- Old Captain Barnacle's motherless daughter Ruth is in love with sailor boy Jack. The Captain and his daughter live in a snug little cottage by the sea that the Captain follows for their livelihood. Between his business and his daughter he is very occupied and troubled. He loves his little girl and strenuously objects to Paul's attentions and the prospects of losing her. How can he prevent it? He tells his difficulty to an old friend who suggests putting an advertisement in the newspaper for a chaperone, and he readily swallows the idea--hook, bait, and all. A very severe, talkative, prim female of age and experience answers the "ad," is duly established as custodian of the Captain's daughter, and he goes to sea feeling "all is well." Ruth does not take kindly to this arrangement and interference with her love affair. She sends word to Paul about the chaperone and he hits upon a plan to outwit the Captain and his vigil. Disguising himself as a peddler he comes to the cottage, interests the old "gal" in his goods, and while she is admiring them he makes love to Ruth. The chaperone is much pleased with the peddler, and when he presents her with a fancy handkerchief she gets a desperate crush on him, which he encourages. "The peddler" calls a second time on an invite to take tea. Paul gets in some fine bits of love-making with Ruth, and entirely captivates Mrs. McGillicuddy, the chaperone, with whom he makes an appointment to elope in order to get her out of the house and give Ruth a chance to elope with him. The Captain, while all this is going on, is in another port, where he receives a letter from the chaperone that his daughter is a model girl and the young lover has not put in an appearance since the Captain went away. Captain Barnacle is delighted. We return to the cottage, where we see the gay Mrs. McGillicuddy, with heart a-flutter, preparing to meet the "peddler," packing her valise and leaving the house for the meeting place. In the next scene we see her sitting by the roadside waiting. The "peddler" drives along, tells her he is going to the village for a few necessaries and he will stop for her on his return. Instead of going to the village Paul goes to the cottage for Ruth, takes her in the buggy and starts for the parsonage, passing the chaperone, who is waiting by the roadside; he just stops long enough to remove his peddler's disguise, give her the laugh, whip up his horse and leave her in a paroxysm of rage at being so cruelly duped by the young couple she was engaged to watch. Old Captain Barnacle reaches home to find a note from his daughter saying, "Even a chaperone cannot keep two loving hearts apart. By the time you get this I shall be Paul's wife." The chaperone rushes into the cottage, falls into the Captain's arms, and tells him all about the elopement. They both wilt while the happy young couple are seen driving away on their honeymoon.—Moving Picture World synopsis
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