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- Frank Watson was spending a month in New York when one day he receives a letter from his father requesting him to come home and also that a surprise awaits him on his return. This aroused Frank's curiosity, so immediately he made preparations to leave at once. One arriving home he went at once to the drawing room and there to his surprise he saw a very attractive girl sitting by the fire-place seeming to be perfectly at home with her surroundings. Frank coughs. The girl turns around and then nods to him but leaves the room at once. Just then his mother and father come in and greet him. At once Frank begins to question them about the girl. For an answer Frank's father walks to the desk and brings Frank a letter. There he learns that this girl is the daughter of his father's best friend who has just died and has made his father guardian. The girl's name is Peggy and she has been left a large fortune. Frank does not approve of this and begins to offer his objections. At the same time Peggy is seen coming down the stairs at the back of the room and accidentally overhears what Frank is saying. She then comes into the room and they are introduced. Six months later we find Frank in bad company. He has started gambling and has hard times settling all his debts. At present he owes $500 to a very miserly Jew who has Frank's promissory note to pay in a week's time. Poor Frank is almost a nervous wreck, for he has no means by which he can lift this debt. The day has come and we now see Frank nervously awaiting the Jew's arrival. The Jew is ushered in and at once starts business. He then learns that Frank is unable to pay and then swears that he will go to Frank's father for payment. Frank pleads not to tell his father. The Jew looks around the room in order to find some plan with which to force Frank to pay. Suddenly he notices a small safe in the desk marked EMERGENCY SAFE. He calls Frank's attention to it. After much arguing the Jew has persuaded Frank to get his payment from this safe with the hope of winning it back and then replace the money before the father finds it out. Frank takes the money, gets a receipt from the Jew and orders him out. Frank leaves the room at once. Suddenly we see Peggy getting up out of the large chair by the fireplace. She has accidentally overheard all that has passed between them without their knowledge and she realizes Frank's position at once. She decides to help Frank out of his trouble and starts to think of a plan. Later we see her coming into the drawing room all ready for a journey, carrying a suitcase in her hand. She puts a letter on the table for Frank's father and then leaves the house. The girl makes a splendid sacrifice to save Frank and later, in an impressive scene Frank admits his guilt and asks for forgiveness of the girl he has grown to love.
- A chance find of money makes the penniless Sam a good match for the nouveau riche Lindy. But Sam soon loses the money at cards - and with it the favor of the unfaithful Lindy.
- A recent immigrant learns several hard lessons about how husbands in America are expected to behave.
- Herding the Moose. Thousands of the Order meet in Harrisburg, Pa., and parade. Tornado in New York State. Vicinity of Syracuse swept by disastrous wind storm. Big Steamer Wrecked. English Channel boat lands on rocks off coast of France. Fifty Years After. Civil War survivors meet in many places to revive old memories. All that is left of Cole's famous Maryland Cavalry meet at Harper's Ferry, W. Va. 20th N.Y. Reg. meets on Antietam Battle Field. Miss Othlia Gerth, who gave regiment a flag 51 years ago, speaks. Director of Public Safety Porter, of Philadelphia, unveils monument to memory of Gen. W.E. Starke, C.S.A. Bloody Lane and the Antietam Battlefield, where 25,000 men died in a day. The Grand Army parade in Los Angeles, Calif. Fashions for Home Wear. What Paris is sending us in the way of fancy household gowns. America's Oldest Woman. Gertrude Alto, Chippewa Indian, aged 123 years, talking to her great, great, great grandson at San Diego. Calif. A Week with the Aviators. Andemars, winner of the Paris-Berlin flight, does some sky-larking for French military authorities. Andemars and the reception tendered him at St. Cloud. International hydroplane meeting at St. Malo, France. Garden of Allah Moves. Big special train takes famous play from New York to Chicago. Peru Celebrates Birthday. South American republic's president and congress go to church in Lima. The president lifts his hat. Can You Eat Pie this Way? Contest at Baltimore picnic shows hands are not absolutely necessary. The winner still eating. Speedy Pacific Boats. Everett, Wash., "puttputts" make a notable showing.
- A father who is obsessed with music won't let his daughter marry anyone who isn't a musician, so the girl's fiancé poses as a violin player
- Three wise men from the East follow a star to Bethlehem in search of the infant Jesus.
- Colonel Beverly Spottiswoode has fallen upon lean days. With his wife and daughter he is living in poverty in a dingy tenement, and having a hard struggle to make ends meet. At the time the story opens the last cent has been expended, and there is nothing in the house to eat. In addition, the daughter Rose, has fallen ill. When affairs are at this pass the Colonel receives a letter from an old schoolmate bidding him to a college reunion dinner at a fashionable restaurant. He is at first loath to go, but his wife and daughter prevail upon him to accept, for he will perhaps come upon something to relieve their distress among his old friends. The old evening clothes are brought out, sponged and pressed, and the Colonel sets forth. In a restaurant he finds Alex Henderson, his old school chum, who is giving the dinner, and ten or a dozen others of the old crowd. At the dinner the Colonel with the others is given the opportunity to examine a remarkably fine diamond Henderson is wearing. The stud is passed about from one to the other, when suddenly the lights go out. When they come on again the diamond is seen to be missing. A search is made everywhere but the stone cannot be found, Henderson locks the door and telephones for the police. Two officers appear and the situation is explained to them. They suggest a search of all present be made. All agree except the Colonel, and he is at once suspected. The party breaks up and the Colonel is shadowed home by a detective and Henderson, who climb on the fire escape to spy into the Colonel's rooms. Immediately is seen the reason why the Colonel would not permit a search. From his pockets he brings forth portions of food he has concealed there and brought home to his starving family. Henderson sends the detective away, and, descending the fire escape knocks at the door. The Colonel is at first cold, but as Henderson explains that he has come to apologize, he is admitted, and as he walks across the floor, the daughter catches a glimpse of something sparkling in his heel. The diamond stud is found embedded in the rubber heel of Henderson's shoe, and Henderson thereupon presents it to Rose.
- "Wild Bill" Gray is a renegade and a wife-beater. He is about to start on some expedition of crime and his wife implores him to stay at home. She receives a beating for her trouble. Jim, a cowboy, rides past the shack, hears Mrs. Gray's screams and interferes, and takes Mrs. Gray over to his friend, the postmaster, so that she may have a good home. "Wild Bill" plans vengeance. Paxton, the postmaster, starts for the station with money and gold, and is accompanied a short way by Jim. Gray sneaks after them. After going with Paxton a short distance, Jim takes a turn in the road and Paxton rides on alone. Gray closes up on the postmaster, gets the drop on him, but Paxton is quick and there's a hand-to-hand struggle. Bill, however, worsts Paxton, and finally sends him over a precipice. But in falling, Paxton falls into a tree and thus is saved from sure death. In the meanwhile Paxton's horse comes back to his general store. When the riderless horse arrives there is naturally considerable excitement. Gray arrives on the scene and he makes things look pretty black for Jim, the man who was last seen with the postmaster. Jim is placed under arrest, but the boys, as well as the postmaster's young daughters, May and Gladys, do not believe Jim to be guilty. May and Gladys ride the trail and finally find their father after he calls to them. Gray stoutly asserts his innocence and manufactures evidence incriminating Jim. May and Gladys, the "two little rangers," however, untangle the evidence and their father's story cinches things. When things begin to look pretty black for Gray he retreats to his shack. The girls, however, are determined to get him and, after seeing their volleys of bullets have no effect, discharge a firebrand from a bow. The firebrand sets the shack on fire and Gray perishes in his own tomb.
- An indictment of the evils of child labor, the film was controversial in its time for its use of actual footage of children employed in a working mill.
- Mrs. Reggie Jellybone has her husband completely under control. She places a reflector on her sewing table in such a position that every movement and expression and manifest desire of her husband become known to her. She is, therefore, able to anticipate his movements and interfere in his plans. He seldom gets a chance to go to the club on the pretense of sitting up with a sick member. One night the boys at the club need a fifth hand very badly, and when they call up Jellybone, Mrs. Jellybone answers the phone, but they are not daunted. Mr. Resourceful is sent to get Jellybone in spite of his wife. A scheme is concocted and Jellybone goes to the club leaving a dummy on his side of the bed. When Mrs. Jellybone comes up to the room to retire, she finds blood-stains on the bed-clothes and grows excited. She shakes the dummy and the head is severed from the body and rolls under the bed. She excitedly concludes that her husband had been murdered, and immediately she calls for Burstup Homes, the renowned private detective. Burstup Homes arrives puffed up with importance, makes a very ceremonious investigation and deduces that the man is really dead. Furthermore, he deduces that a man wearing a ten size shoe is the criminal. In the examination Burstup Homes forgets essentials and takes up his time with details. He follows the blood-stain clue and a foot print clue. The visible stains on the improvised bed-sheet ladder which Jellybone used as a means to effect his escape also attracts the detective's attention and gives him strong evidence of an entrance and an exit from the house through the window. In fact, there are clues galore and Burstup Homes feverishly goes to work. Everyone he meets is a suspect. Deacon Stronghead, whom he meets on the way from the knife grinder where he had a knife sharpened for his wife, offers the strongest causes for suspicion, because he carries a concealed weapon, and the story is more complicated when Mrs. Jellybones plays a trick on her husband. Off she goes to the club, and here comes the big surprise, she does not pounce on her husband, as one would expect, but is so delighted that he is alive that she embraces him most rapturously. Jellybone begins to think that his wife will soon be stricken with an attack from over-indulgence and suffer untold agony. The farce ends up in the police station where Burstup Homes' failure is provocative of much laughter, but he is not at all dismayed and retorts that the police are jealous of him.
- A society woman who was traveling abroad, heard with deep interest from her husband, that a nobleman was deeply attentive to their only daughter. The mother, knowing that propinquity often leads to love, arranged for her daughter to take a long ocean trip, chaperoned by the young nobleman's mother. In this way the count and the girl would have many hours of each other's society and the girl's mother felt sure that she would not long refuse the honor of becoming a countess. The girl was also wooed by a wealthy young American, of whom the family disapproved because of his lack of ancestry. He grieved over their separation, and later was completely heartbroken when news reached him that the ship had been lost and the girl he loved was reported among the missing. Still he could not believe that she was dead, and dropping all business embarked on his yacht, vowing that he would search the whole world if necessary to find her. The girl drifted to the shore of an island inhabited by a savage tribe. They would have killed her, but her miraculous escape from the attack of a venomous snake convinced them that she bore a charmed life and instead of destroying her, they worshiped her as a goddess. The young American in the meantime had carried his search into many strange lands and all on board except himself were convinced that the hunt was a fruitless one. He refused to turn back, however, and finally his boat reached the little island where his sweetheart was a queen and a prisoner. She was rescued after a lively battle with the savages, and the couple sailed away to their home in America. The parents, in their joy at their daughter's return, withdrew their objections to the marriage, and the girl wedded the man who had braved many dangers to rescue her from her "Robinson Crusoe" existence on an island in the tropical seas.
- Jim Richeson was a haunted man, but he smiled carelessly as he handled the sign offering a reward for his capture, dead or alive. He smiled again as he wheeled his horse and galloped off down the road, waving a satirical adieu to the posse. A pretty mountain girl with pail in hand, stood at the pump when Jim rode up. He took the pail from her, drank deeply, and then, as an afterthought, seized her and kissed her heartily. Then he leisurely mounted his horse and galloped off. Furious at the insult, the girl rushed for a gun, only to meet her lover, just as he rounded the bunkhouse. That person at once flew into a passion and gave hot chase to the vanishing bandit, vowing to have his life. Meanwhile, the girl, at the head of a posse, followed less swiftly. A royal battle took place in the mountains. Dick and Jim, sheltered behind the great rocks, tried every expedient known to the West in an effort to kill each other. Finally both exhausted their ammunition and crept forward to test their strength. A desperate hand-to-hand encounter took place, Jim with the advantage of a long knife, Dick with only his bare hands. Suddenly Dick found the sharp blade enter his arm. For an instant he hesitated, then a shot rang out, and Jim plunged headforemost over the rock. Dick fainted then and there and recovered later to see the mountain girl leaning over him.
- Prof. Gregg arrived in New York on a liner at a time when news was very light, which explains why the reporters gave big displays to the fact that Gregg was returning with rare antique jewels which he had unearthed abroad. He also had a vast collection of other antiques, and the value of his belongings was set at an enormous figure. The accounts were read with great interest by a number of persons, including a gentleman whose fingerprints and photograph were highly treasured by the police of many cities. It struck him that the professor was far too wealthy, and he determined to see if they could not do business together. So he evolved a neat little plan whereby he hoped to meet the professor and the jewels. The professor received word that a mummy was to be sent to him for inspection, in the hope that he would buy it. It arrived on schedule time, but he did not have much time to inspect it. For the mummy, who was the before-mentioned light-fingered individual, climbed out of his case, swatted the professor, and assisted by the expressman, bound and gagged him, then interred him in the case, and sent him away. The professor spent a few unhappy hours a prisoner in a dirty room, then he managed to free himself, and started back toward his hotel. On the way he met a newsboy, and hearing him crying out, "All about the Smuggler," he bought a paper. It interested him to read that Prof. Gregg had been captured in his hotel room on a charge of bringing in valuables without notifying the customs authorities. His admiration of speedy metropolitan justice was intensified on learning that his substitute had been arrested, tried and convicted within two hours, and was already beginning to enjoy a six-months' sentence. That the prisoner refused to tell the police where the gems were hidden also pleased the professor. The substitute was moodily brooding in his cell; he had been afraid to tell the police he was not the professor, for if he proved it he would convict himself of burglary, which meant a long sentence up the river. Still, although he had saved time for himself, he was far from being cheerful. Then a message arrived from the outer world. It was from Prof. Gregg. He explained that he had sold all his antiques before the substitute arrived, and he thanked the latter warmly for representing him at the roll call of the city prison. The substitute thought of the professor, who had told him he was now on the ocean, headed for a pleasure trip in Europe. The substitute was a strong, coarse man, but he wept. Then he removed his false white whiskers, part of the disguise the police had not penetrated, and cursed.
- Randall and Ruth Foster were little tots. The two children lived side by side on one of the fashionable streets in New York City. One day Helen and her parents were starting for the park when the little one suggested that they invite Ruth to go with them. The idea pleased them all, and as for Ruth, she was in an ecstasy of delight. She skipped down the steps into the Randall's automobile, and her father (a widower), watches as the machine whizzed off, realized more than ever the little treasure he possessed. At the park the two children got into a boat unobserved by their elders and drifted into the lake. In total ignorance of their peril they frolicked about the flimsy craft until it suddenly capsized and two little figures were hanging to the gunwale. Randall swam out to the boat. Even his love for his child made him hesitate to take her to the shore first until the little Ruth assured him she was safe, that she would stay on the boat until he returned. But when he returned, and with him her frightened father, the little form that they brought to land was still, the child bad slipped from the boat and drowned while he brought his own child to safety. The loss of his little girl made Foster almost frantic, and he became as vindictive an enemy to Randall as he had been a friend. A power in Wall Street, step by step he smashed the latter back in the merciless warfare of the street, until Randall, innocent of wrong though he was, stood on the brink of ruin. But when all hope was gone, when he had brought himself to looking upon a life of poverty with the resignation born of necessity, his daughter took the matter into her own hands and John Foster, wealthy financier and lonely man, learned the lesson of forgiveness.
- Old Joel Smith is charged with murder in the first degree. At the trial he pleads in opposition to his own lawyers. He explains that he is now too old to be of any assistance to his widowed daughter and grandchildren, who are dependent on him for support. He says he prefers death to a life of poverty and wretchedness. In telling the judge and jury his pathetic story (which is shown on the screen) old Joel betrays a love for his grandchildren and his fellow laborers that is poignant with pathos. He tells how he had been sent by the men to tell the boss that they were dissatisfied. Athough Joel was a favorite with the boss, his representations while listened to with respect were productive of nothing. His employer simply said, that if he raised salaries to meet the present "high cost of living" he would be compelled to close up shop. Whan they receive the answer from the boss, the men vote to strike, much against Joel's advice, and although he liked his boss, Joel is with the majority and walks out with his fellows. A long period of lean days ensue. Joel's grandchildren and widowed daughter are starving. He is too proud to beg. He goes to the headquarters of the strikers and finds them all drinking and carousing. This is too much for Joel. He announces his intention of going back to work. One of the ironworkers calls him a coward. All of the old man's pent-up anger comes to the surface, and before he knows it, he has killed the insulter. The jury weeps at the old man's pathetic story; they cannot find heart to convict him.
- He was the only son of a pretty young widow. Perhaps she spoiled him, but anyway she loved him dearly, for although he was under seven years old, he had many cute quaint ways, and heartily returned the affection of his mamma. Their next-door neighbor was a man the boy did not approve of. He was not married, for one thing, there were no little children in his house to play with. Besides, when he met mamma, he never had time to talk to her son. Really he was in love with the pretty young widow, but was too bashful to say so. Then, one day, a new interest came into the boy's life. A beautiful maiden, she was three years old, moved into the house next door. She was the niece of the man, and bad been left to him when brother died. The man, however, did not know much about children, and left the girl in the care of a cross old housekeeper, who did not appreciate her. It made the boy's blood boil, for he failed to understand why anyone could be anything but sweet to her. One of his few sorrows was that he did not have a little sister to play with, guide and protect, and he soon knew that the little girl next door was the very one he would have chosen had the stork deigned to consult him. Matters finally came to a climax. He saw the wicked housekeeper brutally and fiendishly scold the wonderful creature, and he decided that something must be done, so he firmly took her away, silencing the housekeeper's objections with missiles, led the baby to his home, and told his mother that now he had a little sister. His grief was profound when the child was taken away from him, and he could not understand why this was done, even when his mother explained to him that they had "no legal right" to the child. He did not comprehend what legal rights were, but later he learned, when he glanced at a newspaper and saw that the "legal rights" of a father were secondary to the legal rights of a husband. Naturally there was only one thing to do, elope, and he did it. The baby did not object; she liked the boy, and anything he said was law in her eyes. So she obediently took her bonnet, trotted to a window, permitted him to help her out stealthily and hand in hand they wandered along to a convenient parsonage. The minister listened to their troubles; he was a kindly man, then bade them wait until he could secure the necessary witnesses. Instead he telephoned the mother and she and the baby's uncle hastened to the parsonage. The boy explained that he was marrying the baby, to provide against her being neglected and ill-treated, and declared that he would defend his "legal rights." The uncle, really a good sort, but like most unmarried men, helpless when it came to a matter of caring for children saw a way out of the difficulty. He told the boy that he could have the guardianship of the baby if, and then he looked at the pretty widow inquiringly. She blushed and hesitated then, well there was a wedding that afternoon after all, and the baby was never neglected again.
- Old Ben Hoover, with his wife and two pretty daughter, managed to eke out a precarious livelihood, raking alfalfa and helping generally on the big ranch. John Rich, foreman, had long made love to Mabel, but she did not return his affection. A day came when Rich went to her parents. They readily gave consent. Out of the prairie rode a handsome young man, dressed in fashionable riding garments and mounted on an expensive, sleek-looking mare. He dismounted in the bushes and hastily changed his clothes, appearing before the foreman as a day worker in quest of labor. Rich eyed him carefully and finally handed him a rake. The young man proved a poor workman, however, for he soon found Mabel's company much too enticing for heavy work. On the way home that night he made love to her and found a not unwilling listener. Rich, also called, and finding but little comfort in Mabel's unresponsive mood, attempted to kiss her by force. Just then the newcomer stepped in and an inspiring fight followed. The following morning Rich peremptorily discharged father, mother and the two daughters, while the newcomer leaned on his rake and blandly smiled. Then Rich turned to him. The newcomer, with a well-aimed blow, laid Rich on his back in the alfalfa, and turning to the other workers, quietly drew a card from his pocket. Rich arose from the grass in time to hear the name of the ranch owner and to discover that he had been kicked about by that very person. Later the newcomer called on the old folks and formerly asked the hand of their daughter. The old man refused to hear him at first, believing him to cause of their trouble, but when his magic name was whispered in the old fellow's ear, a transformation tool place, and, you can easily imagine, there was but little trouble in convincing the girl that the time to marry had come.
- The laborers employed in a large factory are disgruntled with the treatment accorded them and decide to go on strike. Their employer receives their manifest with indifference; in fact he ignores their unreasonable demands. A mass meeting is held after the factory is stoned. The mob is considerably agitated by a labor union orator. He arouses them to such an extent that they vote to blow up the plant. One of the young factory workers is selected for the placing of the bomb. The men are desperate and are prepared to do anything. The night before the bomb is placed a meeting is held. Before the meeting proceedings are discussed in private at the home of Jack, the bomb placer. After the discussion, he and the agitators leave to attend the meeting. In going out, the agitator drops a lighted stub of a cigarette. About midnight Jack's house is in flames. His wife and child are caught in a trap. She telephones him and gets him in the midst of a tumultuous session. Jack drops everything and runs to rescue his loved ones from sure destruction. He knows that if the bomb, which is hidden in his house should explode his wife and child would stand no chance of being rescued. He hurries along. It is three miles to his house and not a conveyance in sight. Suddenly two big auto lamps show up in the distance. Jack motions wildly. The car glides up. To his surprise Jack sees his employer. The employer inquires of Jack the cause of his excitement. Jack explains, and soon they are away breaking speed laws, They arrive to see the house encircle in flames. The employer valiantly assists in the rescue work, while Jack dashes into a room full of smoke, gets the bomb and throws it out of the window into the street, where it explodes and fortunately does no harm. The employer wins Jack to his support and in winning Jack he also wins back the rest of his erstwhile dissatisfied men.
- The suffrage workers are vainly endeavoring to win over Senator Herman to their cause as his vote on a certain bill they favor means its passage. May Fillmore, one of the most ardent of the workers, discovers that the father of a little motherless tenement brood has died of tuberculosis, after having vainly importuned the owner. Senator Herman, to make building alterations that will remedy unsatisfactory conditions. She goes to the Senator's fiancée, Jane Wadsworth, and succeeds in securing her help. Jane accompanies May to the poor bereaved family, and she is shocked at the terrible lack of sanitation. They find three little girls and a baby left to fight the world alone. Elsie, the eldest, is doing embroidery sweat-shop work at home, and minding the baby, while Hester works in a department store. The other tot is a half-time scholar, and in the afternoons assists her sister working on corset covers for another shop. All these fearful conditions are pointed out by May and have their desired effect upon Jane. She is further shocked upon learning that her fiancé is the negligent owner. Jane goes to him and pleads that he do something in the matter. He waves her away and treats her like a child. Angered, she joins the suffragists and assists in bringing both her father and the Senator to terms. Hester is insulted by a floorwalker in her father's shop, which proves another shock to Jane, when her father does nothing in the matter. Later she is stricken with scarlet fever, which she contracted from the embroidery on one of her trousseau gowns, which came from her father's store. The father and Senator, upon learning that they were in part guilty, as the embroidery was made in the Senator's unsanitary tenement, gives in and most enthusiastically joins the suffrage movement. They are seen with the girls at suffrage headquarters, at the Men's League, and finally in the parade.
- While fighting side by side in the same regiment through the bloody battle of Vauchamps, in which encounter the army of Napoleon defended French soil against the invasion of British soldiers under the command of Wellington, two young fellow lieutenants, Lesparre and Gerard are shot down in the thick of the combat. Both are left for dead on the field after the scrimmage is over, but fortune has willed otherwise and Lesparre regains consciousness at the break of day. Little by little, the terrible events of the day before crowd in on his aching brain. He begins to wonder where his fellow comrade, Lieutenant Gerard could now be. Gaining gradual strength he looks about him and recognizes amongst the heroes strewn on the battlefield the body of his dear friend. With a cry of terror he leaps towards the corpse and frantically presses his ear on its breast in hope that its heart may yet be beating. There seems to be no action, however, and the valiant Lesparre breaks down and weeps over the body of his favorite associate. While fingering his uniform, Lesparre discovers a letter in the prostrate lieutenant's pocket and, pulling it out from its resting place, reads its contents. To his surprise he finds out that it is a communication received the day before from the attorneys of the valiant soldier announcing that an inheritance of $800,000 awaits him upon proper identification. This disclosure unbalances the mind of Lesparre and transforms him from friend into fiend. From his own pocket he takes his pocketbook and exchanges it for the letter he had removed from the coat of his comrade, thereby pretending to be Lieutenant Gerard himself. Months pass by. The war is now over. Lesparre returns to his home town and proceeds at once to claim the inheritance of his unfortunate companion. He bribes two fellow citizens to swear falsely as to his identity and shrewdly obtains the possession of the fortune that rightfully belongs to Lieutenant Gerard. Not fearing any trouble from his comrade whom he left apparently cold in death at Vauchamps, he proceeds to live in the magnificent estate and becomes known throughout the region as the brave lieutenant who had received a nigh-mortal wound during the bloody campaign of the English in France. In the meantime the rightful Lieutenant Gerard had been carried from the battlefield and sent to a hospital when the army surgeon had discovered faint signs of life in the prostrate form. After the most careful medical attention the lieutenant is saved and rapidly improves in health. He requests leave of convalescence from the hospital for a period of six weeks. In preparing to depart he asks for the letters and effects that had been removed from his clothes while being carried from the field of combat, and to his horror and dismay discovers that the letter directing him to his attorneys in order to claim his inheritance is missing. Instead he finds the pocketbook of Lesparre. He hastens to the lawyer's office, where he is ridiculed as a pretender, but soon succeeds in establishing his identity. The attorneys show him the signed papers in which two tax payers testify that the first claimant was a Gerard. To further complicate matters the heir discovers that one of these false witnesses is no other than the ex-canteen keeper of the regiment, Bersac by name. He hunts him up and discovers him with his wife in the café of which he is proprietor. He accuses them of aiding the thief, whereupon they break down and give full confession. Furthermore, they return to Gerard every cent of the money that Lesparre had given them for their perjured testimony, if but he accept their willingness to help him run down the wrong-doer. Gerard assents, and seeks out his former friend. He enters the ground of the mansion alone and, invading the house without being properly presented by the servants, finally meets Lesparre face to face in the study room. The false claimant is frightfully disturbed at the figure of his former comrade, whom he never expected again to see in life, but observing that there is no possible opportunity of escape, he resorts to a stratagem. He feigns entire willingness to turn over his ill-gotten fortune to the rightful owner, and under the guise of friendship, escorts Gerard through the grounds and confines of the property. Amongst other places in which he leads him is the Tower prison, where in a most opportune moment, he locks the unsuspecting lieutenant in a dungeon, lighted only by the few rays of light that penetrate through an iron barred window. The frantic Gerard beats desperately at the doors that prevent his liberty, but to no avail, and is forced to suffer the pangs of tower imprisonment. His only friends are a pair of pigeons who happen to have made their home in a chip in the wall of the dungeon. These, however, have been sent to him as deliverers from Heaven, and finally accomplish his escape. Realizing his aloofness from the rest of the world he sees that his only chance for liberty lies with these little feathered creatures. Accordingly he takes out his handkerchief, tears from it a strip on which he writes with a pin, which he inked in the blood of his own arm the words, "Imprisoned in the Tower. Help." It so happens that the daughter of the Imperial Prosecutor has also prepared a little nest for these very same pigeons and has learned to spend many a happy hour on her balcony taming the little feathered creatures. This day she receives a surprise in the form of a strip of cloth tied to the leg of one of the birds. She takes it off and finds the inscription, "Imprisoned in Tower. Help," inscribed upon it in blood. She bears the silent testimony to her father, who chides her for her fanciful dreams. She, however, is not content, and has grown very suspicious that there must be something wrong in the big Tower prison that looms up in the distance from her home. After tying a return message on the leg of the tiny pigeon to the effect of "Hope," she persuades the Imperial Prosecutor to take her to the proprietor of the estate. Upon arriving there they find Lesparre and his two former friends, Mr. and Mrs. Bersac, ex-canteen keeper of the regiment. The latter couple have also grown suspicious at not hearing from Gerard after directing him to the estate which he inherited, but Lesparre has allayed their fears by advising that he has agreed to turn everything over and settle all matters with the rightful heir, and that the latter has gone back to the hospital to fully recuperate. This story does not satisfy the Prosecutor's daughter, however, and she produces the little strip of cloth on which the message has been written in blood. The strategy of Lesparre now dawns clearly upon the ex-canteen keeper. He draws a revolver from its holster and holds it at the head of the designing claimant, commanding him to lead them to the door of the prison and to liberate the prisoner so that he might enjoy the inheritance that had been properly left him. The cowardly lieutenant breaks down in full confession and shrinks from this duty, but is forced to complete it at the point of the revolver. Silently they cross the bridge that separates the prison from their home and carefully they descend the long narrow winding stairs approaching the prison cell. They open the rust-encrusted lock and enter. To their horror they find its occupant to be none other than Lieutenant Gerard, who by this time was almost dead from hunger and consumed by the vermin. Bersac, ex-canteen keeper of the regiment, then assumes the upper hand and, upon the advice of the Imperial Prosecutor, locks Lesparre in the cell and liberates the unfortunate Gerard. Everything is now righted. The dastardly Lesparre is suffering his merited punishment and Gerard is now set free, and soon regains his health and fortune. The strange manner of his liberation endears two forms of life to him beyond all description, the pigeons, and the Imperial Prosecutor's daughter, whom he rewards by making his wife and liege lady of his vast estate and holdings.
- This is the story of a gardener whose whole lifetime had been spent in the one place. He loved the flowers, petted them, and gave them the detail of the only romance he had ever witnessed. "You see, little pansy," he said, "when I came here, many years ago, Miss May was a little girl. There was a nice little boy who lived right over there, and they were greet chums. They played together, day after day, and were childhood sweethearts. Well, they grew up, and one afternoon I saw them talking earnestly over on the old bench there. She nodded her head, when he kissed her, and taking a ring, put it on her finger. For a time they were happy, then they quarreled. It was a silly dispute, and in my opinion, both were to blame. I hoped they would make up but they didn't. He went to the city, she remained here. Other suitors came, but she would not have them. Her heart was with the man she had loved when they were children. You know, little pansy, how Miss May has thrown her garden open to the poor children. Well, to-day I was standing out under the big sign that says all children are welcome, when an auto came up. 1 looked at the man in it, and recognized the chap Miss May loved. I called a greeting to him; he stopped and we shook hands. It had been many years since the boy had played about here, and I had to be careful. If he had known Miss May was here, I doubt if he would have come in. So I talked about the children, and he stepped in to see them. Then, before he realized it, I had led him to the old bench. It must have called back recollections, for it was there that as a boy he had wooed his tiny sweetheart. It was there that as a man he had won her promise to be his bride. Better than all, she was sitting there now, all alone and forlorn. I just led him up to the bench, and left him. I knew that my work was successful when I saw the glad light in their eyes. It was only stubbornness that had kept them apart all these years. The job was to bring them together and I did it."
- Proud old Major Neal disowns his only child, a beautiful girl, because he considers her marriage a misalliance. Years pass. The old major becomes a recluse feared by all. One Christmas morning, a hamper is found beneath the Major's covered driveway. The butler and housekeeper (in the secret), carry the hamper to the library and present it to Neal. He is greatly puzzled and finding a card attached inscribed "To Major Neal," he opens the hamper, only to slam it hastily shut with a startled and angry expression: The hamper contains a baby girl. The old man orders the child taken from his presence, and advertises for the one who presumed to leave it to take it off. But no one claims the child, whose sweetness and innocent joys soon begin to move the old fellow's heart. The baby constantly makes advances, in spite of rebuffs, until the old man succumbs and worships the child, calling her "Little Sunbeam." Sunbeam is stricken with fever. Now is the mother's chance. She comes (the old family doctor aiding and abetting her), disguised as a nurse, and with a mother's untiring love and care nurses Sunbeam back from the shadowy brink. Old Major Neal and his disowned daughter meet at the bedside of the child, and through their great and mutual love for Sunbeam become forever reconciled.
- Mrs. Scott, a widow, has a son, Ben, and a nephew, Will. Ben enlists for the war and his mother is prostrated by the news. Will tells his aunt that he will enlist and watch over her boy. Six months elapse and Ben is taken ill while on picket duty, unknown to the authorities, Will takes his place, and the arduous duty of double watch makes him fall asleep on his post. The officer of the watch discovers this and Will is arrested, tried by court-martial and sentenced to be shot. Ben is delirious and carried to the hospital and is unaware of his cousin's danger. Will writes to his aunt explaining his position, and Mrs. Scott makes up her mind to go to Washington and appeal to President Lincoln to save him. She has great difficulty in obtaining an audience with Lincoln as his private secretary refuses to allow her to enter. Lincoln overhears the altercation, comes to the anteroom and takes Mrs. Scott into his library. There the poor woman tells the story of her nephew's devotion and begs Lincoln to save him. The boy's devotion touches Lincoln's heart and he determines to save him. With Mrs. Scott he travels to the execution ground, arriving just in time to save Will, who is facing the firing party. Lincoln pardons Will, saying that the army needs men like him.
- Two Newark policemen go undercover disguised as women. Officer Henderson attracts unwanted attention from an amorous man and suspicion from his wife.