A serious-minded fool named Stradivarious O'Day because his music-loving mother says he "fiddles his time away," acquires his nickname because of his motto of "one thing at a time and that done well." Falling in love when he first sees circus bareback rider Prairie-Flower Marie, O'Day, living off his inheritance, follows the circus until the pestered manager gives him a job cleaning his Ford. With the help of a manual, O'Day learns to drive and secures employment with the circus as a chauffeur. After strong man Gorilla Lawson, who also loves Marie, beats him up, O'Day contacts his friend, boxer Roughneck M'Dool, to teach him to fight. Lawson, frightened by O'Day's daily development, steals the circus receipts and the Ford on the day of their scheduled fight, but O'Day overtakes and whips him. After O'Day weds Marie, he unwittingly goes against his motto when he becomes the father of twins.