: A boy from a wealthy family likes a white poodle played by strolling artists. A small acrobat rescues a dog.
A small wandering troupe travels around the Crimea: organ grinder, Martyn Lodyzhkin with an old organ-grinder, twelve-year-old boy Sergey and a white poodle Arto.
This day the artists are not lucky. From cottage to cottage, they go around the whole village, but do not earn anything. At the last dacha with the sign "Dacha Druzhba" Martyn hopes for good luck. The artists are ready to perform, when suddenly a boy of about eight jumps out of the house, and after him another six. The boy squeals, rolls on the floor, jerks his arms and legs, and the rest persuade him to take potion. The boy’s mother wants to drive the artists away, but the boy expresses a desire to see the performance.
After the performance, the boy demands that he be bought a poodle. Mother offers incredible money for Arto, but Lodyzhkin refuses to sell a friend. The maid drives the artists out into the street.
After some time, a wandering troupe is found by the janitor of the Druzhba cottage. He reports that the lady gives three hundred rubles for a poodle, and feeds Arto sausage. So much is the inn, but Lodyzhkin is adamant. After a meager dinner, the artists fall asleep. Before going to bed, Lodyzhkin dreams of buying Seryozha a beautiful leotard in which the boy will perform in the circus.Waking up, they discover that Artaud has disappeared. Lodyzhkin understands that without a dog they will not be able to earn much, but he does not declare to the police, because he lives on someone else's passport.
Seryozha recalls the janitor of the Druzhba summer cottage and realizes that it was he who lured Arto. Artists stop for the night in a coffee shop. Far after midnight Seryozha goes out into the street. Having reached the cottage, he climbs over an elegant cast-iron fence. In one of the outbuildings near the house Seryozha finds Artaud. Seeing the boy, Artaud begins to bark loudly and wakes the janitor. Frightened, Seryozha rushes away, and Artaud runs after him. Intuitively, the boy finds a loophole in the fence. Grabbing a poodle, a small acrobat climbs over the wall and jumps onto the road, and the janitor stays in the garden.
In the coffee shop, Arto looks for Lodyzhkin among the sleeping guests and licks his face. The old man does not have time to ask Seryozha well — he falls asleep soundly.
