A small girl in an urban slum goes out to seek aid for her sick and starving mother. She goes first to the offices of the Amalgamated Association of Charities, where she is caught up in red tape as the case workers ask questions and offer no immediate aid. Desperate, the little girl then goes to a neighborhood pawnshop hoping to get some money for food. She brings in a pair of old shoes which the pawnbroker’s assistant rejects. Then she returns with her doll. This innocent gesture of selflessness attracts the attention of old Isaac, who runs the shop. Hearing the little girl’s story, he sets out for her apartment where he stops the men who are trying to evict the sick woman. He pays rent, provides food and medical care, and even gives the little girl a new doll.