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- A picture dramatization from Sir Ed Burne-Jones' famous painting, with suggestions from that world famous poem by Rudyard Kipling, each conceded a peer in the literary and world of art. This great subject handles deftly the realms of the imaginary inner circle of society. (Even as you and I) A fool there was and he made his prayer, To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair (We called her the woman who did not care) But the fool called her his lady fair (Even as you and I). Guy Temple, as "the fool there was" marries his brother's ward, his boyhood sweetheart, Emily. The young husband becomes ensnared in the toils of the Vampire (a destroyer of souls). Clandestine meetings are arranged and the cunning, unscrupulous, satanic actions of the Vampire compels the poor weakling, Temple, to falter and fall before her charms. John Temple, the other brother, determines to save the young husband when he discovers his perfidy, and to recover the jewels given the Vampire by Guy. In a dream he remembers where he had seen Loie before. She it was who had ruined the life of Emily's father and rendered the then slip of a girl an orphan. Seeking out the brother, John Temple told him Loie was a Vampire, that she had ruined his own wife's father and to quit her under threat of his life. He offers Loie a large sum of money to leave America. But her promise is soon forgotten; her direful work continues, the tightening strands on wrecking souls of mortals. The fool was stripped to his foolish hide (Even as you and I). Which she might have seen when she threw him aside (But it isn't on record the lady tried) So some of him lived but the most of him died (Even as you and I). The young husband's mind is rent; his honor gone and the yawning abyss of the great beyond seeks its own.
- Fred Watson and his wife, Alice, attend a dance given on a neighboring ranch. The exertion of the dance is so thirstful that Watson goes out with a friend and irrigates for fair. During his absence, Dillon, a gambler, smooth as the cards he deals, engages Alice in conversation and invites her for a stroll. They meet Watson returning, and be remonstrates with her in bitterness and at length. A few days later Dillon visits the Watson ranch and persuades Alice to promise to elope with him. Shortly thereafter he encounters Watson, and both unlimber artillery, and the unfortunate ranchman goes down. The gambler, thinking he has killed the husband, hurries back to the ranch and persuades Alice to leave with him at once. She insists upon taking her little girl, a child of two, with them. While they are making camp the baby wanders off in the brush and is lost. They make a futile search and then Dillon, who is now in dread of pursuit, forces the unfortunate mother to go on with him down the now-broken trail of life. Two ranchmen, the brothers Jordan, hunting stray cattle, find the little one, and after fruitless inquiries adopt it as their own. Fifteen years later, Watson, who escaped death, heartsore and weary after a long, fruitless hunt for his own, happens to hit that range and rescues a young lady at the risk of his life by snatching her from the back of a runaway horse. He is given employment at the ranch of her foster parents. Through some strange whirligig of fate Dillon, who has given up gambling for horse thieving, comes into that corral, and Watson is suspicious of him, but is not sure. He compels Dillon to shave, and this discloses a tell-tale scar that makes his identification complete. The latter unworthy then tells how he abandoned Alice, who died years ago, and that the child was his. The Jordans, hearing this, by comparing dates and localities, restore their ward to Watson's arms as his daughter. As for Dillon, the all-around bad man, he gets his a-plenty.
- Honest Dan Ryan is in love with Grace Daniels, the daughter of a drunken saloonist. This unworthy threatens to shoot Dan on sight if he continues his attentions to his daughter, the young woman, intent upon keeping the peace and saving her lover, empties her father's gun, but carelessly throws the cartridges into the stove. When the old man lights the fire he gets a bullet for his pains and the blame is laid at Dan's door. He escapes the avenging posse and eventually marries the girl.
- Elton Gates, having served seven years for submitting to temptation with a bank's funds, is released. His uncle John sends him $500.00, with which to start life anew. He has hardly rested in a cheap lodging house when Detective Doolittle spies him and commences to make him an object of special scrutiny. The detective begins to trail him, hopefully awaiting his fall from grace. Gates watches a great house as the detective watches him. When the occupants, Mr. and Mrs. Rugly, leave, he goes to the door, rings, chats with Marie, the maid, and is admitted. He goes to the boudoir of Helen Rugly, his old sweetheart, and takes a photograph of her that he finds there. Going out he gives Marie a bill that he strips from his roll. The ex-convict is followed at every turn by the detective, who is now newly disguised. Guided by the photograph, he rents Bronson's Gallery for a week, paying for it in advance. These negotiations are puzzling to the detective, who now finds Gates quite alone in his new, short-leased home. When Helen Rugly finds her photo gone, she summons her maid and tells her they must get a copy. They visit the photograph gallery, where she meets and recognizes Gates. He tells her that he committed a crime for her sake and served seven years on expiation. The old love flames anew, and she rushes into his arms. The future looks good for them and the sneaking detective pockets his discomfiture and suspicions and allows them to go on their way to happiness without hindrance.
- The love of Jim Dolan for Grace Wellington incurs the hatred of Ed Jones, who is trying to win the affection of Grace Jones, a foreman on the Brown ranch, and Brown, himself, call upon Dolan and request that he sell his little claim, which is bordering the ranch of Brown. Jim refuses to listen to them and his demands of Jones to keep quiet tend to intensify the latter's anger. Seeing a chance to get even with Jim, Jones puts a malignant motive into effect. One night he steals a number of branded hides from Brown, which he buries on the claim of Jim. He then reports that a number of the hides have been stolen and with the aid of the sheriff discover the missing skins. Jim is arrested and sentenced to ten years in the town calaboose. Grace, believing that there has been foul play, smuggles a saw and a note, which tells him of the relay of horses to help him escape. It is not long before Jim is urging the steeds to great speed. The sheriff and the posse soon discover his flight and are soon upon his trail. When Jim comes to the last relay he makes the alarming discovery that the horse is lame. Breaking his rifle, he runs cautiously to the river, submerges himself and breathes only through the barrel of the gun. His ingenious tactic effectuates his escape from the posse, but he is later captured on the river bank by Apaches, who tie him to the tail of a wild horse as a sort of amusement. He is rescued by a prospector and nursed back to health. Around some supplies that the old prospector has bought in town is wrapped a newspaper stating that Ed Jones, who has been wounded in a saloon fight, confessed that it was he who stole the hides and cast the blame upon Jim Dolan. Jim tells his story to the kind-hearted prospector, and it is not long before he is in the arms of his sweetheart, Grace.
- A sturdy old farmer is grieved over the fact that his son, Absolom, has forsaken him. Mercy, the hired girl, brings him a newspaper in which they read about the celebration of "Father's Day," and pray that the hard heart of the boy may be softened. In dissolves, is shown why Absolom left the farm, because of his violent temper and his cruelty of the dumb animals about the place. Then is shown the young man himself, a chauffeur in the city, to the daughter of a wealthy broker. She is shopping in the street, which commemorates "Father's Day," buys flowers and pennants for her own father, and then begs Absolom to send something to his father. He is obdurate, and she determines to redeem him from his selfishness. She makes him drive to the farm, gets the old farmer, and throwing aside class distinction, takes him to see vaudeville, to wrestle with Chop Suey, and raises his hair shooting the Chutes. Absolom is "cut out" of all these entertainments in order to humiliate him, and eventually he is shown in her home in the servants' hall, while the father he has derided fares on champagne and oysters in the grand dining-room. When all get back to the farm by way of the car, the father tries to induce Absolom to give up his job and come back home. The beauteous Hilda then takes a hand, advises him it is his duty to return home and discharges him on the spot. This brings him to a realizing sense of duty and he accepts the situation in justice to himself and all concerned, settles down happily, joyous in the smiles of Mercy, the country lass, to milk the cows and follow the plow.
- Belle Boyd was one of the most daring and dashing figures of the South in the great Civil War. She was captured and imprisoned a number of times, and was personally commended by General Stonewall Jackson for her distinguished services on behalf of his army and her country. The details of this story are fictional, although it is an historic fact. Belle Boyd went through the zone of fire on a battlefield, escaping by dropping to the ground between every volley and then jumping to her feet and running toward the Confederate battery. The scene opens with the home of Belle Boyd in neutral ground. She and her girl companions are "sewing-up" the gallant battle-scarred Southerners, whose uniforms were necessarily neglected after the first few years of strenuous service. The watchful darkey runs into the parlor where the tailoring is proceeding on the living models and sounds the alarm, "The Tanks are coming," The Confederate officers desert their sweethearts, mount in hot haste and make for their lines! They are well out of the way when a Federal troop of cavalry escorting General Shields and staff come upon the porch. The General says they must use the house a few moments to discuss battle plans. Aunt Cloe ushers them into a parlor at the invitation of Belle Boyd. This parlor is rather dilapidated. The General sends his orderly out to inspect the premises to observe if they are safe from eavesdroppers and posts a sentinel at the door of the parlor. The soldier inspects, but he no sooner leaves the room above the parlor than Belle Boyd emerges from hiding in an old armor. She darkens the room, draws aside the rug in the center and looks through the hole in the ceiling, sees the plans exposed on the parlor table below and hears of a plot to capture General Jackson. She makes note of them, as they are most important for "the cause." When the officers depart she is at the front door to bid them "good bye" and through substituting a blank roll secures the battle plan from an enamored subordinate. Men follow her wild ride and her race through the battlefield, bringing information that saves Jackson's corps from defeat.
- This is a story dealing with a band of outlaws who are holding the sheriff's niece a prisoner to insure their own safety.The Sheriff asks the girl's sweetheart, who is a Texas ranger, to come on and help him find her....
- Old Morgan, an eccentric millionaire in a western city, has a dissipated young son. He has also a very sweet adopted daughter, Edwina. One day the son is waylaid near the railroad yards, stripped of a big "roll" and thrown unconscious into a box car. He finally emerges from the box car two hundred miles away, dazed and lonely. He drifts into a hobo camp, and in time joins the order of tramps. He becomes the most famous of them all and is known as "The Crow." Old Morgan provides in his will that in case the son can be located within a certain time of his (the father's) death, the bulk of the fortune shall go to him, but if he is not found, it shall be divided between Edwina and the lawyer who handles Morgan's business. Edwina is in love with a young man named Chester Thompson. She mates her marriage to him conditional on his finding her brother for her. He gets a tip from an article in a paper that "The Crow" is none other than the brother, and he himself dresses as a tramp and starts out to find him. The lawyer, in the meantime, learning the conditions of the will, makes every effort to keep the brother from being found, and hires detectives to thwart Edwina and her lover at every turn. The lover eventually succeeds in his quest, however, and everything ends happily for all save the avaricious lawyer.
- After Kathlyn's seemingly marvelous escape from the Temple of the Lion, where she almost became a victim of fanatical men, not to remark the hungry and marauding lion, she is still followed by the wild beasts that rove in that vicinity in search of prey. She realizes her peril through some keen second sense, and eventually makes her way by woodcraft to a tree, at the base of which is an idol. This being in the nature of a votive shrine. It is frequently visited by the Pilgrims and pious Parsees, who offer prayers for protection from the beasts of the jungle and also leave peace offerings in the form of food. Above in the branches of this spreading tree is propped a rude hunting booth, where the native hunters have been accustomed to watch in security for the stalking game that prey upon one another in the depths of the jungle. This umbrageous tree seems to have kindly shadows, and Kathlyn takes refuge among its branches, exhausted after her terrible flight through the tangled woodlands. Unarmed, she realizes that she must now depend upon her woodcraft and fleetness of foot to avoid the dangerous inhabitants of that neighborhood. With this idea in view, she weaves for herself a dress of fibrous grass that blends with the flora and the branches of the trees, just as the markings of many wild animals does, comporting with their environment, giving them unconscious security. She completes this garment none too soon, when the carnivora which has been upon her trail, rounds up at the base of the tree and settles down with fearful roars and snarling, warning her that it is time for her to look to her safety. She is so surprised that in her haste to get away she drops her tattered and discolored temple gown, fleeing further into the depths of the everglades in her new garb blending so well with the surroundings that it helps to conceal her whereabouts. Bruce, the American hunter, who accomplished Kathlyn's rescue in the amphitheater from the forty hungry lions, has been hot upon her trail since the stampede of elephants drew them far apart. Undeterred, however, he has penetrated the depths of the jungle, followed her from the Burning Gat to the ruined temple, and now to the base of the tree, where he finds her torn and discarded garment. He is encouraged to continue his search with greater zeal. In the interim, some passing traders lose an elephant that has strayed far afield to feed and give chase. The elephant becomes panicky and in its flight almost knocks down the tree that shelters Kathlyn. In her fright, she tries to run away, but the traders who have come upon the scene, capture her, believing her to have been an escaped slave. The chief of this band, after taking counsel, concludes to take his captive to a nearby city, place her in a slave market and sell her. Then follow a series of interesting scenic events, showing the method of caring for captives that have more than ordinary value in the eyes of their owners, for the fair Kathlyn at once excites the cupidity and admiration of the leader of the band, who naturally concludes he has a pearl of great price in her. (Incidental to this is the caste-mark on the forehead of the human chattel.) A few days after Kathlyn emerges from the jungle, she is put upon the auction block in the slave market of Allaha. Disguised in her wild garb of woven grass, bearing her caste-mark, and deprived of all the finery that once marked her as a queen, she is so heavily veiled she is not recognized by any of the dusky magnates who frequent the market of Allaha. Eventually she is sold, curiously enough to Umballah, who does not recognize her on account of the Saree over her face. Kathlyn, who has been successful in outwitting Umballah, concludes to reveal to him her identity, and when she does he is furious and indignant beyond words. While she was in the slave market, she managed to learn the whereabouts of Bruce, and conveyed a message to him through the caste-marker of Allaha. Bruce is again close, but is a few minutes too late to save her, as Umballah, in his fury, has ordered Kathlyn to be incarcerated in the same prison that confines her father. She had believed her sire dead, but when she is placed into the dungeon she recognizes the ragged and emaciated lost one and a joyous meeting drives melancholy from the inhospitable place. This, however, is short-lived, for the malignant Umballah appears and tells Col. Hare that his daughter Kathlyn is now his slave, his chattel, and that he will do with her as he likes. Instead of having the effect he hoped, in humbling the prisoner in chains at his feet, it inspires him with fury, and Hare, now possessed of maniacal strength, springs upon Umballah like a wild beast and bears him down, grinding him against the rocky floor of the dungeon.
- Billy Young, an athletic young bank clerk in love with Marion Wendell the president's daughter, and his young friend Jack Skyes, while walking home from work one night, accidentally encounter an old panhandler on the street corner. Billy is about to give the old man a dime when he recognizes in him his old athletic instructor. Billy bids his friend goodnight and proceeds to a nearby restaurant where he proceeds to treat his old trainer. The restaurant is of a low character and in the poor neighborhood. While eating, Marion Wendell and her friend, Kate Sommers, a mission worker, enter and distribute some tracts among the young girls who are drinking at the tables. The bouncer and waiter try to throw the "reformers" out into the street, but this is too much for Billy and old Reynolds. They make short work of the bouncer and waiter and safely escort the girls to the street, where they part. The two restaurant ruffians follow Billy and his friend and on a dark side street overtake them and after the fracas Billy comes to in a hospital. The old trainer has been removed to a cheap hotel with a bullet wound in his leg. He writes Billy and explains that unless he can get to a dry climate he will die. Billy has just had a call from Marion and her father and the doctor. They tell him he can leave the hospital and he immediately goes to see old Reynolds. He sees what urgent need the old trainer has for money and is heart-broken when he realizes his own penniless state. He cheers up his friend, however, with promises of assistance. While walking home that night his attention is arrested by a large lithograph in front of a coliseum offering five hundred dollars to anyone who will throw the wrestler Terrible Teddy. Billy goes inside, accepts the challenge and after an exciting contest, wins the prize. Needless to say he wins also the girl and his old trainer's gratitude.
- In the grounds of a sanitarium are gathered a number of mentally (but harmless) deranged patients. The most conspicuous is a tall tragedian. When he escapes from his keepers the superintendent concludes that he will naturally make his way to the theater in search of an engagement. The various managers are notified, and the first man that excites suspicion is Montgomery Irving, a poor actor of the antique type, who honestly and vociferously applies for a position. He does not understand why he is detained without a contract, and is about to pull the house down when the manager receives word that the real "dip" has been recaptured elsewhere.
- John Morrison, educated for the ministry, is all the true stature of a real man. He goes west to preach the gospel in the cattle country. He likes the men, the cowboys and the country, and at the same time he has a hankering for the fair sex; in fact, he falls in love with Rose Craig, the daughter of a ranchman. This last move is not so highly relished by the male members of his congregation, as girls in that section are really rarer, and he, picking the choice, consequently wins the enmity of many men, who felt they had the right of prior claim. A bunch of disappointed suitors plan to thrash the successful preacher, but much to their astonishment, he trounces the entire crowd. The cowards sneak off ingloriously, but one plans to "fix" the stigma of "cattle-rustler" upon him. However, the real cattle thief is discovered just in time and "with the goods." Again the parson takes the initiative and persuades the revengeful parties that having recovered their property, they can afford to allow the thief a minute's leeway to get out of sight. The rustler takes advantage of the situation to drop over a cliff, and the parson is reinstated as the master of the situation.
- Grandpa Eaton, a white-haired old man, has reached infirm age, and his grandson, Bobby, is his chief joy. He has a comely granddaughter, aged 20, whose gaiety of disposition causes the old gentleman some apprehension. She has a sweetheart, Jim Weston, but when she shows Grandpa her ring and announces her engagement, he not only refuses to shake hands with the young man, but reduces his voice from quivering falsetto to the deep diapason note of displeasure. Then he goes on playing with Bobby as though nothing had happened. Bobby, however, sees through the window the waiting automobile of Jim and decides that the out-of-doors is for him. He rushes out, begs for a ride, but is refused. Undaunted by this, and unnoticed by Jim, he climbs onto the rear of the machine, and as the driver is not particular about speed laws, Bobby has to cling on for dear life. Finally he is jarred off, and is discovered in the street, injured and unconscious. A "cop'" and several other Samaritans rush in and pick up the injured one, with expressions of amazement, and one man points down the street towards the whirling auto, the driver of which knows nothing of his lost passenger. Jim, however, happens to come back that way, and is shocked and horrified to see the policeman carrying Bobby, whom he recognizes. He explains to him that he will take care of him, takes the child in his auto and carries him swiftly to his own home, a fashionable bachelor apartment. He dispatches his man at once for a doctor, then phones Bess. She, in turn, breaks the news to Grandpa Eaton, who makes his way to Jim's apartment and endeavors to carry the injured child from the sick-room. The doctor interferes at this point, but presently Bobby regains his wits, begins to mend, and exonerates Jim from the blame that his Grandpa has placed upon him. This results in restored happiness all around.
- George Ogden is cursed with a quick temper and well-nigh ruined by his own self-indulgence. He marries a beautiful girl, Anna Wilson, but, after a few years, his fondness for whiskey overcomes his better traits, and life becomes almost unbearable for her. The beautiful home becomes a hollow mockery. Her husband's only sober hours are spent at his business; at home he is a grouch, and after a few drinks, becomes a snarling, disagreeable beast. Eventually this wears her out and wrecks her health. She is, however, brave and trustful and sticks by the man she wedded "for worse," but the cause is discovered by Dr. Phillip Grant, a friend of her husband, who attends her. He finds that her case is beyond medical aid, and takes it upon himself to administer a stinging reproof to Ogden, concerning the peril of his dissolute habits for his ultimate ruin. Ogden does not receive this advice in any kindly spirit; in fact, he grows wilder and drinks deeper and when the doctor calls the second time and speaks to him, he dashes the decanter to the floor, deserts his house in a furious heat, and in a wild, insane way, goes far away on a hunting trip, and leads a hermit's life in a mountain cabin. In addition to firearms, he has a large supply of "fire-water," so that what might have been a cure, sticks like a curse. One day, while hunting, he falls upon his gun, and the accidental discharge of the piece strikes him in the head and leaves him severely wounded and unconscious. Two farmers find him, take him to the house, summon medical assistance and eventually he is nursed back to life, the daughter of the family, Esther, being most assiduous in her attention, his recovery is shown as the scene dims. Time passes quickly. Ogden has been restored to physical health, thanks to the splendid nursing and the alienation of the poison that sapped his strength, but his mind is entirely blank regarding the past. In the meantime, his wife in the big city house finds that he has not only lived up to his income, but was overliving it, and is seriously involved in debt. She has every reason to believe that he has basely deserted her, and starts out bravely to make her own living. At the suggestion of good old Dr. Grant, she enters a training school, studies nursing and eventually enters the hospital as a nurse where he is chief surgeon. There she meets Harold Scott, Dr. Grant's assistant, and friendship ripens into love. Several years have passed. Anna thoroughly believes that Ogden has deserted her, and she is granted a divorce. In the interim, the one-time active city man of affairs and business, works out of doors on Caleb Jackson's farm, happy and thoroughly contented. His whole nature has changed, and in his simple, kindly manner, he woos and wins Esther Jackson. When he approaches her father regarding the marriage, the latter hesitates because he has no definite knowledge of Ogden's past. The fact is he is deficient, and the country practitioner who had his case in hand advises his friend to consult a city specialist. As a result of this, they take Ogden to a hospital, strangely enough that is conducted by Dr. Grant. He at once recognizes his patient, but at once decides it is best for all concerned not to reveal the knowledge of his identity. The doctor realizes that if an operation is successfully performed, the chances are all in favor of Ogden's former nature asserting itself. He takes the unusual stand that an operation in view of these facts might prove disastrous, and sternly advises against it. Later, Anna and Dr. Scott are married, and the old doctor sees him off on their honeymoon. On his return to the hospital, he finds a letter from Caleb, asking whether or not Ogden's injury would be a bar to his marriage with Esther, and Grant, fortified in self-consciousness that his decision was the better way, assures him there will be no danger in such a union.
- Cicely Moore is the spirited and somewhat spoiled child of a wealthy widower. She is the adored one of her father, but her seeming wild and willful ways puzzles and distresses him. He consults the family physician who advises him to send her to a boarding school, suggesting this will tame her. Cicely immediately assumes leadership and is more or less concerned with all forms of original mischief. While she is away on probation her father grows so lonesome that he falls victim to the wiles of a designing widow and her daughter. When Cicely returns home she finds the pair in near possession of her father's home. She seemingly falls easily into their hands, but has her eyes open and plans quietly but effectively for their ejection. The scheming widow and her daughter have connived with an unscrupulous lawyer to take advantage of her desperately ill father to write a will in their favor and disinherit his daughter. How cleverly Cicely ousts them, outwits them and protects her own, makes an interesting and ingenious denouement, showing that she has fully awakened to the serious responsibilities of life.
- Frank Alvin, from childhood up, as well as his mother, has yielded to the whims of his spoiled sister, Lillian. The money intended for the education of both was diverted and lavished upon the sister, while the brother remained to drudge throughout the hard years in the village store. In the interim, the girl is sent to an eastern seminary, thence to a fashionable girls' college, and finally returns, the finishing product of education, ready for social conquest, but is disconsolate over the thought of dwelling in the pokey, slow, old town. The brother gives up his slowly accumulated savings to provide for a pretty home, but this does not satisfy her cravings, and she grows more and more exacting. She goes further, and steps between him and his sweetheart. It is then that all the man arouses in him and he bitterly reproves his sister for the selfishness of her life. Fate, however, takes a hand, and the Judge, whose daughter was betrothed to Frank, accidentally happens to overhear this talk between brother and sister, and believing to the justice of the man, so adroitly manipulates in his favor that he comes out victorious. How happiness was accrued for all concerned, is told in the film.
- Huntington Morgan, a leading man "out of work," finds himself one day penniless and breakfast-less. This is his lucky day, however, and fortune leads him straight to a wallet containing several hundred dollars in greenbacks. The wallet was dropped by footpads, who had held up a wealthy real estate man named Aleshire. In the wallet is Aleshire's address. Aleshire, however, has recently rented his townhouse to a spinster, Miss Mahaffy, and has moved to a suburb. Overjoyed at his find, Morgan crosses the street toward a restaurant to stay the pangs of hunger. He is knocked down and rendered unconscious by a passing automobile. The owner of the car finds Aleshire's address in the wallet, concludes that the victim is the owner of the name, and forthwith transports him to the Aleshire townhouse. Miss Mahaffy is out. A maid, who has just been hired that day, allows the frightened car owner to deposit the injured actor in Miss Mahaffy's bed. Miss Mahaffy soon returns. Also Mr. Morgan awakes. He takes in the situation in a moment, and cleverly allows the flustered spinster to believe him to be Mr. Aleshire, whom she has never seen in person, having done business through his agent. The fun waxes fast and furious. Mr. Morgan's false pretenses are at last discovered, but he handles his discoverers so cleverly that he gets away with the roll of greenbacks after all.
- Jim Sherman, a Northerner, living in the South, joins the Federal forces. His heroic wife, Jane, and his baby daughter, Lillian, bid him a sad farewell. The Federal recruits are quartered some miles down the river, and there come tidings to the new soldier from his wife and little daughter, and he returns them a letter, which they open feverishly for news. He encloses a little letter for the child, and she is delighted. Immediately she laboriously starts out to send a letter to her father in reply. Just about this time a lot of Confederate officers, who are making a daring reconnaissance toward the Federal lines, drive into the yard of the Sherman home and take possession of the house. The mother is very much frightened at this invasion, but the officers are gentlemen, and are soon made at home. Lillian quickly makes friends with the men. The business of the officers, however, is urgent, and they soon dismiss the family from the room, get out a war map and as Lillian has returned and is playing on the floor with her doll she is allowed to remain in the room. They set her down from the table, where they have been showing her the map, and while she is apparently innocently playing with her doll, she is all ears, listening to their plans for the capture of the Federal camp, where her father is stationed. This plan is embraced in a message that Col. Mooney places in his hat. Lillian purposely breaks the head of her favorite doll, then shows it tearfully to Col. Sayles, who tells her to take it to her mother to be mended. She exits in presumable great grief. Once out of the room, she rushes joyously to her mother and explains to her what she has heard. The mother realizes the importance of the message, and when she invites the officers to lunch, instructs Lillian to get the note if possible, and make a copy of it. The child follows instructions, replaces the original in the hat that has been left in the front room, and afterwards gives her mother the copy. While the men are still at the table, Jane, the mother, rushes to the stables, secures a mount and quietly rides toward the Yankee lines. As the officers are weary from the hard riding, and wish to give the horses a rest, they take long leisure at the luncheon, but after a while time presses and they go back to the front room. Maj. Mooney, examining his hat and finding his message still there, is unsuspicious and sends the orderly to the stable to get their mounts ready. Meantime, little Lillian uses her wiles with such charm that the officers are loath to leave such pleasant company and resume their hard ride. When the orderly returns from the stable and reports "one horse shy," there is instant commotion. Until now the lady of the house has not been missed. There is a grand rush to the stable and the old hostler is threatened with death if he does not tell them who has taken the horse. He stolidly refuses to give the information, and they return to the house, questioning the child and threatening to cut off her ears unless she tells them where her mother is, but she simply laughs in the faces of the officers. They see questions are useless and as time is passing, decide at once to ride forward. In the meantime, Jane is speeding toward the Yankee camp with the information safe in the sole of her shoe. Eventually she comes to a bridge, where she sees a picket-post that will make her passage impossible. She deserts her horse and, running a distance through the woods, swims the stream a distance above the bridge. She reaches the Yankee camp and is led to headquarters with her news. Instantly there is a commotion in response. The entire camp is up in arms. Jim meets his wife, and is ordered to take personal charge of her. The Union soldiers take the bridge where the picket-post which blocked Jane's path is stationed and quietly advance on the general body, and the Confederates, instead of surprising them as originally planned, are themselves surprised and overcome. The Federal charge is quick and decisive. The Confederates retreat in disorder. The Colonel in command, out of gratitude for the valuable service of Jim's brave wife, gives him a three months' furlough to visit his home, where the Confederate coup was frustrated by the cunning of baby Lillian.
- Commodore Nutt and Captain Swivel take a jolly party of young folks in a cruise on their yacht. Their boys, Lem Nutt and Chat Swivel, are incorrigible mischiefs, and the love-making begins with the girls before the anchor is dropped in a friendly harbor where the bathing is good. The spooning among the youngsters is so noisy and so continuous, that the Commodore and the Captain are scandalized and give strict and emphatic orders to "cut it out." Thereupon the young folks plan a royal revenge. The two ancients prefer the solitude of their private bathing beach and repair to a lonely cove, where they swim daily, unimpeded by striped bathing suits. The girls steal their clothes one morning in a very ladylike manner and present them to the boys. When the elderly gentlemen come back to where they have cached their clothing, they find only their caps and their oxfords. They are forced to drape themselves with seaweed and make a dash through the village in order to reach the yacht. They are chased by the Grassville Sheriff, but finally swim out to their yacht. Immediately they lay hands on the rails, they are pushed off, and they are not allowed to board until they promise not to interfere with the prerogatives of the young people, in having the best possible time under the circumstances.
- Elmer Benson, a ranger, while riding his division in the National Forest, chances upon the camp of David Fletcher, his wife and their adopted daughter, Barbara. They have a big herd of goats, and he warns Fletcher not to let them feed in the National Reserve. At the same time he becomes interested in the stepdaughter, who, he feels, is being ill-treated. One day he finds Fletcher's men have disobeyed him and driven the goats into the reserve. He orders them to leave, and during the argument that follows, the foreman covers Benson with a gun, but the latter exhibits his authority, places the foreman under arrest, and takes him to his cabin, deciding to wait until morning before taking him to town. The other herders form a desperate plan to rescue their foreman, which is overheard by Barbara. The men accomplish the rescue, and leave Benson bound and helpless in the cabin. Fletcher then gives his foreman some money and tells him to get out of the state quick. He agrees to do so, but subsequently changes his mind and decides to get even with the ranger. With this in view, he climbs up the top of a cliff which overhangs the cabin in which Benson is lying securely tied. He places a dynamite cartridge in the crevice of a rock so that the explosion will send tons of granite directly upon the cabin. Just as he has lit the fuse, Barbara rides in, runs into the cabin and frees Benson. Both rush out as an avalanche of rock from above smashes the heavy structure to pieces. Benson captures the foreman, and together with Barbara, starts to take the prisoner to town. With the aid of field glasses he sees that the Fletchers are hurriedly breaking camp. Barbara begs Benson to let them depart, and he agrees, that if she will marry him, he will let them go. So they deliver their prisoner and hunt up a preacher.
- The city editor remarked to his star reporter, Jimmie, "This is the biggest steal that any corporation tried to put over the municipality. Run it down, break it up, and you will own the shop." Jimmie went after the new assignment fast and furious, and the front page of his paper began to attract the attention of the populace to a new condition of affairs, in which a railroad trust appeared to be hiding behind an innocent application made by a coterie of seemingly disinterested citizens, all of whom were associated with big corporations. Councilman Blake, a cold-blooded politician, led the controlling faction of aldermen, and while he had long been a "suspect" nobody was clever enough to "put it over on him." At the preliminary council meeting only a single vote was required to give the "people's property" to the railroad trust. The lacking vote was Black, who, knowing his previous power, reserved his right to hold the big job in leash. At this point in the game, grim Grayson, the head of the railway trust, came to the city secretly, just as Blake expected he would, praying for a conference. In the interim Reporter Jimmie met and impressed Alice, Blake's stenographer, who felt the power of his personality, and could not restrain her interest in the story that was unfolding as he came day after day for interviews. When she learned that Councilman Blake was to be a guest that night at Grayson's country home she "tipped it off" to Jimmie by 'phone. He managed to get unobserved into Grayson's house and his sharp ears overheard the conclusion of the bargain between the councilman and the magnate. Blake hurried away, and Grayson sat down to enjoy reflecting that he had the winning of the franchise fight in his pocket, signed for a certainty by Blake. The alert Jimmie leaped upon him, bound and gagged him, and, possessing himself of the precious document, escaped from the house and made a run for his horse he had concealed in the shrubbery. He ran into the husky secretary of Grayson and handed him a punch on the point of the jaw and then proceeded to his horse. The secretary, however, rallied for the count and took a shot at Jimmie, that came so close that it made a brain bruise across his brow. Grayson's man staggered to his feet, rushed to the house and found his master trussed up like a stuffed turkey. He released him, learned the truth of the raid, and consequently, upon his master's demand, rushed for his automobile. The wounded reporter rode madly on and then the automobile came flashing into the scene. Jimmie tried out all the tricks at his command in fox chasing, in cutting across ploughed fields and taking down narrow, rough lanes, but Grayson's car ate up the miles savagely and came closer and closer. Now they were in the city limits, and on a shaded boulevard the car caught up with the tired rider and his foam-flecked steed. Jimmie was dragged from his horse, and was about to be thrown in the car and carried away when a mounted patrolman appeared and asked impertinent questions. Jimmie thrust the document in the officer's hand, when Grayson declared his identity and insisted that a valuable document had been stolen from him. The patrolman glanced at the document and the significance of it appealed to him so powerfully that he handed it back to Jimmie and told him to "Beat it." Then he compelled the frantic Grayson and his huskies to conform with the speed laws so he could trot alongside their automobile through the park. Things were happening in the City Hall in the interim and likewise at the newspaper office, a sort of expectant hush that comes before great news "breaks." The editor was about to order the presses to start, giving up the expected scoop as too late, when Jimmie with a bloody handkerchief bound about his brow, and the knock-out document in his hand, staggered into the office with his smashing story. It was a big thing and the bold-face type played it up scare-heads. The scene shifted to the council chamber. Blake concluded his speech and the voting was about to begin, when Jimmie darted into the room and pushed the "extra" under the nose of the astonished Blake, and then passed other copies around so quickly that the great franchise steal died a-bornin'. Blake's pretty stenographer was at work early that morning when the telephone rang and she recognized the voice, unmistakably Jimmie's that said, "Hello a friend is talking. Will you marry me?" It wasn't hard to guess the answer, and when the orange blossoms bloomed upon her brow two months later, the newspaper that Jimmie helped to the greatest scoop of the time was heavily represented both in "among those present" and the bridal gifts.
- Tom Jones is a good farmer when sober, but a noisome pest when in liquor. His son and daughter, not to remark his wife, are much distressed over his growing weakness. One day the good doctor brings him home from the town groggery and tells the family that their "awful Dad" will soon have delirium tremens if he does not reform. An itinerant show with a menagerie comes that way, and the clever son digs into his savings and hires the outfit for a day. He stocks the barnyard with the animals. When the old man comes home at nightfall, he staggers out to milk a cow, and encounters a camel instead. He rushes into the barn and collides with an elephant. Then he flees to his room and real monkeys swarm over his bed. His family finally rescues him and he takes the pledge, promising never to drink again. The reform accomplished by this drastic method sticks, so it saves a good farmer for a useful life.
- Bill Harcourt and Jim Harcourt, who have always shopped in the country by mail order, come to live in town and conclude to furnish a little flat on the easy payment system. They get out of work and out of money, and the furniture dealer snatches out his goods, leaving them in a bare establishment, barring the fact that each has a pair of pajamas. Their aunt and uncle, from whom they have great expectations, send word that they are coming to visit. Put to their wits' end to make an appearance, they borrow clothes and furniture from the neighboring flat and entertain their relations. The good impression is rudely shattered when the neighbors return suddenly. The neighbor strips the flat bare again and leaves the boys in their "dream robes."
- It so happens that Widow Jones' daughter is beloved by the son of Widower Brown and the parents in each case who are strangers to each other, strenuously oppose anything that looks like no alliance between the families. One day the widow discovers the young man making love to her daughter and after reproving the girl, she pens a protest to the boy's father in a style that scorches the paper. The young people are not slow in ascertaining the attitude of their parents and put matters in train to outwit them. The son writes a letter to the daughter, informing her that the carriage will be waiting under the old pepper tree in readiness for their elopement and that his face will be curtained by heavy whiskers. She, in response, declares she will be in readiness and disguised by a heavy veil. These letters are then so disposed that quite by accident they will fall into the hands of the bothersome parents. This all works out as planned and both the widow and the widower conclude each independently to teach their child a lesson and thoroughly discomfit the one of their enemy. He hides himself in whiskers to disguise the briskets of age, assumes a falsetto voice, takes on a springy step and otherwise has the debonair air of youth. The widow, who has lost her waistline, gets all laced up and dolled out with veils and trimmings, so that she looks like a sixteen-year-old Tango girl. Then with impatient eagerness, the widow and widower each finally primed for revenge, keep the appointment under the old pepper tree. The widower cannot resist the temptation to kiss something young and tempting, so he plants a bus that almost starts a tooth in his willing victim. The widow, in turn, finds it to her liking to be squeezed by a boy whom she thinks is very strong for eighteen. The pair depart for the minister's residence, and in the interim the lovers have escaped and follow them in an auto. The widow sees and seizes a triumphant moment when she arrives in the drawing-room of the parson and throws aside her veil to find herself staring in the face of the widower who has discarded his herbivora in the form of those thick-laced whiskers. At this juncture the son and daughter rush into the scene, telling the bewildered fat folks that they have forgotten their marriage license, but they have brought theirs with them. The widow and the widower see the point of the joke and realize that they ought to be good neighbors and good parents, so they give their consent to the union.
- A husband and father falls in love with an unscrupulous actress.
- Mrs. Smith, intent upon bringing up her daughter, Cecil, who is about to be married to John, gives her a few practical directions about schooling a husband in the beginning, so that he will learn to love, honor and obey without question. John does not really know that he has been selected for the bridegroom, as he is very bashful, but when he gets into the Smith home and the Smith child falls upon his neck, with a cinch that the Smith mother witnesses the proceeding, he is resigned to the fact that he is in to become a member of the family. The next scene shows that the Smith family hopes have been realized. Cecil has decorated every bit of furniture in the dining-room with bow ribbons, so that when John comes in he gets more or less fussed and tangled up. She hustles him into a smoking jacket, produces his slippers, and then he dutifully produces his pay roll. As he lays the bills upon the table, she daintily plucks off the large denominations and then pecks him a kiss. They go walking and he tries to stop at a cigar store for a smoke, but she bustles him along. She is saving his money, not. She appears at the house with a $40.00 hat that has been reduced to $38.88. She gives the usual fuss donation, but John's smile is worthless now, when he sees the feather bargain. He hardly has time to recover from the attack before she produces a beautiful bargain cloak that has a special discount of 68 cents. John looks and gasps wildly for air, and finally, as she drags him off to the opera, where tariffs are high, he conceives a plan of getting even. He invites her to refreshments after the opera. He sets up a game with the waiter. The bill for the luncheon is $8.50, and John, after assiduous "digging" in his dress jeans, can produce only a silver dollar and a Waterbury watch. So they are hauled off to the station house to think things over. This thoroughly reforms the wife, and John controls his own bank account thereafter.
- Jack Temple, a young man from the country, ventures to the big city and is nearly ruined.
- A rough looking stranger about Silverton, where the railway station is the chief structure of the place, is "Railroad Jack," a man of mystery. The agent is taken suddenly ill, and his daughter starts down the track on his railroad velocipede to light the switch lamps. At the first switch her light car jumps the tracks and hurls the girl and the cargo of lanterns to one side, which, seen by the stranger, starts him to a rescue on the run. He drags her out of harm's way just as the Limited thunders by. After administering first aid, he places the lanterns himself and then tenderly takes the girl back and arrives at the station just in time to take a message that is ticking over the wires. Time passes. The girl really begins to love the man who rescued her, when she picks up a poster, sent broadcast by a detective agency, offering a reward for the conviction of Railroad Jack, Galveston Ben and Dakota Dan, giving descriptions of the three men wanted. She recognizes the first named and instantly repudiates him. His subsequent bravery in the battle with his old comrades in crime, in a three-cornered duel, thwarts a great train robbery. He is promptly pardoned by the governor for his questionable past. He is the full stature of a man and wins the girl, so that blessings brighten his passing days.
- A romantic young author, wearied with the rush of a prosaic age, who loves the open, accompanied only by his flute, starts on a spring tour through the rural regions. In his wanderings, disguised as a gypsy fortune teller, he sees a lovely girl and makes her acquaintance. In reading her happiness, he mentions the rover with the magic flute, to quicken her interest. Having inspired the thought, he goes on his way, discarding his disguise. The next day the fair one hears the luring love note of the flute, and follows it to the forest. There she finds a dark, handsome young stranger sleeping. She gazes a moment, spell-bound, then flees. The sleeper is awakened and follows her. Eventually they become lovers; but the maid's father will have nothing to do with a flute player. Strangely enough this newspaper man is a publisher, and in financial trouble, A wealthy friend comes to his relief, who seeks in marriage the hand of his daughter. The young author betakes him to his desk and writes a romance entitled, "The Rose of May." He offers it anonymously to the publisher, and it becomes top-listed as "a best seller." A year passes, the girl, stung by his seeming forgetfulness, is about to accept the elderly suitor, when she hears the sound of a distant flute. Again the lovers meet, but this time to part no more, for the proud parent, now made wealthy by the man who plays with a pen as potentially as he does skillfully with a flute, is very desirable.
- Tom Walker, a miserly man, is much beaten and bullied by his Amazonian wife, Dame Walker. The action of the piece takes place in New E3ngland, early in the eighteenth century, when the Puritans were still in power. Tom, having been well drubbed, slinks out of his house and goes fishing with Old Briggs. While they are safely anchored in midstream, the latter tells him that Captain Kidd, the pirate, buried his treasure in that neighborhood, which excites the cupidity of Tom. He deserts his companion and takes to the woods, camps near the charming spot, and is almost frightened out of his wits by the appearance of the devil, who warns him to be off.. "Out of the frying-pan into the fire," he goes home and, after telling his wife, receives a good beating, and she takes shovel in hand and proceeds to investigate the treasure herself. He endeavors to persuade her from her rash undertaking, but she hands him one from her "terrible left" and proceeds alone to unearth the treasure trove. The devil orders her away, but she puts up a stubborn fight, which is her last, as she disappears in the trench of her own making in a puff of smoke. His Satanic Majesty, having taken care of the tartar, seeks the cream in Tom's soul, which he bargains for on the ground that he will have the pirate's treasure and a beautiful young wife to boot, if he will give up said soul. Tom having lost his chief exercise in life, beatings from his wife, is willing to risk another consort who is young and beautiful, whose dowry is untold wealth. He consents to the compact, and then the devil makes him do all sorts of mean tricks, until Tom, overcome by remorse, seeks out the minister and begs him to save him from the devil. That worthy gives him a Bible and tells him to always keep it on his person and he will be immune. The devil, however, disguised, bribes his old friend, Briggs, to steal the Bible, so the devil gets his dues and poor Tom presumably goes to more suffering in the after-life.
- A bank teller seeks vengeance upon the president of the bank who had him convicted of thievery.
- The Village Smithy and the Village Cobbler had been the best of friends for many years. Smith had a daughter; Cobbler had a son, young, honest and manly, but, possessed of a roving, care-free nature that often led him o'er seas afar, and sometimes caused him to revel with the shifters of the village grog shop. The village parson had long loved Jennie, the Smith's daughter, in silence. So had Jack, the Cobbler's son. Jennie respected the parson, but her love was for Jack. One day Jack, who had been away before the mast for a long time, returned to the village in time to witness the parson in the act of proposing to Jennie. Nothing daunted. Jack made known his presence and proposed likewise. Jennie accepted Jack. That evening, Jack, having imbibed too freely at the tavern, was in his cups. The parson thereupon proved himself the man by keeping his erstwhile rival from the sight of his betrothed. For this kindness Jack promised never to drink again. The marriage took place with the parson officiating and the lucky young people knew naught of the heartache felt by him who had made them one.
- Nellie Pitts resents the attention of Jim Keith, a ranchman, and calls Ed Harvey (a cowboy and her sweetheart), to her assistance. Later Jim attempts to make love to her, and when she repulses him, rides away swearing revenge. Mr. Pitts sells a herd of horses. Jim, hiding and seeing the buyer pay Mr. Pitts, also sees him bury a tin box containing the money, and steals it. He then goes to Mr. Pitt and tells him he will destroy the mortgage if he can marry Nellie, and when Mr. Pitt refuses to consent, Jim threatens to foreclose as soon as the mortgage is done, and leaves. Ed brings Nellie home and places a on her finger. Mr. Pitt discovers the loss of his money. He goes home heartbroken and tells his family. Jim comes in and Mr. Pitt tells him that Nellie agrees to sacrifice herself. Ed and Harvey stroke upon a plan. They wait until Jim leaves his house, enter, search the rooms and find the gold. Gathering the boys, they get the sheriff and return with him to Mr. Pitt's home, where Jim is arrested and Harry is thanked by all.
- Buster Holmes receives a letter from his late uncle's attorney in the east, stating that he has inherited an income for life, if he will take a course through the university. Owning nothing but his spurs, boots and saddle, he concludes to favor the education. Six years after the old spell of the west urges him back again, but the east has so bleached him out that, disguised in store clothes, he goes back to the ranch looking like a true tenderfoot. All the boys naturally take advantage of the callow newcomer, but the ranchman's daughter is much disgusted by what she considers their cruelties, and her interest presently ripens into affection. One day at the corral the boys are saddling up an outlaw, and Buster Holmes manages to get from the girl a promise that she will marry him if he can ride the bad horse. He gets firmly upon the hurricane back of the "bronc," who does all the stiff-legged and hunch-back stunts his wild and vicious brain can conjure, but Buster sticks to his mount like a centaur. This makes the other shame-faced cowboys hide behind the fences of the corral, and the girl is angered because the dude has been deceiving her. Presently she stops her pouting, flaunting and protesting as she finds him, after all, a better man than she thought, and is happy with him heart and hand.
- Bud Reynolds, the king of his class, applies at the Diamond "S" ranch for a job and promptly falls in love with the ranchman's daughter. They all contest at the County Fair, when Bud captures all the trophies in sight for his prowess, including the hand of the fair Katie. Arizona Rob, Soda Water Sam and Limpy Jim are disconsolate thereat, and take to reading openly and in secret, the small "ads" in the crumpled paper from Omaha. They all strike "a plant" of two confidence men: "A wealthy widow desires to make the acquaintance of a Westerner." Each, unknown to the other, writes, and are requested to send a sum of money as evidence of good faith. After several weeks of waiting for the return sign of the widow, their mutual secret becomes open and they conclude, both as individuals and syndicates, they have been stung. Arizona volunteers to mosey up to Omaha and try to get back the original heart balm investment. He sends the coy widow an important check, and goes on the same train with the letter. He visits the newspaper office and lays for the "Con" who gets the letters, and then trails him to the lair of his confederates. As they are about to split the proceeds of the check he bobs up serenely, and covering them with his trusty irons, "persuades" them to pay his bill which includes his traveling expenses and the original investment of his partners, together with divers "extras" in the form of heart damages, in a naive western way that takes the starch and unearned increment out of the swindlers. Then he buys a handsome wedding present for Bud and Katie. His partners are reimbursed, but concluded that the risks of matrimony are too complicated for their simple calculation.
- A spirited drama of the track, featuring one of its most famous figures, Budd Doble, and several equine stars from his racing stables in California, has an interest strong in the past and telling in up-to-dateness. For play purposes it is assumed that evil days have fallen on the famous stock farm. Oliver, a rival, having secured a mortgage on the place. This canny individual offers to give up the paper for a certain likely two-year-old. As Doble has secured means to take care of the pressing interest, he declines the proposition. Crafty Oliver finally induces him to race the two-year-old against his own filly, the stakes to be the mortgage. This looks game and attracts Doble, but Oliver has a bad one up his sleeve and slips a bribe to have Doble's driver "throw the race." Oliver's son, who is in love with Doble's daughter, frustrates this villainy and wins the girl as handily as her father wins the race. So Doble gets an Oliver, from either viewpoint.
- Bill Brant, a bad man, has a fine daughter, who is in love with a good man, Tom Travis, foreman of the Diamond "S" ranch. Brant has the unhappy faculty of eliminating the last letter of his name and adding a "d" on other people's cattle, in the argot of the west, a rustler. The redoubtable Tom Travis has been looking after his diminishing herd and happens to so by the Brant cabin, following a warm trail. He finds that the girl has been locked in the cabin by heavy bars having been nailed across the windows and door. He concludes that this is due to two reasons: one, that she cannot get away, and the other, that she cannot discover the operations of Brant and his accomplices. Tom gives the girl her liberty and suggests that they go at once and get married. So they ride off double, on their happy errand. The rustlers, returning, find the girl gone and start after the couple. Tom and his inamorata reach the home of the minister first: but Brant arrives on the scene, furiously declaring that he is going to make his daughter a widow before she is a wife. He rushes into the room, and the daughter requests the parson to pray for her father. This smites the conscience of the old sinner, so that he gives up his murderous plan and orders his men to drive back the stolen cattle they have confined and concealed in a draw. So he happily becomes good, leaves the country, and the young people are happy ever after.
- A doctor, summoned to a mountain ranch finds the little girl of the household dangerously ill, but asserts that her life can he saved if a certain medicine can be procured within two and a half hours. Roderick, the brother of the little girl, volunteers to make the ride, twenty miles, and return in the time specified. On his way to the drug store he arranges for "relays", and comes back with the medicine in time to save the ailing child's life.
- General Lee gives Lieut. Archer a dispatch to be carried to General Jackson. The young soldier meets a Union scooting party, and wounded, he finds sanctuary at the Allen mansion. The house is subsequently searched by the Union party, but Virginia Allen, by conducting the officer through a secret door in the wainscoting of the dining room, saves him. She then takes him away and hides him in a cave. She takes General Lee's dispatch from the lining of Archer's coat and tucks it in her hair, and then rides away with the Union soldiers toward the Confederate lines. She takes this document to Gen. Jackson without difficulty and he is deeply grateful. Eventually she returns to her own home and finds Lieutenant Archer recovered. They plight their troth and he goes back to the field of war.
- Jeff Scott, a quick and determined fellow, who has been brought up by foster parents unmindful of his father's record, is so outrageously bullied by Sam Carey, that he gets a gun, but declines to use it after having the drop on Sam. The latter, a human hound is not compunctious over plugging his generous adversary, and is sentenced to serve time although his marksmanship is not fatally accurate. After some years' service he escapes from prison, captures Jeff's little girl and leaves a note that he has left her at the mercy of the wolves. Again the blood-blot fills the brain of Jeff and he reaches the man who tried to kill him and then robs him of his treasure. The thrilling fight in which he casts aside the temptation of a gun to evoke vengeance with his naked hands, stops just close enough to the dim border of tragedy to make the over-true tale telling and intense.
- General Arleno, the last grandee of the old Spanish regime, refuses to sell a certain sea-girt tract in California a big corporation for harbor purposes because it will dispossess his poor fisher folk. The railway discovering that his grant has a defect of title, take forcible possession, trusting luck to fight out its claims in court. Their harbor engineer, who has been called for this project, has fallen in love with a fair Californian at the closing of a mission school. She makes her home at the house of her uncle General Arleno, and when she returns there and finds her lover directing the invasion against their ancient estate, she gives him the hardest fight of his life; but, love finds a way and it ends well for all concerned.
- A study of the contrasting marriages of two sisters.
- The farmers Dickens and Lawson had been contented neighbors for many years and to their great happiness their children Jim Dickens and Helen Lawson were inclined to continue this friendship by a more binding tie. The parents watched the progress of the match with kindly eyes and felt that nothing could interfere with their favorite plan. A sweet breath of purity seems to fill the picture of Sunday on the farm and the "Coming Thro' the Rye." In the midst of the harvesting of the wheat, a breakdown occurs and Jim is obliged to hurry to the city for repairs. On his way to town, Jim comes to a carnival tent, where all is laughing and dancing and he becomes infatuated with a beautiful young dancer. No one is there to bring to his mind the thoughts of one more lovely on the little farm; he is an easy victim and forgets all but the present. On his return to the farm, Helen is at the gate to meet him but is turned down by Jim. The sorrowful girl sees him again leave for the city, where he is to meet the dancer. He meets her, and his eyes are opened. He begins to realize the wrong done Helen and returns to the farm. He pleads with his old sweetheart and the close of the picture is a happy one. "When the Harvest Day is Over."
- Mr. and Mrs. Algernon Boob are discovered breakfasting in their country place at Lonesomehurst. He is as small and insignificant as she is buxom and important. He is consuming the contents of the 'Pup Edition' occasionally thinking of himself and taking a bite of solid food. The whistle of the train reminds him and he jumps into his overcoat, but neglects to put on his hat. He is followed to the station by the fleet and faithful maid of all-works, who jams the head-piece on him just as he climbs in the train. He has forgotten his commuter ticket so he pays cash, and then he keeps trumping his partner's ace in a friendly game in most exasperating fashion. His wife is invited to come to the city and have their child photographed. It requires a photographer and a corps of assistants to scare the baby into an attitude of restful content for a picture. Mr. Boob arrives at the station an hour before his train is made up, so he buries himself in his newspaper. His wife comes in with the infant, but he is too much engrossed to see her. At that moment a pickpocket relieves her of her chatelaine. She grabs the man, but burdened with a baby, cannot hold him. She rushes to her absent-minded hubby and throwing the baby in his lap, starts hot foot after the thief. The big policeman outside, has happily nabbed him, but insists she must go to the station with them and lodge a complaint. Mr. Boob suddenly burdened with a baby does not recognize it as his own, and trots off to the stationhouse where he leaves the waif. In the interim his wife goes home and is surprised to find he has not reported. He comes along on a late train, babbling of his remarkable experience. His wife tells him it was his own baby and consternation ensues. They spend a restless night locating the darling, finding it finally in Bellion Hospital.
- Gertrude Grey, the sweet singer in a country church choir is beloved by Owens Vale, a gallant youth, who loves her for herself alone. Max Desci, a teacher from the great city, hears her sing one Sunday and immediately offers to educate her, so she goes away amid tears of farewell. Among the patrons of Desci's atelier is Paul Marchmont. a young millionaire, who is immediately enamored by the voice and becomes the shadow of the young singer. Their engagement is to be announced the night of her debut. Poor Vale, longing for his sweetheart who has wandered to the city, accidentally oversees a scene that confirms the report. The night of her debut, "stage-fright" paralyzes her vocal chords and an eminent specialist, immediately summoned, declares she will never sing again. When Marchmont hears this he leaves the city, sending her a note that their engagement must be indefinitely postponed. Discouraged, the broken girl returns to the countryside, and when time has healed the cruel wounds, she marries the faithful friend and lover, Vale. One day, after the baby comes, she is seized with an uncontrollable desire to sing, and all the pent-up fonts of song, inspired by the mother love, break forth. Her husband is delighted, and they pick up matters where they dropped so pitifully, and she makes a wonderfully successful debut under the direction of Desci. She gives the fawning Marchmont the grand "cut-out," and her husband and child are her single thought, as the tumult of her rapturous listeners storms her ears in her hour .of triumph.
- Bill, a Westerner, loves a girl who is also loved by an Indian.
- A reckless and revengeful group of men are determined to ruin an oil well and endeavor to capture a wagon load of nitroglycerine to help their plans. The wild ride of the driver to save his freight forms a most exciting episode. The conspirators follow the freight-wagon and in turn are pursued by the sheriff's posse.
- The story is based on the idea of a dancing girl, attaining redemption through playing the part of Magdalene, in a primitive passion play. This is founded upon an ancient Spanish custom which is still in vogue in the rural regions of southern Spain. It is considered the playing of the part purifies the subject of original sin, and completely regenerates Magdalene, a dancer in a café. She sees Jack Wilde, a hated "gringo" whom she immediately loves with all the ardor of her primitive nature and he honorably returns her love, but his father frowns upon any such misalliance so emphatically that the poor girl is driven to despair. She is given an opportunity to appear in the passion play and takes advantage of this to secure regeneration and grace in the eyes of her obdurate parent: but it works the other way, for he is a practical party and does not believe in such a method for establishing the standard of caste. Her old lover, mad with rage, tries to take her by force. She turns sadly away from the door of the American's hotel, but is stopped by the kind old padre. He induces her to forsake the world and enter a convent, so that her redemption becomes truly complete.