When Dan Kinsolving inherits a fortune from his late father, he wants to make amends for the immoral way in which the money was amassed. Kinsolving senior had been responsible for a rise in the price of bread which had caused great hardship among the poor of New York. Kinsolving's friend Kenwitz shows Dan the impact of the bread price on real people's lives... and also explains the impossibility of undoing the damage which has been done. But in an unexpected twist of the tale, Dan finds a way of righting the wrong in one instance...