William J. Feathersmith, the 75-year-old president of a major corporation, is a ruthless businessman who has built his wealth by exploiting others. One night, a drunken Feathersmith confesses to the
janitor, Mr. Hecate, that having reached the height of success, he is left feeling empty and purposeless, and dreams of returning to his small hometown of Cliffordville, Indiana, to start life anew. Hecate says that Cliffordville happens to be his hometown, as well. Attempting to go home for the night, Feathersmith is instead taken by the elevator to the 13th floor, where he finds a travel agency that was not there the day before. The agency's increasingly two-horned head, "Miss Devlin", is revealed to be the
Devil. Devlin offers to fulfill his wish to return to 1910 Cliffordville, agreeing to his terms that he will look the same as he did then, but retain all memories of his first life, in exchange for almost all his liquidated worth, leaving him with $1,412. As he knows which investments have succeeded and which have failed in the last 50 years, Feathersmith agrees. Back in 1910 Cliffordville, Feathersmith tries to woo the daughter of a bank owner, but is startled that rather than being the charming girl he remembers, she is plain, plays the piano poorly, chatters incessantly, and insists on entertaining guests with her shrill singing. He uses $1,403 to buy 1,403 acres of land which he knows to contain deposits of oil. He forgets, however, that the drill needed to access oil so far beneath the ground will not be invented until 1937. He tries to "invent" devices such as a self-starter for automobiles, but does not know how to design them. The townspeople ridicule this, which causes Feathersmith to suffer
palpitations. He realizes that following the strict letter of his terms, Devlin has made him
appear 30, but he is still biologically 75. When Devlin appears, Feathersmith accuses her of altering the past, even though she says that all is as it was, and that he just remembered it differently. She needles him for living off the work of others and being unable to create anything himself. He pleads with Devlin to send him back to 1963, even after she warns him that his actions in 1910 have changed things, and it can no longer be the 1963 he knew. She agrees to fulfill his wish for just $40. Having no money left, Feathersmith hastily sells the deed to his land to Hecate for the $40. In the altered 1963, Hecate is the president of the corporation, having amassed his fortune with the money earned from the oil dug up in 1937, while Feathersmith now works as the building's janitor. Hecate mocks Feathersmith for having been in his position for over forty years. ==Closing narration==