With old age come losses. The body ages and the elderly person is unable to partake of activities that were once normal, and the mind may not be as sharp as it once was. Perhaps worst of all is loss of control of ones affairs. Col. Hampton had been a powerful man. He fought Indians, Moros in the jungles of Mindanao, he had been that rara avis in the American service, a really wealthy professional officer. He had played polo, and served a turn as military attaché at the Paris embassy. He had commanded a regiment in France in 1918, and now "Slaughter House Hampton" and his "imaginary" friend Dearest defend himself against his predatory nephew and Myra his nephew's wife.