls him away from the spot, and determining no evil influence shall enter his life during his stay with her, she puts the quietus on Sonny’s hopes of going to the circus. Auntie sends him to town on an errand, but the boy finds the circus has arrived, and he forgets all else. He sees the dwarf and the fat lady about to elope and is given fifty cents not to tell. Auntie gives him a good scolding for forgetting what he was sent after, and Sonny decides to run away and visit the circus without permission. He tells the circus manager what became of his freaks and he decides to pass the boy off as the only tattooed dwarf in captivity. Sonny is hugely delighted with the fake tattooing business and the thought of being the cynosure of all eyes. In the meantime, Mother Dear has arrived to find out how Sonny is getting along. She and Auntie discover a note telling of the boy’s whereabouts, and both rush to the circus. Sonny is making a great hit with the crowds, until he proclaims his real identity to some boy friends. This creates quite a commotion and in the excitement, Mother and Auntie rush in, grab Sonny and nearly break up the show. He refuses to have anything to do with Auntie, but is overjoyed to see Mother. At home, the tattoo marks are removed with much scrubbing, and Mother, after lecturing him, forgives Sonny, showing she understands the heart of a boy.