An angry woman breaks Stan and Ollie's instruments by way of shattering the fiddle over Ollie's head and throwing Stan's organ into the street.
Stan and Ollie find a wallet, just as a wouldbe pick-pocket eyes them and gives chase, only to be scared away by a cop.
When the boys discover it was the cop's wallet they found, he accuses them of being thieves. He takes back the money, allowing the boys to "pay the penalty" when unable to pay the check: roughhoused and thrown out into the street.
Stan is tossed into a barrel full of water. When Ollie finds him, the water is gone. Stan drank it, and comes out the barrel with a cartoonishly large belly full of water.