When Stephen Harlow, Jr., fails his course in Turkish history, his father, a founder of the school, sends him to Turkey to learn his lessons and fires Gilman, the history teacher, whom he could not bully into passing his underachieving son. Stephen, Jr., to make amends, has Gilman reinstated, and, after a thrilling adventure in Turkey in which he rescues the sultan's son and is given a coveted medal, returns to school and presents the medal to Gilman.