Henry is playing fetch with Ribsy when Scooter rides by on his bike. When Scooter tells him that he’s going away to Scouts camp and needs a substitute for his newspaper route, Henry readily agrees. He is thrilled that Scooter will pay him a dollar for his help, as he will add that to his bike fund.

Since Ribsy can fetch a stick, Henry trains him to fetch the newspaper. The next morning, a confused Ribsy goes around the neighborhood and collects 17 Journal newspapers from the neighbors’ houses and piles them at Henry’s front door. Horrified, Henry thinks about how angry Scooter will be that Ribsy ruined his newspaper route and how he will lose his job as his substitute. He quickly runs to Scooter’s house and puts 16 of the newspapers on his porch, keeping one for his house.

When Scooter appears to deliver the family’s newspaper, he is confused to see that they already have one, and Henry is afraid that his mistake will give away what happened. Scooter confronts Henry about the 16 papers on his porch, and Henry feigns innocence but has to restrain Ribsy from dashing to the Grumbies’ porch for their newspaper.