At the start of the story, Farrington, who is an alcoholic in charge of managing a law office, is receiving criticism from his superior, Mr. Alleyne, for his poor performance. He has failed to copy some important documents that are needed for a client of the firm. Feeling frustrated, Farrington goes to a pub to have a drink and calm down. However, upon returning to the office, he becomes even more confused and ends up making additional mistakes in his work. When Mr. Alleyne scolds him again, this time in the presence of a client, Farrington reacts rudely and insults his boss, causing Mr. Alleyne to become extremely angry. The client finds the insult amusing, making things even worse for Farrington.

Farrington is only focused on leaving work and drinking, but because of his poor performance at work, he is unable to ask for an advance on his wages. Instead, he pawns his pocket watch so he will have enough money to drink. Afterwards, Farrington goes to a bar with his friends. As he recounts the incident where he insulted his boss, Farrington becomes increasingly proud of his cleverness, and he and his companions celebrate with drinks.

Weathers, a British acrobat, becomes part of the crowd and accepts drinks from some of the men without offering to pay for one himself. This behavior upsets Farrington, as he is struggling financially and Weathers orders costly drinks. Afterwards, when Farrington's friends propose that he compete in an arm wrestling match with Weathers, Farrington becomes even more irritated when Weathers defeats him twice.

Farrington is now extremely angry because he has run out of money and alcohol, and was embarrassed by someone he didn't know. In this foul mood, he returns home and finds out from his young son that his wife has gone to a night mass at church.

The fire in the house is out, meaning dinner will not be ready for some time. Farrington takes out all his anger on his son and beats him severely as the boy begs for him to stop.