Merchant Madsen feels complicit in the young German soldiers' desertion, but it won't be the last time their paths meet. In an attempt to repress the thought that his wife is on the run with the Communist theatre painter Svend Damm, actor Weyse throws himself energetically into his memoirs, but when the police come knocking on his door everything changes. At the same time, Madsen's faithful companion August Molin arrives with daunting plans of desertion, while a small present from the German Lieutenant Kiessling suddenly makes Amanda lie to the entire hotel.