An old Jewish shop owner Mr. Shaddick ('Peter Falk') suddenly finds himself responsible for a little black boy named Herman Washington ('Aaron Meek') trying to escape the chaos of Harlem as part of a sponsorship program. At first, Mr. Shaddick wants nothing more than to get rid of the kid, but to spite the well to do lady who tries to take him over to her home, he decides to take Herman in. As time goes on, Mr. Shaddick finds himself caring about Herman and has the misfortune of being the bearer of bad news, which reminds him of when he received a telegram himself.