Harry Woodstock is a lazy but amiable criminal who would rather live by fraud than by working .He is very comfortable in Albany Prison, Isle of Wight where a clergyman visits him in an attempt to reform his character. When he is out of prison he stays with a friend in Albany, Piccadilly and tries to avoid a violent criminal who is convinced Harry defrauded him out of #60,000. Understandably, Harry feels safer in prison so, when not dodging his enemy, he spends his time thinking up ways to get himself inside again. His amusing story ends with an ingenious solution for them all.