In a tale narrated by Cain from House of Mystery, Batman slips up and almost gets himself killed trying to stop a normal thug, and is forced to go on vacation by Commissioner Gordon, who believes Batman is heading toward a total burnout. Reluctantly taking the Commissioner's advice, Batman (in his civilian guise of Bruce Wayne) takes a boat cruise in which he saves a small boy named Sean who falls overboard. Going along with the boy to his home of Arin Island, Bruce finds that mystical forces are working to have him solve a mystery on the island as Batman. Learning of a local legend of the Red Sea that has killed many (including Sean's parents) and the supposed cases of haunting on the island, Batman soon learns that it is businessman Alysius Cabot. Cabot is really dumping chemicals into the water that is causing people to die, and is using technology to play on people's superstitions.
This issue features a solo Batman story told in the style of The House of Mystery. Cain speaks directly to the reader to fill in the gaps in the story and crack a joke or two along the way. As the story opens, Batman is overworked and almost gets killed by a common crook. Luckily, the crook's gun fails and Batman captures him just as Commissioner Gordon and the cops show up. Gordon gives Batman a steamship ticket to Ireland and insists that he take a vacation. Batman, as Bruce Wayne, takes the cruise and eventually saves the life of a boy, Sean, who jumps overboard when he thinks he sees his dead grandfather in the waves. When the ship puts the boy ashore on one of the Arin Islands, Bruce decides to tag along. The people on the island have been having a lot of problems and they are convinced that the castle of the late King Hugh is haunted. Batman investigates and finds a gang of criminals who are trying to frighten away the residents of the island so that he can corner the fishing rights for the waters in that area. Batman fights his way through some of the henchmen, but in the process he gets cut and some poison gets into the wound. When Batman confronts the boss, he becomes weak from the poison. The boss offers him a choice of two beakers: one with water and the other with the antidote to the poison. A large portrait of King Hugh in a heavy frame seems to be pointing not to the beakers but to a test tube at the back of the table. Batman takes a chance that the test tube is the correct answer and he is right: both beakers contained deadly toxins. Just as the boss starts to shoot Batman, the heavy picture frame suddenly falls from the wall and hits the boss in the back of the head and kills him instantly. As Batman carries the young boy home, he ponders a long series of coincidences that have led him to that point and when the boy asks what happened, Batman concludes that "Son, I don't think I'll ever know!"
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