Niobe was the daughter of Tautolus, and the wife of Amphion, King of Thebes. Her pride in her children provoked Apollo, who slew them. Whereupon Niobe was so overcome with grief that she turned into a stone statue, which gushed fountains of tears. The statue, coming down through the ages, is bought by Tompkins, an art enthusiast, who has it insured by the company of which Peter Amos Dunn is president, who takes the statue to his own home for safekeeping. Electricians, wiring the house, leave live wires at the feet of the statue, and suddenly the beautiful Niobe steps from her pedestal and confronts the startled Dunn. He is at a loss to explain the presence of the goddess to his family. But he remembers that a governess, who has sent her trunks in advance, is expected in a day or two. and he hits upon the scheme of dressing up Niobe as the governess and introducing her to his wife and daughters as such. How the comedy ends is best learned from a view of the picture.