Summary
Arthur, determined to attend a costume dance in full Dutch regalia—wooden shoes and all—finds his evening dramatically rerouted by a series of escalating misinterpretations. Mistaken by a zealous customs officer for an undocumented immigrant bound for Holland, he is unceremoniously dumped into a ship's steerage. In a state of bewildered delusion, Arthur believes he has miraculously arrived at the party, convinced that everyone else has simply adopted the same Dutch theme. Amidst this comical chaos, he becomes smitten with a young Dutch woman, whose inability to speak English is no barrier to their blossoming connection. This burgeoning romance, however, ignites the jealous fury of a burly Hollander, a rival for the girl's affections. A bizarre turn of events sees Arthur inadvertently imbibe a potent mixture of shellac and alcohol, a concoction that miraculously imbues him with artificial courage, enabling him to decisively triumph over his formidable competitor. Upon their arrival in Holland, the humiliated rival promptly reports Arthur to the girl's father, leading to Arthur's swift incarceration. Yet, our hero, now emboldened, orchestrates a daring escape, arriving just in the nick of time to prevent his beloved's forced marriage to the persistent, defeated rival.
Arthur dresses up as a Dutch boy in wooden shoes to attend a costume dance. On his way to the affair he gets into difficulties and is spotted by a customs officer as a member of a Holland party ready to sail in the steerage for the land of tulips and windmills. So he is dumped in the steerage compartment. He thinks he has miraculously landed at the costume party, and is surprised that all the others evidently decided to costume as Hollanders, too. He picks for himself a little Dutch girl, who cannot speak English but is quite familiar with the language of love. A husky Hollander who is sweet on the imported cutie picks on the poor hero. By mistake he drinks a mixture of shellac and alcohol. This puts a lot of artificial courage in him and he trims the big rival. Arrived in Holland, the rival complains to the girl's father that the stranger has stolen his daughter's love from him. He is thrown into jail, but escapes in time to stop the marriage of the heroine to the rival.
