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- The cartoonist, Winsor McCay, brings the Dinosaurs back to life in the figure of his latest creation, Gertie the Dinosaur.
- A married diplomat falls hopelessly under the spell of a predatory woman.
- Having committed murder in Belgium, Fantomas is sentenced to life imprisonment. Two crimes committed in France suggest to inspector Juve that the Fantomas gang is still at work. He conceives the idea that if Fantomas is set free it will be possible to follow him and capture him and the remaining members of the gang. The villain escapes from prison and makes his way to the railroad station and boards a train where he is tracked by private detectives. When the train stops at a country station, Fantomas alights with the intention of making good his escape, but he finds that he is being followed by two detectives, whom he recognizes. He goes back to his carriage, which leads the detectives to think he is quite safe, but he crosses the train and leaves by the opposite door, jumping into the baggage wagon of the train on the opposite rail. Just at that moment the train moves and a magistrate who happens to have nearly missed the train also jumps into the baggage wagon. Fantomas was who hiding, attacks the magistrate, and after a severe struggle in which he is victorious assumes the disguise of the magistrate and takes his clothes and papers. He continues the journey as the magistrate, successfully rescues certain criminals, who are brought before him to be tried, and manages to blackmail several members of society, with whom he is brought in contact. While here he is recognized by Fandor, the young and clever journalist who happens to come into the district and who has suspicions as to the authenticity of the magistrate. He decides to keep watch upon him. His suspicions are well founded and he identifies the magistrate as none other than Fantomas. After much trouble, he is able to get papers committing Fantomas to prison, but Fantomas' suspecting his immediate arrest, issues an order to the head warden, and tells him that it is Detective Juve's intention to be arrested disguised as Fantomas. The warden is not to tell a soul of the detective's intentional disguise, but is to let him remain in prison until 12 o'clock midnight, when the head warden is to personally release him. The police, not suspecting anything of this, feel quite safe when Fantomas is put in the cell and securely barred and locked. His scheme works favorably and once more Fantomas is at large.
- After a love triangle results death, St. Elmo falls from grace and is eventually redeemed in this now lost silent film based on the best selling novel by Augusta Jane Wilson.
- Muriel Yorke has a fond husband, but he is so absorbed in his duties as head of the detective bureau that he has little time to devote to his wife. He is inattentive, not intentionally, but the fact remains that all of Muriel's pretty arts designed to distract him from his work are in vain. Time hangs heavily on her hands; she takes her meals alone, and gradually sinks into a state of melancholy. One evening while in search of recreation, Muriel visits a fashionable café unattended, and there meets Eric Le Blanc, a gentleman in manners, but in reality the chief of a band of international conspirators. He introduces himself as the Baron de Corril and Muriel keeps her identity a secret. Their friendship soon ripens into love, but Yorke is so deeply absorbed in his duties that he fails to notice the change that has come over his wife. In the interim, Le Blanc receives secret information from one of his spies that inspector Yorke has in his possession a description of every member of the gang and Le Blanc is urged to obtain possession of these at once. This he undertakes to accomplish and breaks into Yorke' s house on the same evening. During his search for the incriminating evidence, he comes face to face with Muriel, and for the first time learns her identity. He hides the real purpose of his visit to the house and explains that love had prompted him to follow her from the museum, at which they earlier had held a rendezvous. She aids him to escape, but in the meantime inspector Yorke has been attracted by strange noises in the house and makes an investigation. He enters his wife's bedroom and finding her apparently asleep, continues his search. He finds finger prints on the door and later identifies them as those of Le Blanc, the conspirator. When Muriel learns that her husband is preparing to raid on the apartment of the conspirator, she hesitates between love and duty and finally decides to warn her lover of his danger. She hastens to his apartments and implores him to escape while there is yet time. She points out that they may both leave the place without being seen, but Le Blanc refuses, and prates that her love has made him a better man, and that he proposes to accept punishment for his crimes and then lead a better life. In the meantime Yorke has obtained proof of his wife's perfidy, and with two detectives breaks into Le Blanc's apartments. Standing in the center of the drawing-room is the guilty pair awaiting the blow that is about to fall. Inspector Yorke glares scornfully at his wife for a few seconds; then challenges Le Blanc and orders his arrest. As the detectives are taking him from the room Muriel makes a move as if to rescue him, but Yorke grasps her by the wrists, and. after burning her soul with his reproaches, casts her aside as an object unworthy. She is left to her own conscience.
- Their eyes heavy with grief, Edith and Violet, dancers, return from the funeral of their sister, Grace. They find a letter marked, "To be opened after my burial," which encloses a photograph. This, the dead sister identifies as the man who has wronged her and through his falseness has brought her to her death. Her request is that her sisters seek him out and avenge her. Strangely enough, she omits to mention his name and address. Conjuring before them the image of the beloved departed, Edith and Violet swear to find the unknown and wreak their worst upon him. Assuming new names to aid their search, the sisters are engaged to dance in a music hall. Here comes Viscount Henry, and a party of friends. This count is peculiarly attracted by the mysterious masked sisters. He asks the manager to introduce him. Violet's beauty is the source of particular attraction. The other sister fears danger and recalls to her her sister's fate. This count persists, although a likeness to the dead Grace, to whom he once promised marriage, causes him uneasiness. Edith, calling upon the viscount to learn the purpose of his attentions, accidentally finds her late sister's portrait. Returning with the portrait of the viscount the sisters compare the one which the sister had enclosed in her last letter. They are identical. Edith reminds Violet of their oath of vengeance. It falls to Edith's lot to execute the oath. She goes to the viscount's house and confronts him with his guilt. He orders his servants to arrest her. She escapes. Keenly anxious, the other sister, Violet, comes to the house about this time. She is daunted by the onrush of the pursuers who are chasing her sister. Mistaking Violet for Edith, they pursue the former, and a stern and exciting chase it is. Edith, in the meantime, returns to the house, where she meets the Viscount, now unprotected by his servants. A shot from Edith's revolver, and a long fall down a secret passage ends his evil life.
- A Parisian doctor, infatuated with the wife of his benefactor, drugs and kidnaps her, and tries to convince the husband that she is dead.
- The story is laid in Palestine, sixty years after the destruction of the last temple by Titus. The lot of the Jews was not a happy one during the succeeding reigns, but they were a fairly contented people until Hadrian ascended the throne. It is at this point that the opening scene of the picture begins, and leads the spectator back to the magnificent scenery of the Holy Land. It pictures Hadrian who decrees that Jerusalem be rebuilt as a Roman city. The temple is turned into an arena, where lions are roaring over the prey that is cast them, and bloody gladiatorial contests are presented. The oppression now becomes so terrible that the people can bear it no longer, and the vigorous younger party, under the leadership of Bar-Kochba, the noblest of the Jews, begins to sow the seeds of rebellion throughout the land. Now a flowery garden is presented to the sight, and the Oriental tribes that collect there to crown Bar-Kochba in secret are to offer their lives for the sake of a common cause. But it is through Paphos, a Phoenician cripple, disappointed in his mad passion for Dinah. Bar-Kochba's beloved, that destruction descends upon everyone. With his insidious plots, he works upon Rufus to such an extent that he casts Dinah into a cell after accusing her father, Eleazar, the leader of the Council of Elders, of inciting the rebellion. Not content with all this mischief, Paphos informs Bar-Kochba of Dinah's imprisonment Bar-Kochba hastens to the rescue and is seen just after the first chariot race entering the great arena, where a multitude of Romans are celebrating the downfall of Jerusalem. He defies Rufus and demands that Dinah be set free. Rufus commands Horatius to slay him. Defenseless as he is. Bar-Kochba sweeps him aside with one thrust of his mighty arm, but spares his life. Rufus now orders him cast to the lions. Bar-Kochba advances upon the raging beasts, quells them with his glance, and drives them into the crowned seats. Terrified, the Romans fly from the arena. Bar-Kochba has been successful all along the line, and has driven the Romans into Magdala. Within the fortress Paphos makes a final effort to win Dinah, is repulsed again, and determines to cause her death. He watches Rufus staggering drunkenly into a cell. Dinah lures him, and is about to dispatch him when his wife, summoned by Paphos, saves him. A messenger excitedly announces that the Jews are attacking the town. On the advice of Paphos, Dinah is exposed on the battlements and threatened with death unless Bar-Kochba withdraws his army. Bar-Kochba is before the walls of Magdala. Dinah appears on the tower, but rather than hinder her people, dashes herself to pieces on the rocks below. Infuriated by the death of Dinah, the Jews storm the town and set it on fire. The enemy perish in the ruins. Three years of bloody warfare have swept the Romans from the land. Bar-Kochba, king of Judea, welcomes all the people to his realm, irrespective of race, creed or color. He would have kept the Romans at bay. In spite of the fact that Hadrian sent his best generals and the pick of his legionaries against him, were it not for the despicable treachery of Paphos, the Phoenician. Bar-Kochba trusts him blindly, and believes his accusation that Eleazar had surrendered Dinah to the Romans. Maddened by the terrible misfortunes that had befallen him, Bar-Kochba calls Eleazar traitor before the Elders and plunges a dagger into his breast. Just then news comes that the war has recommenced, and Bar-Kochba hastens to defend the frontier. But Bar-Kochba is beaten everywhere and driven into Bethar. Hope flickers for a moment, but Paphos commits his most stupendous piece of treachery. He leads the Romans by a secret passageway into the fortress, and the Jewish cause is lost. Bar-Kochba fights his way through the enemies' lines and tries to lead his reserves to the attack. But seeing all his efforts useless, he falls on his sword as Eleazar's spirit towers above him.
- The secret marriage of a farmer and servant girl in an English household leads to a child born that is not believed to be legitimate.
- The princess is presiding at a reception being given in the old castle during the absence of her venerable father. The prime minister announces that the old soldier has again overcome his warring neighbors. The princess does not appear to be over elated, because she recalls that a young captain, whom she had once met in times of peace, might be among the dead or the wounded. Sure enough he is brought to a hospital, a wounded prisoner, and Elena volunteers to act as his nurse despite the protests of the prime minister. As he regains some of his normal strength he chafes under the restraint imposed upon him, and in her efforts to ease his lot, the princess issues orders that he may have use of the castle grounds. In his walks he frequently comes in contact with the princess, and while their intimacy ripens, the prime minister arrows more jealous. At length he clearly indicates his aversion to her companionship with an avowed enemy of her country, and in the name of the king seeks to restrict the captain from exercising in the grounds of the castle. The princess dismisses him and continues to secure an occasional tete-a-tete with the captain. He persistently pleads to her to help him escape from the confinement that is so galling to him and at length she accedes. She forwards to his apartments a rope ladder and a revolver hidden beneath a consignment of books. In the silence of the night he lowers his rope and makes his perilous descent to the foot of the walls. A sentry spies him, fires a warning shot, and engages the captain in a stern struggle. The captain manages, however, to break away; but soon he has a troop of cavalry on his track. He swims a river and rushes pell-mell through woodland country, but his mounted pursuers gradually gain upon him and, still weak from his wounds, he falls panting to the ground as they reach him. A court-martial quickly follows his recapture, and the dread verdict is summarily issued. Princess Elena sends for the prime minister, who has already signed the death warrant, and pleads to him to revoke it. He says he is ready to do so, but imposes, as a condition, that she should become his (the prime minister's) wife. She returns abruptly to her apartments and determines on a course which seems to her to offer the only possible way out for her and the man she loves. Under the cover of the night and closely veiled she steals to the prison and then gains admission to the cell in which the condemned man is crouched in an attitude of hopelessness. At first he thinks she is but a vision of his disordered mind, but when he folds her in his arms he understands the depth of love which has prompted her to come to him. She tells him that the chances of escape are too forlorn to attempt, and knowing that she cannot save him, she has decreed there is only one thing to do, to die together. She takes a paper knife, from her dress and hands it to him, but he recoils, and in an outburst declares that he will not die, but must go back to his country. His country comes first, and recognizing the inevitable, and the futility of their love, the princess rushes from the cell and secures a uniform of a prison warder. The captain kisses her and makes his escape. Later she is found on the floor of the cell, a victim of her own stiletto.
- The gift of seeing into the hearts of others is given to a young artist by Brandis. He now looks at the people he comes into contact with and realizes they are not what they appear.
- At a lonely army post in the West, a dance marking the engagement announcement of the general's daughter to Lieutenant Hawkesworth is interrupted when word arrives that the hostile Blackfoot tribe is on the warpath. Hawkesworth and the rival for his fiancee's affection, Lieutenant Parlow, are sent with the regiment to repress the uprising. Parlow turns out to be a coward at a critical moment, and after the regiment is routed, he blames Hawkesworth for the defeat. The general then orders his daughter to break her engagement and become Parlow's fiancee. The Blackfeet surround the fort, and Hawkesworth makes a daring ride through them to a neighboring fort. He brings the U.S. 6th Cavalry, who subdue the Blackfeet. Parlow's cowardice is then learned, and it is also revealed that earlier he eloped with the wife of an officer and then abandoned her. Hawkesworth and the general's daughter become married.
- Jack Frobisher, a sheep farmer in Queensland, has returned to England a millionaire, bought his way into the inner circle of Vanity Fair, married the daughter of a marquis, and settled in Mayfair, with a country house outside, a shooting box in Scotland, and a yacht on the "Solent." Having accepted the patronage of a titled family, he is forced to lend money to his father-in-law, and having fallen in love with a society woman, he becomes a witness of the vacuous amusements of the smart set. He settles her score when she is a very heavy loser at bridge and watches her flirtations with fashionable idlers in general and with a contemptible rake, Harry Dallas, in particular. The return of Hanky Bannister, one of his Australian pals, and a millionaire like himself, opens the way for a patrician intrigue for the enrichment of the marquis' family by the marriage of Lady Lucy Derenham. Frobisher is unable to interest Eva, his wife, or her relations in his schemes for making a good use of his money in the erection of sanitary dwellings in the East End, and he is disgusted with the tendencies of fashionable life and anxious to keep his friend, Bannister, out of a marriage similar to his own. A sympathetic friend Lady Westerby, tells him that she is disappointed in finding him so tame a bear, and assures him that he has only to shout and the walls of Jericho will fall flat. At the marquis' house during a ball, and a game of bridge in Lady Alethea Frobisher's boudoir, during which one of her titled players cheats, wins a lot of money and suddenly discovers that he has an engagement and must go. The most serious flirtation of the smart wife ends in a declaration of love by Harry Dallas, which is interrupted by the gloomy, serious husband. The trumpets of rams' horns are blown, and the Australian shouts before the Jericho of smartness. The battle opens when Frobisher insists upon helping the titled brother-in-law to marry a girl whose honor his been compromised and to make a fresh start in the colonies. The Marquis is angry over the Australian interference with family coat of honor, and Lady Alethea attempts to reduce the rebel to submission by sarcastic flings at his tiresome virtue. The trumpets sound again when Frobisher attempts to prevent a marriage between his sister-in-law and the infatuated Bannister by telling him how heartless and mercenary she is, and there is another blast when the rake, Harry Dallas, is compelled to read to the indignant husband a love letter written to the wife. The Walls of Jericho are rent asunder and thrown down when Frobisher announces that he will sell his property in England and go back to Queensland with his wife and child. The welkin rings when this social Joshua guarding the ark of the covenant of manhood shouts in trumpet tones, "I have enough of these companions of yours, these wretched sexless women who do nothing but flirt and gamble. I've had enough of their brainless, indecent talk, where everything good is turned into ridicule and each word has a double meaning. I've had enough of this existence of ours, in town and country, where all the men make love to their neighbors' wives. I'm done with it. done with it all." Furious as is the onslaught, Lady Alethea offers stubborn resistance and refuses to surrender. Later, with the mediation of Lady Westerby, before a reconciliation can be effected and Frobisher enabled to carry her off to Queensland. By that time the Walls of Jericho are indeed fallen flat.
- Stuart Hall, a broker, and James Steele, a financier, are rivals for the hand of Jane Travers, a society belle. Steele makes the greatest impression on Jane, and she marries them. Soon after Steele's marriage to Jane, Hall meets Lois Martin and saves her from the attentions of Jack Dallas, a chauffeur. Lois and Hall's friendship soon ripens into love. Jack, who wants Lois to marry him, on being refused makes things unpleasant for the lovers, but in spite of his threats they soon marry. Their married life is ideal and is soon blessed by the arrival of a little baby. Jane's married life is not so happy; in spite of her riches she is dissatisfied. Lois and Stuart meet Jane and her husband at a restaurant. Jane sees Hall's happiness, which causes her to think of her own life, being married to a man she has ceased to love. This preys upon her mind so much that she decides to win Hall back. She meets Hall frequently on his trips to town. Hall is beginning to lose heavily in his stock dealings, which causes him to neglect his wife and child. Jane learning that her husband is secretly operating to raise B. and H.R. stocks, thinks she sees a way to arouse Hall's interest in her again. She informs Hall, whom she meets at a ball that evening, of her husband's plans. Hall is compelled through his financial difficulties to accept Jane's information, not knowing her secret motives for aiding him. The husband overhears his wife betray his business secrets; he fixes on a plan of revenge which would eventually bring Hall to his ruin. The next day in the stock exchange. Hall starts buying B. and H.R. stocks, which formerly he was selling, James Steele allows Hall to continue buying successfully, with the intention of swamping him with B. and H.R. stocks the following day. In the meantime, Jack Dallas has been meeting with evil companions and is wanted by the police. He enters Hall's house with the intention to burglarize it. He meets Lois for the first time since her marriage. Hall arrives home before Jack has a chance to get away with any of the plunder, which he has frightened Lois into giving him. Jack forces Lois to hide him. Lois does not tell her husband of Jack's presence in the room, fearful that Jack will carry out his threats of shooting Hall. When Hall discovers Jack's presence in the room, he is suspicious. Jack allows him to believe that Lois invited him. Hall becomes furious. Jack only saves himself from bodily injury by holding Hall back with his gun. After Jack makes his escape, Hall accuses his wife. She resents his attitude, begs and pleads with him to listen to reason, but to no avail. He speaks of a separation which drives Lois frantic. Two detectives, who are on Jack's trail, see him leave the house. Jack evades the officers, steals an auto and makes his escape. A rainstorm comes up and Lois, who is standing by the window is stunned by a bolt of lightning. Jack, in his endeavor to escape in the auto, loses control of it and is hurled over the cliff. Later he is found by the detectives, who get his confession before he dies. The next day at the exchange Steele swamps Hall with B and H.R. stocks, making the price fall and ruining Hall. Hall goes to the woman and accuses her of duplicity. She becomes furious. She seeks to get Hall in a compromising position. She fails in this, for her plans are only denounced by her husband for her previous perfidy and be threatens to divorce her. Hall begins to realize that he has unjustly treated his wife. He goes home to ask forgiveness for his hasty judgment, but the doctor refuses to allow Lois to be disturbed. Later a telegram is received, telling of Jack's confession and his real motive for entering the house. A reconciliation is soon brought about between Lois and Holmes. Steele, to avoid scandal, takes a quiet means to get a divorce from Jane.
- Murice Brachard, a dock laborer, rises to be a "Samson" of finance with terrific power and a primordial ferocity, which he needs when his wife spurns his devotion, and people he trusts try to pull down the structure of wealth he has erected.
- In this story the hero is haunted by a beautiful young woman who tries to stab him to death with a knife. This fantasy recurs on each of his birthdays, becoming more and more real as the years go on. He leaves home to secure a place as groom, but arrives at his destination too late. Forced to retrace his steps, he seeks shelter in a little inn, forgetting that the hour of his birth is approaching. In the middle of the night he awakens, terrified with fright. Standing by his bed with a deadly knife in her hand is "The Dream Woman." She plunges the blade into the mattress as he squirms out of the way. Twice she attempts to reach him. He yells for help. The innkeeper and his family are aroused. Seeing nothing, they drive him away for disturbing them. As he is escaping the apparition appears once more. Fear lends speed to his quaking legs and he runs until he falls exhausted in his mother's arms. Francis Raven, the young man, is home from his hair-raising adventure. His mother is sick and he goes to the druggist for medicine. While there, Alicia Warlock, a very pretty girl, enters. It is easily discerned that she has been wayward; that she is tired of life. She asks the druggist to sell her laudanum. He refuses. As she goes out, she attracts Raven's attention. He is fascinated and follows. When he introduces Alicia to his mother, that good but very superstitious woman receives her with askance. But the son is infatuated and when the mother orders the girl away he goes with her and the two are married. They settle down in a home of their own, but when Raven is absent his wife associates with questionable companions. She drinks and is frequently under the influence of liquor. He finds her in this state and scolds her, but she is defiant. Not willing to give her up, he summons his mother, who promises to use her influence toward reforming the girl. But the mother sees her daughter-in-law cutting bread with the same knife that has always been a part of her son's dream and runs away. Not long afterward, Raven finds his wife stupefied with whiskey. He handles her roughly and finally strikes her. She falls to the floor completely sobered by the blow. In a second the husband regrets his hasty temper, but his wife, beside herself with rage, declares she will murder him with the very knife that has tortured him in his dreams. He gets the knife and vows to put it where his wife cannot find it, but while traveling a lonely road he is attacked, the knife is stolen from him and he is thrown into a well, from which he escapes. A few years elapse and Raven is engaged in the care of horses. Upon the anniversary of his birth two strangers, a man and his wife, employ him to drive them to their station. Having heard his cries they ask for an explanation and he tells his weird story. They pity and employ him as a second groom. To protect him over his birthday the first groom is instructed to watch him constantly during the night. But the first groom while in the village flirts with a woman who readily accepts an invitation to visit his lodgings. Just as she is about to partake of food and refreshments there are groans and cries of distress in an adjoining room. The first groom, not wishing to be disturbed, goes to the frightened man, ties him hand and foot, places a gag in his mouth and returns to the woman he picked up in the street. He does not have much time to revel in her society, however, because his mistress calls him. While he is gone, Alicia steals into the adjoining apartment, recognized the helpless occupant of the bed, draws a knife from the folds of her skirt and plunges it into his heart. The story ends in the fascinating atmosphere of the spirit world with the "Dream Woman" enveloped in soul stirring mystery.
- A jockey and a bettor are the victims of a corrupt bookmaker.
- "Shark" Manning, a brawny, brutal crook, is chief of the Mudflats gang of robbers, and has for his leading aide a sallow, slim youth, Dick Brackett, the latter residing with his father, Silas, his mother, Luck Brackett, and Dick's sister, Stella. The home of the Bracketts is a café and boathouse at the edge of the mudflats. The gang robs some railway freight cars, and Detective David Dale is sent to get evidence against the robber band. "Shark," Dick and two other thieves steal a $10,000 necklace from a mansion. Dale happens to see Dick crossing the fiats, chase him, and Dick, fearing capture, drops the diamond necklace into one of the sloughs in the mudflats. "Shark" and Dick later try to recover the gems with grappling hooks, but fail. Dale, disguised as a stevedore, visits the Brackett café, and falls in love with Stella. Dick hears a street preacher denouncing thievery and resolves to reform his law-breaking ways and have nothing more to do with Manning's acts. Manning tries to kiss Stella, and Dale bests him in a fight. "Shark" is maddened by hatred for Dick, and has Dick shanghaied on to a ship almost ready to depart for South Africa. "Shark" then learns that a gigantic hydraulic dredger has begun work dredging the slough where Dick dropped the necklace. Dale meets one of "Shark's" pals, makes him confess the whereabouts of Dick, the confessor telling Dale that Dick is a prisoner in the hold of a vessel at San Pedro, and that the ship will sail within an hour. Dale and Stella then try to catch a train for San Pedro, to rescue her brother, but just miss the train. Dale and Stella then climb on a railroad handcar and speed away down the track for the wharves. "Shark," who has learned Dale's plans, follows them on a horse, and manages to overtake them while they are speeding the handcar across a railroad bridge, one end of which can be raised 200 feet high to allow vessels to pass. "Shark" fells the bridge-tender with his fists, operates the machinery and the handcar is caught on the bridge end, raising Dale and Stella to a lofty height. After many thrilling scenes Dale and Stella resume their race, rescue Dick and return home. "Shark," hunting for the diamonds, gets near the suction part of the dredger and is drawn to an awful death. Dick recovers the gems, and Dale returns them to their owner. Dick becomes an honest mechanic, and Dale and Stella agree to marry.
- Little Sunbeam, an orphan, was adopted by her uncle at a very young age, and as he was a leader of a gang of thieves and outlaws, he kept her sex a secret from the gang, and dressed Sunbeam in boys' clothes and called her Jack. This story takes up "Jack" at the age of 14. Dan Morau, a wealthy lumberman, returning from a trip of inspection of his forest reserves, stops for shelter at Uncle Bill's. Little Jack makes things very comfortable for the handsome stranger. Little Jack climbs up the ladder to her attic bed. Moran decides to retire to his room for the night, but in the presence of the gang displays a priceless watch and chain. After Moran has retired to his room, the gang plans to rob Moran. Little Jack, from the attic above, hears their plans, climbs out of her window, and warns Moran. While he dresses, she goes to the barn and fetches his horse, and Moran makes his escape. Little Jack, knowing the fate she would suffer at the hands of Bill when the flight of Moran would be discovered, decides never to return to the house of crime, and strikes out for the unknown. In the morning she finds herself near a railroad track. At a watering tank nearby, she gets into a freight car and steals a ride. At the end of the trip she finds herself in a great city. Getting out of the car and out of the yards, she sees a couple of hobos camping, and goes up to them. They, of course, think her a boy. One night, one of these tramps proposes to rob a nearby lumber mill office. They make little Jack climb through a window to open the door for them, but is shot by the night watchman, and the gang make their getaway. Jack is taken to a hospital for treatment. The next morning, Dan Moran is told of the attempted robbery of his office, and goes to the hospital to see the little burglar. The nurse has discovered that Jack is a girl and curls her hair and fixes her up. Moran is surprised to find this beautiful girl and the little "Jack," who saved him from the thieves one and the same kid. Moran's mother adopts the child and educates her, and they make a happy family. Now Moran's elder partner. Fox, sees a chance of acquiring the entire business for himself. He goes to the office one night to carry out his ideas, and is surprised by the night watchman, and to protect his secret he shoots the watchman. Moran, passing by, has seen the light in his office and heard the shot, and rushes into the office, finds the dead man, and calls up the police. Fox fastens the crime onto Moran, and Moran is placed under arrest. Sunbeam calls on Moran at the jail, and he tells her his suspicion of Fox. Sunbeam remembers how she deceived people in her dress as a boy, so dressed as an office boy, she applies for and gets the position of office boy in the lumber office of Moran and Fox. She gets enough opportunity to see how Fox changed and juggled figures, experts are called and Fox is shown up, and later confesses. Moran is released, and Sunbeam becomes mistress of the Moran home and lifelong partner of Dan Moran.
- "The Idler" is Mark Cross, a young man of good family, who in a wild fit of daredeviltry has emigrated from London to the far west. John Harding, also well-born of wealthy parents, but disinherited, and a poor clerk, is also seeking his fortune in the gold fields. One day Harding receives a letter from a firm of London solicitors informing him that his father has died and that he is now Sir John Harding, Bart. He sets out at once to make his preparations for his return to civilization and to take up the station in life that is rightfully his. But that very day he becomes involved in a quarrel with Felix Strong, the young brother of a miner named Simeon Strong, and Felix is shot accidentally during the dispute. Harding is accused of murder, but flees to England in time to escape the vengeance of a posse, headed by Simeon Strong, who is determined to avenge his brother. Years after in London, Harding, who has married the girl both he and Cross were in love with before they emigrated, comes face to face with Cross and Strong, who have become partners and have "struck it rich." In order to win Lady Harding for his own Cross allows the evil side of his nature to get the upper hand of him and plots to have Strong kill Sir John in a duel. Strong slaps Harding in the face in the foyer of the opera house in order that he may involve him in "an affair of honor" and avenge his brother's death by killing Harding. Cross in the meantime lures Lady Harding to his rooms where Sir John comes to seek her. She hides in Mark Cross's bedroom, but reveals herself at a dramatic moment when Harding, shouting "Curse you, I'll kill you," springs at Cross's throat. Her splendid nature, as shown in her denunciation of both men, one as a husband without faith in his wife and the other as the would-be destroyer of a home, overcomes them with shame. They shake hands and Mark, parting forever with Lady Harding, orders his valet to pack his things for he is off "on a long trail."
- Carmencita, the flower-girl of the Cantina Del Toro, crouches, terrified, against a rock in a wild remote canyon in the Sierra Del Madre. Tauntingly, Don Raphael Dominguez gloats over the shrinking girl. In the background a wild-looking troop of brigands, vassals of the Don's, look on without a glance of pity for the girl, Don Dominguez is about to seize his helpless prey when all at once half a dozen figures appear behind the rocks. As many rifles are leveled at the heads of the outlaw band. The brigands have carelessly left their weapons where the newcomers can seize them. There is nothing but surrender for the rascals and they throw up their hands. The leader of the rescuers, Juan, takes Carmencita in his arms. Juan, a stalwart, the dashing and the accepted lover of Carmencita, is in reality the "dreamself" of Loco Juan, a deformed, despised, half-witted woodcutter, who secretly adores Carmencita, who has often protected him from brutal jests and cruel blows. After Carmencita has once again interposed between himself and the brutal Don, Loco Juan wanders forth on the mountainside and falls asleep under a bank of wild sun-flowers. He dreams that a kind fairy suddenly rises from the mist of a waterfall and transforms him into erect, good-looking Juan. As Juan he meets Carmencita and her brother Poncho. Carmencita returns the love he confesses. But Don Dominguez, by spying learns Juan's secret. He determines to abduct Carmencita. With this in view he journeys into the mountain fastness and retains Antonio Sanchez, the desperate leader of the banditti, to carry out his purposes. Carmencita is carried off. In the brigands' hiding place, Don Dominguez is gloating over his prize when Juan, Loco Juan, no longer, springs into view. In a desperate knife fight he beats Sanchez and, embracing Carmencita, carries her in his arms to safety. But Carmencita, in a fatal moment, takes from Juan's arm the silver talisman the good fairy who befriended him placed there. The spell is broken. Juan awakens. Once more, his cloud-palaces dissolved, he is the deformed, half-witted outcast.
- Tom Randolph, on the day of his engagement to Agnes Thorne, a beautiful Southern girl, stops his horse on the road near a gypsy camp, long enough to interfere with The Wolf, king of the gypsies, who is beating his daughter, Cynthia. Tom rides on to the Thorne mansion, little suspecting that he is being followed by a gypsy spy sent by The Wolf. While he is there a gypsy boy (not the spy), is caught by Major Thorne, poaching on his estate, and Tom comes to the boy's rescue in time to save him from a beating. That night The Wolf tries to waylay Tom and kill him, but Cynthia saves Tom by cutting the rope which the gypsies have tied across the road to throw Tom from his horse. Sometime later, at the engagement party given by Major Thorne in honor of his sister's engagement to Tom, Cynthia warns Tom of his danger from her father. Thorne partly overhears, and suspects an affair between his prospective brother-in-law and the gypsy. Thinking an insult has been placed on his family, he breaks the engagement, slaps Tom's face, and challenges him to a duel. The next morning during the duel Tom fires in the air, rather than kill the brother of the girl he loves, but Pedro, the gypsy boy, whom Tom has saved from a beating, hides near the spot, shoots from the underbrush, killing Thorne, the shots being simultaneous. Tom sees his opponent fall and is unable to account for it. Before he dies, Thorne accuses Tom of shooting him in the back, and Tom is arrested and accused of the murder. At the trial, when the case is going on against Tom, Pedro, in the gypsies' camp, basked by his guilty conscience, confesses to his sister that he killed Thorne. Cynthia overhears his confession, and drags him to court. The prosecuting attorney gets a confession from the frightened boy. Meanwhile Bess, the boy's sister, seeing affairs against her brother, hurries to the gypsy camp, gallops back with a horse that she leads under the courtroom window, rushes into the courtroom, throws her arms around the boy, whispers into his ear, quickly turns, engages the judge's attention, when suddenly the boy leaps to the jury rail, through the closed window below. Pandemonium reigns, the sheriff rushes to the window in time to see the boy disappear in the distance. Tom is acquitted and Agnes comes to his arms, while Cynthia, the martyr, goes back to her tribe, to bear the scorn of her own people for loving above her station.
- Dorothy Madison, a secret service operative, is sent into the West Virginia mountains to locate a still, after male operatives failed. She carries a sketching outfit and a carrier pigeon into the moonshine country, and hides the pigeon in the woods near a mountain cabin, where she hopes to make headquarters. She walks along the road until she sees Dave Parks coming, falls, feigns a sprained ankle, and is taken home by Dave, who is a young, good-looking moonshiner. Dave's mother is a sour-faced, pipe-smoking, suspicious old mountain woman, and only tolerates Dorothy. Nell Oatsey, typical mountain girl of bold beauty, hears of Dorothy's plight and goes to see her. She carries her rifle. Dorothy is in the woods near the road sketching and looking about for signs of a still. Nell sees her and approaches. Dorothy is sitting on a log back of which is a big rattlesnake ready to spring. Nell shoots the snake and saves Dorothy from being bitten, but nearly scares her to death. Dave Parks, who is Nell's sweetheart, is smitten with Dorothy and grows cold toward Nell, which increases his mother's antipathy for Dorothy. By climbing a tree and using a spyglass Dorothy discovers the still and how it is guarded. She sends the information by her carrier pigeon and arranges for a signal to raid. At the appointed time she takes Dave to the woods to sketch him, and he is her unconscious tool in arranging the signal, which is seen from a nearby hill by the secret service men. The moonshine plant is raided and Dave, who is on his way to the place, runs afoul of a secret service guard and both shoot and both are wounded. Dorothy, who has followed Dave, desires to save him from prison and goes to his aid, helping him home. He is not badly hurt and is hidden in a woodshed. After dark Dorothy helps him away and takes him home. Nest day Nell Oatsey on her way to market learns that Dave and Dorothy have disappeared. She believes Dorothy has stolen Dave from her and starts on a mission to kill Dorothy. She reaches Dorothy's home the next day and enters the library, where Dorothy and Dave are talking. She tries to shoot Dorothy, but Dave spoils her aim. She accuses Dorothy, who for the first time is found to be the wife of an operative and the mother of a beautiful three-year-old child. Dorothy's husband appears, the child follows and all is explained. Dorothy making it plain that she saves Dave because Nell had killed the snake that menaced her. She reunites Dave and Nell.
- The story tells of a woman who to hold her husband's love becomes a thief. Marie, the erring wife, pressed by debts, begins thievery in a small way at first. She grows bolder and bolder and carries on her peculations even under the noses of her husband's detectives. A young fool who loves her allows suspicion to fall upon him. But at last the truth is wrung from her.
- The president of an Australian detective agency offers the services of their best man Henry King to the southwest coast police of California, who have been baffled by the many daring crimes committed by a gang of the underworld. Mr. King arrives in America, and upon the day of his arrival the most daring crime ever heard of is committed. Miss Dorothy Stevens is kidnapped in broad daylight in her automobile. The chauffeur was found drugged in an alley. Mr. King decides not to report this crime to the police, as to be seen with them might hinder him in his work, so he starts on the case alone. He spots his man, "Smiley Randel," holds him up, and thereby gaining his confidence, joins the gang as a first-class hold-up man. When he has located Miss Stevens, and about to get her away, Madge Burke does a clever piece of work and upsets his plans. He is bound and thrown into a room but upon rolling toward the door overhears the plans of the gang, namely, to leave the port on the schooner Blanche that night. He finds a mirror, and by throwing a mirror into a policeman's eyes, attracts his attention and gets him to come to the window. Writes a note, drops it down to him, thereby telling him of their plans, and to have a police-boat at the end of pier 21 and to watch out for the Blanche. That night he succeeds in freeing himself out of the room. He swims across the bay, secrets himself on the Blanche before the gang arrive. As the Blanche is making her way out of the harbor the police boat starts in pursuit and a battle ensues. Detective King takes Miss Stevens in his arms and jumps overboard. They are in turn picked up by the police boat and capture the fugitives. Miss Stevens is greatly surprised the next day by receiving a call from Detective King, of Australia, who proves to be the man who aided her in her escape and whom she thought was a member of the gang. After a short conversation with Miss Stevens, Mr. King decides to cancel his passage back to Australia, and remains in America indefinitely.
- Refusing to give his consent to the marriage of his son, Count George, to Helen Holt, a poor miller's daughter, Baron Rothschild orders his son to Paris at once. Some time later a child is born to Helen Holt, and the Baron, promising to provide for it, persuades the miller to have someone adopt it, and tell the mother that it died immediately after birth. Count George forgetting his old love, receives his father's consent to marry Princess Louise Turner. A year later, the Baron having died, the Count and his wife return to take possession of the estate. On the verge of war, two spies, Lieutenant Berloff and Captain Klink, are instructed to leave Paris at once for the enemy's country. Arriving at their destination, Captain Klink secures lodgings with the fisherman, Larson, and Lieutenant Berloff, posing as an artist, finds the old mill well suited to his plans and they immediately set to work to bring the mill and the fisherman's home into telegraphic communication, and extend the wires to an abandoned vessel, in which they have stored a quantity of explosives. The Countess, out riding one day, meets Lieutenant Berloff and recognizes him as one of the most ardent admirers before her marriage. They hold clandestine meetings, and one day, while in the mill, the ticking of the telegraph instrument puts Lieutenant Berloff in a dilemma, and he confesses to the Countess that he is a spy. In loyalty to her country she promises to help him. Disguised as a gypsy she secures the plans of the enemy's movements from Capt. Berry, whom she has drugged, and takes them to Lieutenant Berloff. Helen, the miller's daughter, overhears the spy informing his confederate of the enemy's movements, and notifies Captain Berry. Berry, arriving at the Countess' home, fires at what he believes to be the Countess' figure, but which turns out to be her reflection in the mirror, behind which is a secret vault. The Count, arriving home, sees the vault open, and finds a letter addressed to him in which his father confesses that the child of Helen Holt still lives and is adopted by John Larson, the fisherman. The Count and Helen immediately set out to claim their child. Berry, on his way to the mill, meets the Countess and Berloff. Following them, they take refuge in the ship. Proving their rights to the child, the Count and Helen return to the mill, where the child accidentally pulls the lever which causes the explosion of the ship. The miller, in the excitement, overturns a candle which sets fire to the mill. After a miraculous escape, the Count returns to his home, where he is informed by Capt. Berry that the Countess was found on the beach dead. All obstacles removed, Helen and the Count are married.
- John Duncan and George Lane, traveling salesmen and pals, are on a vacation. While near this small town they meet two village belles. Mary Granger and Rose White, attend a party at the Granger home, and fall in love, John with May and George with Rose. John marries May and they take up their home in the city. John, unknown to his wife, is fond of cards, and loses very heavily, telling his wife that his absence from home at nights is due to overtime work at his office. His wife does not suspect him of deception. May invites her friend Rosa and mother to visit her and they come. One day, thinking he has a sure thing, John places all his money on a horse race. This very day his wife has planned a dinner for Rose and her mother, and hearing that George Lane is in town, also invites him. Just before sitting down to dinner a telegram is handed to John, telling him that the race is lost to him. He goes into the library and drawing a gun, is about to kill himself, but is saved from it by George, who takes the gun from him. John's wife has seen the attempted suicide from another room, reflected in a large mirror. John rushes from the room, goes to a saloon and drinks heavily. George sets out to bring him back home. May hides the facts from her mother and Rose, getting them out of the way by sending them to bed. Later George returns and tells May he can't locate John. She has made up her mind to leave John and return to the country with her mother the next day. George pleads for John, and induces May to give her husband another chance. He convinces her; she rises to thank him for showing her the right way, and places her hand upon George's shoulder. The shadow of May and George loom up on the window shade; John, just returned home crazed with drink, sees the shadow from outside, and misunderstands the situation. John rushes into the room and denounces May and George, and leaves, swearing never to see her again. May returns to the country with her mother and friend Rose. John now becomes a professional gambler and sport. Later, George Lane goes to call for Rose and make her his bride. They call on May, who has now become melancholy. George notes that May is making "baby" clothes and understands. While George and Rose are at the beach on their honeymoon they meet John, ask him to return to May, but he is still bitter. George tells John that May is about to become a mother, and John's heart softens. He swears never to gamble and drink again, goes to the country, begs May for forgiveness. She consents, and he takes her to his heart again, a wiser and more noble husband.
- Dr. Rolla, an Italian revolutionist, misappropriates legacy funds belonging to his wards, Arthur Rice and his sister, Rosa. Fearing exposure, Rolla plots with Riccardo, an unsuccessful wooer of Rosa, and his companion, Petroff, to put Arthur in an asylum. As they are about to carry Arthur off from his room a fight results, Rosa meanwhile singing in another room of the house. A blind young man, Harry French, wanders into the hallway. Rosa hears the noise of the affray, sees her brother stabbed to death by Riccardo, and loses her memory. The conspirators hide; Harry wanders into the room and falls over the body of Arthur. The conspirators take Harry away and leave him in a deserted place. Harry, being blind, is unable to know where the tragedy happened. Two years later he regains his sight, sees the beautiful Rosa on the street, falls in love with her without knowing who she is, and seeks to wed her. Rolla, Riccardo and Petroff, to get Rosa out of the way, induce Harry to marry Rosa, which he does, only to discover his wife's mind is weak. One evening Harry plays the tune Rosa sang the night her brother was slain. It restores her memory. She and Harry go to the house of the tragedy; she sees a vision of the slaying as it happened two years before, screams and falls unconscious. Riccardo and the other conspirators are captured as revolutionists in Milan, and are shot by the soldiers. Rosa's mind and qualities as a woman of culture are, through Harry's tender nursing, fully restored to her, and he shows his joy over having become the possessor of a wife who is as accomplished as she is beautiful and lovable.
- Loco Juan, a peon wood chopper who is afflicted, is befriended by Carmencita, the flower girl, when he incurs the ill favor of Senor Dominguez at the Cantina El Toro. Juan, through his appreciation of his heroine, is inspired with the thought of love, and falling asleep in the wildwood, dreams that a kind fairy transforms him into a dashing hero. Juan, in his newly attained manhood, foils the attempt of Senor Dominguez to abduct Carmencita, who has in the meantime accepted him as her betrothed. And aided by the vision of the good fairy overpowers Dominguez and his accomplice Sanchez the bandit in a spectacular knife fight. He triumphantly carries Carmencita away. But when she, enthused by his description of the good fairy who floats in and out of his adventures at opportune moments, takes the magic bracelet from his arm, the spell is broken, and Juan awakes from his dream, still the half-witted wood chopper lying under the sun-flower in the wild-wood.
- Paul, raised by gypsies, is sent to college and falls in love with the co-ed Daisy.
- The Princess Lestorys, beautiful and brilliant, is much sought by London's men of affairs. Arthur Gerald, wealthy oil operator, casually remarks that he would give $100,000 for an introduction to the princess. This remark is repeated to the princess, who writes to Gerald, and suggests that in return for an invitation to her reception he forward a donation for a philanthropic institution in which she is interested. Gerald assents and sends his check for the amount. At the reception is also John Holton, a young civil engineer, deeply enamored of the princess. She declines his proposal of marriage, saying that his financial inability to provide the luxuries she demands outweighs her regard for him. Holton leaves for America, swearing to return with the necessary money. Gerald falls desperately in love with the princess. His daughter, Lena, who distrusts the adventuress, learns of her father's danger upon reading through the society columns of a newspaper. Suspicious, she obtains information from a detective agency, which brands the princess unmistakably as a peculiarly dangerous woman. Convinced by his daughter of the princess's sinister character, Gerald leaves with Lena for his oil wells in America. Meeting Holton he engages him as manager. The princess, foiled, determines upon revenge. Following Gerald to his oil lands, she hires several desperadoes to aid her in her diabolical doings. John and Lena are ambushed, the former shot and severely wounded, and the girl kidnapped. Writing to Gerald, Madam Satan, the princess, threatens dire happenings to Lena if Gerald does not fulfill his promise of marriage. Holton, revived, springs from a rock as Madam Satan's messenger passes and falls with him to the rocky ground. The messenger is subdued. The two hours elapse. No answer from Gerald. Madam Satan with her accomplices drag a cannon into the fields some distance from the petroleum tanks. The first shot penetrates the main reservoir, the fluid pouring outward upon the surface of the nearby river. A second shell explodes the works. The fire spreads to the oily fluid. In an instant the stream is ablaze from bank to bank. Her revenge incomplete, Madam Satan returns to her cabin and prepares for flight. Lashing Lena against the upright post, she ignites the cabin. In dashes Holton, weak from his wound. He moves toward releasing Lena. Madam Satan's pointed revolver halts him. Then within her stirs the old affection for the only man she had ever loved, from whom she was separated only because of his lack of money. Her revolver drops. Holton creeps forward and cuts Lena's bonds. Out from the stifling smoke and the stabbing flames he darts, carrying the insensible Lena. Madam Satan, saddened, sickened by the cumulative remorse of her wickedness, sinks upon the burning pyre.
- Judge Livingston, a wealthy jurist, lives happily in a mansion with his young wife, Josephine, and his daughter, Eleanor, child of the judge's first wife. Dick Winthrop, the judge's private secretary, is in love with Eleanor, and she returns his affection. They become betrothed, and the judge approves their engagement. Mrs. Livingston, Eleanor's step-mother, buys goods extravagantly at fashionable shopping places, and has the goods charged to her account. Dick receives a letter from a bank, saying that Mrs. Livingston has overdrawn her account $1,100, and requesting settlement without disturbing Judge Livingston. Dick tries to persuade Mrs. Livingston to attend to the overdrawn account, but she becomes angry and resolves to break Dick's engagement to Eleanor. Mrs. Livingston then tells the judge that Dick is not a proper fiancé for Eleanor. Eleanor finds recreation in doing settlement work, attracting the attention of several men engaged in white slavery acts. These evildoers forge a note purporting to be from a poor woman, asking Eleanor to come to her aid in the tenements. Leaving the note on a desk in her home, Eleanor goes to render the aid asked, and when she arrives at the address given, the white slavers seize her and make her a prisoner. Dick accidentally finds the note and rushes to rescue Eleanor, as he feels that the note was forged. Dick arrives at the house where Eleanor is held captive, and, after a desperate fight with the plotters, the men are taken prisoners. Eleanor and Dick manage to return home. The debts Mrs. Livingston owes become pressing; she tries at night to steal funds from her husband's safe, and Dick finds her near the safe. To escape accusation, Mrs. Livingston charges Dick with the theft, and he, to shield her, shoulders the blame in the presence of the judge and Eleanor. The judge believes his wife, and tells Dick he must leave the house forever. Mrs. Livingston then repents, tells her husband she alone is to blame, begs his forgiveness.
- Larry Thorn, a novelist and man of wealth, loves and is engaged to Miss Julie Rider. While at a fashionable ball, Larry discovers Julia encouraging the attention of Baron Von Keller. Some nights later at the club the Baron insults Larry and an arrangement to fight a duel is made between them. The Baron, really afraid of meeting Larry, sends word of the challenge, living time and place, anonymously to Julia. Julia arrives in time to stop the duel, returns the engagement ring to Larry, and shows her preference for the Baron. Larry becomes piqued and discouraged with women and society in general and decides to go away and forget. He takes up a sort of hermitage in a river bottom section of the country, where he builds a shelter in a tree. In this vicinity there lives a blind old miser with an only daughter, very pretty, but a wild, uneducated, impulsive creature who has never known a mother's love or care. In fact, has seen few people outside of her association with the blind father. Larry chances by the old man's house and sees this odd little creature, answering to the name of Hazel. He only gives her a passing thought, but later when alone in the forest the thought of her comes back and she becomes an inspiration to him for a great novel. Allen, a wealthy farmer in the vicinity, sees Hazel and because of her odd manner and wonderful beauty, desires her for himself. He calls on her father and with a big sum of gold and whiskey buys her from the old man. Hazel, from her attic room, overhears the bargain and that night escapes to the woods. After hours of flight she walks into a bed of quicksand. Larry is startled from his sleep by her cries for help and arrives in time to save the girl from a certain death. He carries her to his camp, recognizes her and offers to take her back home. She tells him why she ran away and begs him to help her. Larry finds a home for her with an old farmer's widow, who soon brings out the good qualities in the girl, dresses her neatly and when Larry calls to see her he can hardly believe Hazel the same girl. He continues his novel with Hazel as the central figure and unconsciously falls deeply in love with her. The heavy rains set in; the rivers break their banks and the entire country is flooded. Farmer Allen, unable to get his purse back from the old, blind father of Hazel, finds his chance for revenge when he sees the old man's little farm flooded. He calls at the house, tells the old miser of the rising waters and offers to lead him to safety. The old man gets his treasure box from its hiding place. Allen wrests it from him. locks the old man in the room to die like a rat in a trap, escapes with the treasure box and rows up the river, but meets with disaster and Allen and the miser's hoard are swallowed by the whirlpool of muddy waters. Hazel, hearing of the rising water, calls upon Larry to go to the rescue of her blind father. The old man's house has been washed into the river bed, but the old man has managed to get on the roof where Larry, after some daring feats, finally rescues him and brings him to Hazel. Larry takes Hazel and her father back to his home, marries Hazel and gets a specialist to restore the old man's sight. His novel, inspired by Hazel, becomes a big success and he takes Hazel to a ball given in his honor where, in a beautiful gown, she does honor and credit to his standing, and becomes the social favorite of the season.
- Harry Wentworth, who is foreman of his father's ranch, is addicted to gambling and drinking. Harry, upon selling several head of cattle, uses the money for liquor. Upon returning to the ranch intoxicated, his father tells him that his services are no longer required, and that he shall leave his home and go out into the world and make a better man of himself. Harry's father establishes a Mexican as foreman of the ranch, who is "in clique" with Jim Martin, a lawyer and loan shark in town. Together they plan to rob the old man of his ranch, namely, in selling all of his cattle and advising him that they have been lost in a stampede. Ralph Crandall, a gambler about town, decides to send for his sister in the east. Before she arrives he tells the boys to keep his gambling life a secret from her. She arrives, and Jim Martin, infatuated with her, decides to expose Ralph to his sister unless he approves of his attentions to her. Harry Wentworth decides to ship on a coastwise vessel. On the first voyage out he incurs the wrath of the captain by interfering with him during a fight on board. Wentworth and his two pals, Beannie and Mac, have a fight with the crew, and after a hard tussle, escape by diving overboard. When the three swim safely to shore, Wentworth decides that he has had enough of sea life, and returns home, taking his two pals along with him to work on the ranch. He arrives home, learns of his father's business troubles and that the lawyer is about to foreclose the mortgage on the ranch. He meets Ethel Crandall and learns that she is the gambler's sister. He falls in love with her, and persuades Ralph Crandall to quit gambling. Jim Martin, infuriated over the love affair between Harry and Ethel, decides to have the girl abducted. Harry and Ralph conspire to get the mortgage back. In a game of cards Ralph plays the lawyer's hand and lets Harry take the winnings. The lawyer, angry at this, decides to take the girl away. His plot is overheard by Harry's pals, who notify him and her brother Ralph, who immediately start in pursuit. The end is a sensation.
- Melody and Blossom, two orphans, aged about sixteen, live in a little shack by a stream. Melody plays a little violin, and Blossom sells flowers. Their only friend is the village minister, who loves them. As they go along the road on their way to the city, playing and selling flowers, they encounter different people, whom they make happy with their music and flowers. In the city Melody plays before a lovely house. Inside a woman sits restless and sad. Ray Wilton, a society man, enters her room. She seems bored, and he questions her. As she hears the strains of Melody's violin, she sees a vision of herself at her mother's knee, and the old father comes behind the mother's chair. The vision fades away, and the girl denounces Ray, telling him she is through with this life. Later, Ray Wilton and some club men at the club propose a fishing trip. They go to the country, and here Blossom again meets Ray. As she is crossing the stream, she slips, spraining her ankle. He carries her to the little shack. Blossom is unconscious, and Melody will not let Ray take care of her. She instinctively distrusts him. Later, Ray meets Blossom and gives her her first kiss. Innocently she tells Melody about the wonderful kiss, and shows her the beads. Melody is filled with misgivings, and warns Blossom not to have anything to do with him. Blossom tells her she loves him, and they have their first quarrel. That night Blossom leaves with Ray. Sometime later Melody sets out to search for Blossom; Blossom is seen in her new home daintily dressed in city clothes. She asks Ray when they will be married, and he laughingly changes the subject. On the streets Melody plays. Grief adds a peculiar charm to her playing. One day she faints in the street and a well-dressed old man takes her in his taxi. She is brought to the home of Jack Bennard, a young artist. Later she is adopted and, after hard study, sent to Italy, where the artist's brother takes care of her. Blossom is seen one day sewing on a white garment. Ray enters the room, and asks to see it. Blossom, in sweet shame, confesses all Ray becomes bitter, and tells her it cannot be. They quarrel, and she goes. Blossom comes home to the old village minister. Brokenly she confesses all to him at the gate. He takes her in his arms like a tired child and leads her into him home. Melody, in Italy, has completed her studies and, after a farewell party given by the students, she returns home with Jack. They become engaged on board the steamer. At home again, Melody still mourns for Blossom and one day in the garden tells Jack what grieves her. Alone, Jack resolves to visit the old shack where they once lived. He sets up the canvas to paint the picture, and starts. Blossom is sitting in the grassy field with a wreath on her head, singing. She starts as Jack comes toward her, and as he kneels and parts the tall thick grass. Jack sees a tiny baby asleep. He is touched at the sight, and proposes sketching them. She agrees. In the city, Melody gives her first concert. In the box near the stage are Jack and his parents and Ray Wilton enters. As the music starts and Melody raises her violin, at the sound Ray sees himself and Blossom walking among the flowers, happy, he stoops to kiss her. Ray, overcome with emotion, staggers from the box. Jack follows him, and takes him to the studio. Here Ray gets to feel better. He sees a large canvas covered with white, and asks to see it, to change the subject. The painting makes him confess all. Jack tells him he must go to her. Ray leaves soon. Melody comes in carrying armfuls of flowers and roses from the stage. In the country. Ray and Blossom are married among the flowers, Blossom holding her baby.
- Clare Mason, a rancher's daughter, working in the city, becomes infatuated with Bob Storm, an attractive rascal, and agrees to marry him. Later Bob works upon her sympathy, and obtains a large part of her earnings, which he spends in entertaining other women. Clare, searching for a cheap restaurant where she may get a modest meal for a few pennies, passes a flashy café, and glancing in the window discovers Bob entertaining women with money that she has given him, becomes frantic with rage and disappointment at his perfidy and attempts revenge, but is saved from committing a serious crime by Carl Knight, a college student. Clare, heartbroken and disillusioned, has a long sick spell, and finds that she has been cared for, and her expenses paid by Carl who rooms at the same house. Humiliated at receiving charity, Clare returns to the ranch, leaving a photograph and letter or thanks for Carl. After her departure Carl finds that his sympathy has developed into love, and he devises a plan that brings an invitation to visit the Mason home. Carl arrives at the Mason's, buys the adjoining ranch and builds a new bungalow. Later he harvests a banner crop. Carl impresses Clare with his honest devotion, proposes, and they become engaged. Bob Storm, accused of robbery in the city, escapes from officers and boards a passing train. He arrives in the vicinity of the Mason ranch and discovers Carl and Clare at an orange packing plant. Bob stealthily follows them home. Carl gives money to Clare's father for safe keeping. Bob, watching through the window, sees the hiding place. That night Carl leaves for the city on business, and (unknown to the Mason's), decides to take the money with him rather than leave it in the desk. Bob, hiding in the orchard, watches Carl depart, steals to the house, finds Clare alone in the room, enters and confronts her, and by threats gets her to fly with him. Bob, while accusing her of loving Carl, demands that she shall carry out her agreement to marry him; as an alternative he threatens to take Carl's money and destroy his new home. Clare pleads without avail; he advances to the hiding place of the money. Clare, believing the money is still there, finally assents in despair. She leaves a note for her mother, dictated by Bob, and accompanies him. The old folks find the note and discover the absence of the money. Heartbroken in the belief that Clare has taken the money, they mortgage the ranch and replace it. Officers recognize Bob, and place him under arrest. Clare goes to her former rooming place, and is assisted by the landlady to return home. Clare arrives home and is refused admittance by her father. She wanders away. Carl returns home, finds Clare unconscious on the steps of his new bungalow, carries her home, enters under father's protest, and places Clare in the charge of her mother. Father denounces Clare as a thief, declaring that she took Carl's money. Carl, astounded, explains that he took the money with him. Father, overcome with sorrow and remorse, kneels at Clare's side and begs forgiveness. Clare, happy at last places her hand on her father's bowed head, and gives her other hand to Carl. Mother looks on, smiling through her tears.
- At an early age Rose O'Brien loses her mother, which leaves her without a relative in the world. She goes to live with some neighbors, during which time a typical Fagan discovers her plight, and through promises of pretty dresses, induces her to steal. She is arrested, found guilty, and placed in the charge of a probation officer. This officer finds a good position for her in a wealthy family. The son later falls in love with her. They are secretly married, and the following day Rose finds another woman in her husband's arms. Not knowing that he merely picked up the woman from a faint, Rose leaves her husband, and being a good dancer goes to the city, where she secures an engagement in a theatrical company. In the meantime, her husband, who loves her and who does not understand her flight, is taken abroad for his health, and rapidly declines. At the end of the year, however, he returns home, and a dinner is given in his honor. Rose, now a famous dancer, is engaged to dance at the dinner, where she and her husband are mutually surprised in their recognition. Reconciliation follows, and everything ends happily.
- Dr. Warren, a reserved man of a seemingly stern, cold nature, which is roused only in behalf of his loved profession, is an army surgeon, stationed in India. In the pursuit of his duties, he leaves his beautiful, pleasure-loving wife, Alice, to her own devices. Captain Richard Alston, a handsome young officer, tries to make up for the husband's neglect by paying the pretty wife decided attention. Dr. Warren's suspicions are aroused, but at this juncture he is called away by an attack of plague at the river camp, some distance away, where a serum that he has discovered is demanded to stem the death rate. Dr. Warren works heroically among the wretched huts of the natives, nursing the sick and burning down the hovels to prevent the spread of the infection. In her loneliness, Alice sends for Captain Alston. On the road he encounters a child stricken with the plague. Alston puts the little one on the saddle before him and gallops away toward the hospital. When later he arrives at the Warren villa he reels with an awful sickness; the deadly infection has overtaken him. Alice, horrified and distressed, suddenly discovers a note to her husband, advising him of the plague at the river camp. This is her first knowledge of the reason for his absence, and suddenly she realizes that it is her husband she fears for most, and loves most, after all. At this moment the Indian servant announces the approach of Dr. Warren, returning after successfully accomplishing his surgical labors. Alice drags Alston into an adjoining room and goes to meet her husband. The doctor wonders at her nervous, frightened manner, when there is a sudden crash in the next room. The doctor rushes in, his terrified wife following, and finds Captain Alston prostrate on the floor. Alice springs between the angry husband and the helpless officer. Dr. Warren pushes her aside, and going into his laboratory, selects a revolver from the wall. As he turns to go, Alice confronts him and forcefully reminds him of his duty as a soldier and a surgeon. Torn by conflicting emotions but moved by his sense of professional duty to suffering humanity, the doctor hesitates only a moment. Forgetting all other impulses, he treats and cures the stricken captain. After Alston recovers, he goes to the doctor and promises to do whatever may be asked of him as atonement. The doctor asks him to promise to leave the country forever. Then, turning to his wife, he tells her to choose whether she will go with the captain or remain with him. Alice, now awakened to the full nobility of her husband, asks him to let her remain. The doctor, too, realizes his neglect of Alice, and husband and wife are at last united on the basis of a greater understanding and a truer and more abiding bond.
- "Black Nissen" is one of the "boys" of a western mining camp. He is known as "Black Nissen" because of his surly and disagreeable character. As usual, when pay day arrives he has nothing coming to him, as his bad habits keep him constantly in debt. The rest of the boys, enriched by the dollars handed to them by their chief, make off for the saloon to gamble and make merry. "Black Nissen" cannot join them as he is absolutely broke. While slouching away, an attractive woman, named Margaret, crosses his path. She is under his influence and he forces her to give up all the money in her possession. He saunters off to the saloon to be with the rest. At the table a heated argument comes up and guns are quickly drawn. "Black Nissen" recognizing discretion as the better part of valor, beats a hasty retreat. Still faced with the need for money, he plans to rob the chief, whom he has seen hide some cans in a box beneath the bed of his cabin. He awaits a favorable opportunity, and then forces Margaret, his unwilling slave, to climb through the cabin window to secure the box. The chief, with his Chinese servant, returns just at this moment and captures Margaret. Because she is a woman, the rough justice meted out to the thief in the west is tempered by mercy. She is set upon a horse and expelled from camp. From fear of "Black Nissen," Margaret keeps her actions secret and does not expose the bully. When the hubbub is quieted down, "Black Nissen" endeavors to rob the chief himself.With the stolen plans he goes to Europe, and by constant study succeeds in perfecting the dynamite motor which is destined to revolutionize motor boat propulsion. He carries off a valuable trophy at a big regatta, winning at the same time large sums in wages. Subsequently he ingratiates himself in the favor of Col. von Wentheim, President of the Motor Boat Club, and immediately lays siege to the affections of his charming daughter Ellen. One day while out sailing with Ellen, a sudden squall overturns their yacht, and the pair are soon struggling for life in the water. "Black Nissen" swims ashore and gives the alarm. A search party is organized, but they find no trace of the girl. Ellen is rescued, however, by William, son of an old barger. His sweetheart is a charming girl, who happens to be none other than Margaret. This being one of those coincidences which everyday life reveals as stranger than fiction. Margaret discovers that a reward of $5,000 is offered by von Wentheim for news of his daughter, and is fortunate enough to be the lucky recipient of same. After giving the colonel the information he desires, to her surprise she finds that "Black Nissen" is commissioned to bring Ellen home. Under the name of Evinrude, he has outwardly acquired the semblance of a gentleman, but his innate brutality is once again betrayed. Incensed by Margaret's slow progress with the oars, he strikes her viciously. Reaching the barge and finding no one on deck. In a fit of rage he thrusts an oar through the bottom of the tiny craft and with a push of the foot sends the rapidly foundering boat adrift. Ellen, much against her will, returns home under the escort of "Black Nissen."
- Jack Banks and Tex Reeves are friendly rivals for the hand of Bess Harper, daughter of a rancher and horse dealer. Jack is line rider on an outlying ranch. Tex is Harper's corral boss. Harper favors Tex's attentions to his daughter, regarding Jack a drunken loafer. Jack protects a half-breed from a severe beating at the hands of Tex, during a dispute over a poker hand. The same evening in a drunken stupor, he loans his new boots to Tex to attend a dance. Tex, while saddling his horse, accidentally steps in the mud by the water trough, leaving a distinct impression of Jack's boot heels, which later gets that gentleman in bad. The following morning Jack's horse, after an impatient night of pawing at the hitch rail, enters the saloon, and by pulling off Jack's hat, dumping his whiskey bottle over, coaxes his master out and kneels for him to mount. As he is about to ride away, the stage drives up. He waits for the mail, receives a letter from his mother, saying she is in poor health and in need of a little money. Ashamed of his prodigality and too proud to borrow from his friends, he sells his prize horse to Harper, and sends the proceeds home. That night the horse breaks out of Harper's corral and beats it for Jack's lonely cabin. Tex, aroused at the noise, rushes into the empty corral. The half-breed, who has been laying there for Tex, seeing an opportunity in the deserted corral for vengeance, takes a shot at Tex. Suspicion naturally points to Jack. Jack is captured and jailed. Tex slowly recovers, but the wound in his head has clouded his memory. The half-breed, hearing of Jack's capture, induces Bess to help plan his escape. They accomplish a clever stunt, and Jack stays hidden in the back country for a month. Bess, at her father's instigation, has become engaged to Tex. Jack, while rustling grub one day, wanders too far from his hiding place, and is recaptured after a running fight by one of the deputies. The same day the mail brings a letter from the half-breed in Australia, confessing to the shooting of Tex. Later Tex recovers his memory, and entirely clears Jack of the attempted murder and horse stealing. Later, seeing Bess' preference, he nobly gives up the girl to Jack, after exacting a promise from his rival to "cut out all booze." Harper relents and turns Jack's horse over to him, resplendent in a new lady's silver-mounted saddle, remarking, "Wedding present, Jack, but he's still in my family."