Florence's Uncle John Hurlbird dies five days before she does, so John Dowell ends up with the fortune that Uncle John leaves to Florence. Doctors discover that nothing was ever wrong with Uncle John's heart.
Uncle John requested that some of the money be used to erect a memorial in his name in the form of an institution for the relief of sufferers of the heart. This stipulation begins a quiet family argument. Miss Florence Hurlbird believes the memorial should be for sufferers of lung ailments, because Uncle John died of bronchitis. Miss Emily Hurlbird tells John Dowell to keep the money for himself and to scrap the memorial project. John Dowell thinks that he should spend some of the money on heart relief and some of the money on lung relief......
