A famous comedian and magician arrives into town on a train during a winter day in New Jersey. The man seems to be popular among the citizens there and cracks jokes to make the band play and to get the audience to laugh.

The magician's name is Gerald Thomas Watkins, but he goes by a stage name The Great Normo. A soldier knocks on the door of the hotel The Great Normo is staying at. The comedian reluctantly gets up and tries to get the soldier to leave with no avail. The soldier explains that his name is also Gerald Thomas Watkins and that The Great Normo is his father. The magician is initially confused as he has had many wives, but soon understands that the soldier's mother is a woman named Maggie.

The Great Normo offers his son applejack wine and learns more about his son's life. He's 19 and a private first class in the army and according to his father, has a great imagination that he needs to get rid of. He also has a sister. The Great Normo learns about how Maggie considered him a pig, but also seemed to admire him. She died the summer prior of heart trouble and the magician finds this news quite upsetting.

The magician offers to show his son part of his act and calls a girl to his room. He has many of her shoes and puts on a show for the son. The Great Normo talks about how the act he performed--one in which he saws the girl in half in a box--is the one in which he met his son's mother.

After this act is done, The Great Normo and his son have a heart-to-heart about love. The magician then asks if the girl wants to stay with his son and then proceeds to ask the son to join his act while performing with a heavy chain. The soldier refuses and begs his father to stop, saying he can't perform the act either and is planning on going to war.

The soldier explains that he only has an hour before the train comes and asks both his father and the girl to walk with him to the station. They refuse. As the soldier leaves, the magician explains the real story of his son to the girl--that Maggie had taken her two children and left him, even though he wanted to see his children. The Great Normo also tells the girl about how she has a disability, but won't tell her what kind. They share a moment talking about his past and the seasons he used to experience.

The girl departs from his room to get him some coffee and decides she will not leave him yet.