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- Trixie believe the only way she can save her older sister from dying of tuberculosis is by preventing the autumn leaves from falling, so one night she steals into the garden in her nightie and fastens fallen leaves to branches with twine.
- 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.
- An abused woman finds love in the arms of a famous novelist.
- The first story begins with a young and pretty girl named Isabelle sitting upon a hill. It is then that she is attacked by Pedro. And following the common thematic trajectory of the time, Isabelle is then rescued by the kind and brave medical student who spends his time as a minister for the poor, Alonzo. Pedro is insistent on revenge and applies to the local monastery where Alonzo works in order to frame him. He hopes to frame him for the mysterious and sudden disappearance of the church's jewels. The frame ends immediately after Pedro plants the jewels in Alonzo's home and the monks are quick to punish Alonzo and Isabelle.
- Algie Allmore has one year to prove he's a man in order to wed Harry Lyons' daughter.
- A man must marry by noon or lose his inheritance. It's 11:50 a.m. and he can't find his fiancée.
- Two Newark policemen go undercover disguised as women. Officer Henderson attracts unwanted attention from an amorous man and suspicion from his wife.
- 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.
- Vinnie, Colonel Beggs' daughter, complains to her father that Lieutenant Sterling is paying her unwelcome attentions. The Colonel assures his daughter that she has no cause for fear. He immediately forgets the incident, as important military developments occupy his time. But soon Vinnie has a more serious complaint, and the Colonel is forced to act. While on a short canter through the woods, Vinnie was again insulted by the forced attentions of Sterling. Fortunately, Sergeant Karr was nearby and he saved Vinnie from a disagreeable situation. The Colonel orders Sterling's arrest and later this untrustworthy officer is dismissed from service. Captain Sterling is now out for revenge. Not being satisfied with having broken his oath to Uncle Sam, "not to commit any act that is unbecoming of a gentleman and a soldier," he plans to immerse himself further in crime. In line with his plans for revenge, he engages a number of drunken Mexicans to aid him in kidnapping Vinnie and also to help him teach Sergeant Karr a lesson for interfering with the actions of a "superior officer." The degenerate soldier is temporarily successful in his plans, but Karr is fearless and, with indomitable courage, protects the girl he has begun to love.
- Norma, a dancer, receives many presents from admirers. Among them she finds a peculiar looking box, out of which spring several poisonous snakes. Nelson, a detective, is called upon to solve the mystery. On the box he finds a peculiar trademark, which he seizes as a clue. At his home he finds the same odd mark on an ashtray bought by his mother in a Hindu curio shop, and he learns that the box containing the snakes was purchased by a Hindu woman. Calling upon the woman, he is surprised to find himself in the home of a Priestess of Buddhism. The Priestess tries to fascinate him with her beauty and, not succeeding, drops a powder into an incense burner, the fumes of which begin to throw him into a stupor. He fights his way to a window, blows a police whistle, and is attacked by three giant Hindu attendants. But the police arrive in time to save his life, and the Priestess is arrested and thrown into prison. The dancer, Norma, is attracted to Nelson by his bravery, and they become friends. Meanwhile, the Priestess succeeds in working a psychic miracle in which she goes into a trance and, while her earthly form remains in prison, her soul is freed and appears before the horrified detective in his study. His nature is changed immediately by the Priestess's mystic influence, and his face becomes the face of a hardened criminal. Changing his clothes for one of the rough suits used in his detective work, he visits a den of crooks and aids them to rob a bank, the plans of which he has been entrusted with in his professional capacity. Later he is called to the bank to investigate the robbery and, not knowing of his dual personality, makes every effort to find the man who had committed the crime. He finds his own scarf among the scattered papers taken from the safe. A threatening letter, which he receives from the followers of the Priestess, is seen by Norma, who is so greatly concerned for his safety that when he asks her to marry him, she quickly consents to an engagement, so that she can do all in her power to protect him. His old mother is puzzled by seeing him leave his own house through the window, when he is again visited by the spirit of the Priestess and influenced to aid the same band of crooks in the robbery of his own home. When his real personality returns, he finds himself in his own office, where he has been discovered by his mother, sleeping in a chair, dressed in his old clothes. Upon discovery that his house has been robbed, he calls the chief of police and is seen by the companions of his criminal personality, who thinks that he is acting as an agent of the authorities merely to place them in the hands of the law. When he is again transformed toy the spirit of the Priestess and returns to the thieves' den, they regard him as a spy and plan to do away with him, leaving him bound and gagged in the care of an old hag, while they celebrate his capture. But Norma, who, with his mother has been watching him, follows him to the den of thieves and, overpowering the old woman, helps him to escape. Meanwhile, the followers of the Priestess succeed in rescuing her from her prison cell and are speeding away in an automobile when Nelson, who still retains his criminal personality, asks them to assist him to escape from the crooks, who are closely upon his trail. Thus, he unwittingly places himself and his fiancée in the power of the Priestess, who makes them prisoners in a temple of Buddha. Norma faints, and when Nelson's real personality returns, he finds himself bound hand and foot in the temple. Norma quickly explains the situation to him and, by burning the ropes that bind his wrists with the fire in the incense burner, he frees his companion and makes his way to the roof by the aid of a heavy chain from which a large oriental lamp is swung from the ceiling. He succeeds in helping Norma to the roof by the same method and they reach the ground with the aid of a large tree. The chief of police, who has been summoned by Nelson's mother, overtakes the crooks and arrests them after a desperate struggle. But the Priestess cheats the majesty of the law by the aid of a poisoned ring with which she does away with herself during one of her wild fanatical dances. Her death marks the end of her influence over Nelson, and he at last feels free to marry Norma.
- Nina Auvray's childhood and youth have been lonely, spent with an eccentric and miserly old uncle. The house they occupy is an old-time dilapidated mansion. Old Auvray dies suddenly. No will can be found. Nina is compelled to advertise the old home. A fine fellow buys the place, while Nina engages board in the village. Nina pines for the old house. At times she creeps up the hill and tearfully gazes at the closed windows and doors. Once, looking wearily about, she enters the house and goes through the rooms. Finally, overcome, she throws herself on the sofa and has a cry. It is here the new tenant finds her. Thus their acquaintance starts. Young Grey immediately sets about the repair of the old home and grounds. Two or three hands about the place he retains. One fellow, surly, and a hard drinker, Grey learns to distrust. After repeated and kind warnings regarding drunkenness, Lem Casey is discharged. He leaves cursing Grey. Nina one day is roaming through the woods, when she overhears Casey and a pal cursing and talking. Casey has planned to shoot Grey that night, and is gloating over the fact that Grey always sits by his desk, writing, within direct range of the south window. Nina, terrified, runs straight to her old home, waits for Grey to return, and in an ecstasy of terror and tears tells him all she has heard. Grey telephones for a couple of officers. Together they fix up a dummy at Grey's desk. Grey and the men hide in the thicket. Darkness falls. Lem Casey approaches. He shoots. Casey turns to flee, but is knocked down by the man he supposed he had murdered. The next day, in locating the bullet, a secret panel is discovered, containing the lost will. Nina is a rich woman, and all ends happily.
- Herbert Moore leads a gang of crooks by a sheer force of mentality, while his pal Burley Butts leads by brutal force. Between them they plan to rob noted philanthropist Mr. Stanhope, on whom Moore has been spying. For their ill purposes they use little Oliver, one of Butts' unwilling pupils. On a dark night they embark on their venture. Gripping events ensue in rapid succession: Oliver enters the house. He makes his way, with a bulls-eye lantern; here we have a remarkable light effect, a sudden flash, the lights go up, and little Oliver faces the muzzle of a revolver. Mr. Stanhope is surprised to see the youthful criminal. He quizzes him. But little Oliver cries and tells his story. Stanhope is moved by the boy's tale. In taking out his handkerchief to dry his eyes, Oliver drops a silver half-dollar. Mr. Stanhope attempts to return it to Oliver, who brushes it away and tells him to keep it, informing him that the silver half-dollar is the gang's insignia and it can open in the middle and be used in an emergency as a saw for cutting rope, wire, or glass. Stanhope's interest is aroused, and he places the little souvenir in his pocket. Later this piece of metal is one of the means of saving his life. Oliver then pleads to be let free, and Stanhope allows him to go, after taking an oath that he will not attempt to steal again. This attempt failing, the gang sets a trap for Stanhope, but little Oliver passes a note and key to his benefactor when the thugs lower him into a vault. When Stanhope finds himself in the narrow vault, he struggles hard to free himself from the bonds which almost cut to the bones. He frees himself sufficiently to get the silver half-dollar, which he now puts to good use. After hours of effort he breaks his bonds. He tries to straighten himself and then finds the heavy key and the note in his coat pocket. He is scarcely able to read the instructions. The greenish light gives him the appearance of a man risen from the dead. Gradually his dulled mind absorbs the portent of the note. He desperately feels for the secret keyhole. His search is not in vain. Presently, he swings back the granite door and he is confronted with a vista of the city's filth and slime. He crawls through the outlet and makes his way through the sewer channels. The stench from stagnant sewerage pools, cesspool waste, mud and dirt, nearly suffocates him. But on and on he struggles, up to his knees through this liquid filth. Even an attack by a horde of sewer rats does not swerve him from his path. He fights the rodents off and they scamper. At last, weary and exhausted, he finds his way to the sewerage main, a ladder leading to a manhole giving entrance to the street. Bespattered with mud and filth, disheveled and bedraggled, he rushes through the streets and to the police station. The gang is soon surprised by big Colt six-shooters and little Oliver and his brother find a home in Mr. Stanhope's happy household.
- A Parisian doctor, infatuated with the wife of his benefactor, drugs and kidnaps her, and tries to convince the husband that she is dead.
- A recent immigrant learns several hard lessons about how husbands in America are expected to behave.
- Brendan O'Malley is a Robin Hood like bandit, who repeatedly escapes from jail, survives attempts to kill him, and eventually manages to sail to safety on a ship with the lady of his heart who helped him in his latest escape.
- The good people of the Solax community realize that they have cause to make merry before the New Year because the Almighty has guided their breadwinning footsteps toward the Solax Studio's happy atmosphere, bank together like the big happy family they are, to give expression to their happiness in the form of a gift to the immediate cause of their good fortune and sunshine. The scenes present a people full of enthusiasm and good cheer. The plot is not thick, but the execution progresses smoothly and with "spirit." The events take the leading figure entirely by surprise, and her emotion and her gratitude bring a lump to her throat. Scene One. The Surprise. Morning. The good people gathered in the studio and unveiled a pedestal and a bronze figure, a copy from Rodin. The Megaphone then visited the office of The Cause and waylaid her in the Studio. Then Magda Foy, the Solax Kid, revealed the secret, and then the Megaphone makes it more explicit by expressing the sentiments of the Merrymakers and all concerned. (Loud applause.) Madame, overcome with the flattering tribute, is unable to speak. Then up spoke Kid Pirate and threatened that she, The Cause, must herself carry the 200-pound statue home. Scene Two. "Good Spirits." Afternoon. A suspicious noise is heard. Sounds like the sizzling and popping of corks from bottles. The Master of Ceremonies, at the head of the mob, attacks the Studio. The mob finds the tables set and glasses filled. Sounds of sizzling and bubbling proceed. Telltale tears soon begin to appear in many eyes, and lids show an abnormal tendency to droop. Some chuckle and some laugh. All are happy and contented. More speechmaking and applause. (Speech indistinct and incoherent.) Scene Three. Later. Jealousy. A near relative to The Cause and a neighbor of us all was jealous of the aforesaid tribute paid to his kin, so, in order that he may not be outdone in hospitality, invited the mob to invade the sanctified quarters of the Gaumont Company, where he showed some wonderful Gaumont productions.
- "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.
- Mr. Greeneyes, who is very much in love with his wife, gives her an extra kiss on the morning of his birthday. When Greeneyes walks down the street she throws kisses at him from the window, and Billy, who lives in the house across the street, thinks that these kisses are for him. When she drops a book to the street, Billy thinks that is an invitation. He accepts it with agility, but learns from Mrs. Greeneyes that the kisses were for her husband, a six-footer with big muscles. When Billy hears this he goes on the jump, forgetting his umbrella. The husband later returns and sees the umbrella. His wife explains that the umbrella is a birthday gift. Satisfied, he leaves. Later Billy returns for his umbrella, and while in the house Greeneyes comes back. Wifey hides Billy in a closet, where he almost suffocates, while she explains with "fibs" about the gloves hubby finds on the table. A series of comic incidents follow here in rapid succession, until Billy and hubby confront each other, while wifey explains that Billy is the tailor, which results in Billy losing his fine fur coat. All these events give Greeneyes sufficient cause to be jealous, which culminates in a big scene, where hubby upsets everything in the house in his search for Billy. Billy takes advantage of the turmoil and makes off with his belongings, and when later hubby asks for his birthday presents, wifey answers, "Birthday presents! Poor hubby; you've had an attack of delirium; there are no presents, but I'll get you some."
- Mr. Newlywed will not allow his wife to have a dog. Her uncle, taking pity on her, goes out to buy one. Meanwhile, Wilkens and his wife, butler and maid to the Newlyweds are informed they must retrieve their "secret" child from friends who were watching her. Uncle comes home with the dog, a cute puppy, and shows his niece. He hides it in the sideboard. Mr. Newlywed shows the uncle an article in the paper about a mad dog running wild in Passaic (Solax Film Co. was located in Ft. Lee, NJ). Quickly, Uncle sneaks the puppy out in his coat. The Wilkens' bring their baby in and hide him/her in the same sideboard! Mrs. Newlywed feels guilty and writes Mr. a note telling him to look in the sideboard and not to be to angry for she will never deceive him again. He looks and, seeing the baby, screams, bring everyone into the room, including Uncle with the puppy. Soon, all is straightened out and all ends happily.
- During a party to watch Haley's comet, a father sees his daughter in the arms of a "strange young man" through the group's telescope. He breaks up the couple, dragging his daughter inside by the hair, but the young man returns to woo the girl from the garden below. He tries to climb to the window, but the father appears again to breakup the romance. The father banishes his daughter to bed and, to be sure she does not escape, confiscates her clothes and takes them to bed with him. Never at a loss, the daughter steals her father's only pair of clothes and sneaks away to elope with her lover. Discovering her departure, the father is forced to don her clothes in order to chase after her. Meanwhile, the young couple go to the home of an inexplicably effeminate priest, who is reluctant to marry the two 'boys' but concedes when one of them removes her cap to reveal she is a girl. The ceremony is performed and the father arrives too late, only to be lectured by the priest about both is rage and his odd dressing habits.
- 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
- In this story the hero is haunted by a beautiful young woman who tries to stab him to death with a knife. This fantasy recurs on each of his birthdays, becoming more and more real as the years go on. He leaves home to secure a place as groom, but arrives at his destination too late. Forced to retrace his steps, he seeks shelter in a little inn, forgetting that the hour of his birth is approaching. In the middle of the night he awakens, terrified with fright. Standing by his bed with a deadly knife in her hand is "The Dream Woman." She plunges the blade into the mattress as he squirms out of the way. Twice she attempts to reach him. He yells for help. The innkeeper and his family are aroused. Seeing nothing, they drive him away for disturbing them. As he is escaping the apparition appears once more. Fear lends speed to his quaking legs and he runs until he falls exhausted in his mother's arms. Francis Raven, the young man, is home from his hair-raising adventure. His mother is sick and he goes to the druggist for medicine. While there, Alicia Warlock, a very pretty girl, enters. It is easily discerned that she has been wayward; that she is tired of life. She asks the druggist to sell her laudanum. He refuses. As she goes out, she attracts Raven's attention. He is fascinated and follows. When he introduces Alicia to his mother, that good but very superstitious woman receives her with askance. But the son is infatuated and when the mother orders the girl away he goes with her and the two are married. They settle down in a home of their own, but when Raven is absent his wife associates with questionable companions. She drinks and is frequently under the influence of liquor. He finds her in this state and scolds her, but she is defiant. Not willing to give her up, he summons his mother, who promises to use her influence toward reforming the girl. But the mother sees her daughter-in-law cutting bread with the same knife that has always been a part of her son's dream and runs away. Not long afterward, Raven finds his wife stupefied with whiskey. He handles her roughly and finally strikes her. She falls to the floor completely sobered by the blow. In a second the husband regrets his hasty temper, but his wife, beside herself with rage, declares she will murder him with the very knife that has tortured him in his dreams. He gets the knife and vows to put it where his wife cannot find it, but while traveling a lonely road he is attacked, the knife is stolen from him and he is thrown into a well, from which he escapes. A few years elapse and Raven is engaged in the care of horses. Upon the anniversary of his birth two strangers, a man and his wife, employ him to drive them to their station. Having heard his cries they ask for an explanation and he tells his weird story. They pity and employ him as a second groom. To protect him over his birthday the first groom is instructed to watch him constantly during the night. But the first groom while in the village flirts with a woman who readily accepts an invitation to visit his lodgings. Just as she is about to partake of food and refreshments there are groans and cries of distress in an adjoining room. The first groom, not wishing to be disturbed, goes to the frightened man, ties him hand and foot, places a gag in his mouth and returns to the woman he picked up in the street. He does not have much time to revel in her society, however, because his mistress calls him. While he is gone, Alicia steals into the adjoining apartment, recognized the helpless occupant of the bed, draws a knife from the folds of her skirt and plunges it into his heart. The story ends in the fascinating atmosphere of the spirit world with the "Dream Woman" enveloped in soul stirring mystery.
- In Casgar, on the utmost boundary of Tartary, lived a tailor and his pretty wife. One day a little hunchback seated himself at the shop door and began to sing and play on a tabor. The tailor invited the hunchback in to entertain his wife. The hospitable wife immediately placed a dish of fish before the men. The hunchback swallows a bone and chokes to death. The accident greatly alarms the tailor, who fearing the magistrate will hear of it, plans to get rid of the corpse. They carry the body to the house of the Jewish doctor and put it at the bottom of a steep flight of stairs, then hastily run away. The doctor, coming down the stairs without a light, falls upon the corpse. He thinks he has killed a poor, sick fellow coming for treatment. Stealthily, the doctor and his wife carry the body to the terrace of their house and throw it down the chimney of their Mussulman neighbor. The Mussulman is one of the Sultan's purveyors; coming into tho room, sees a man at his chimney. Thinking he is a robber, he strikes him a good blow with a stick. The corpse falls on the floor, and he thinks he has killed the man. In great distress and fear he carries the body to the end of the street and places it in an upright position against a shop. A rich Christian merchant, coming home from a night's festivities, jostles into the corpse, which falls upon him. Thinking he is being attacked by a thief he throws him down, calling "Thief." The outcry alarms the watch, and finding a Christian beating a Mussulman, they arrest the merchant and bring him to the magistrate. The magistrate recognizes the hunchback as the Sultan's buffoon, and orders death to the merchant. Just as he is about to be hanged, the purveyor comes along proclaiming himself the guilty party. The executioner releases the merchant and puts the rope around the purveyor's neck. Just then the voice of the Jewish doctor calls for the execution to be suspended. The Jewish doctor tells his story and is condemned in the place of the purveyor. The rope is just about to go around the doctor's neck when the tailor rushes in to tell his story. The Sultan, hearing of the mix-up, commands them all to his presence, and though he grieves for his buffoon, he pardons all concerned in his favorite's death.
- Mr. James, a gay old bachelor, meets a bewitching and flirtatious widow at the beach and becomes so smitten that he asks permission to call at her city home. He finally proposes marriage and is accepted, when to his horror, he finds that she is the mother of five children. His friend advises him to go to an orphanage, where he succeeds in getting the matron to lend him five children, whom he presents to the widow, representing them to be his own. But to his consternation she accepts them all with open arms, and poor James has to make the best of the bargain.
- Two old fishermen sitting outside of their cabin see a boat at sea on fire. They rush to the life-saving station and report what they have seen. The ship is destroyed and the passengers are lost with the exception of a little boy. One of the old fishermen, who has a little girl the boy's age, decides to adopt him. The children become very fond of each other. Ten years later a New York lawyer comes to the fishing town and wants to adopt the child, but the boy is old enough to decide for himself, and does not want to go. The case is brought to court and it is decided that the child remain with his adopted parents, but that they place the money in the hands of a banker and the guardianship of the lawyer. Not very long afterward the banker is on the verge of bankruptcy and borrows from the boy's money. He has no means of returning it and decides to sell the boy some worthless stock in an unformed corporation. On his visit the banker falls in love with the young girl, now grown to be a beautiful young lady. The boy becomes jealous and seeing the banker kiss the girl fights with him on the edge of a cliff, from which the banker, who is not badly injured, falls. The boy, repentant, helps the banker to his father's house. The girl falls in love with the banker and elopes with him, but he soon neglects her for his gay companions and she returns to her father's home. The banker plans a robbery upon his own bank and is aided by crooks, who dig a tunnel under the bank and enter through the floor of the office. But the banker has already taken the money his confederates seek and flees to the fishing village where his wife is living with her parents. He is followed by the crooks, who trap him into giving them the stolen money. Having been seen by his wife's people, he takes the clothes from a body which is cast up by the sea, placing his own suit upon the unfortunate victim of the waves and placing a suicide note in the coat pocket. He tracks the crooks to a dive in the city and attempts to recover his stolen wealth, in a spectacular fight he follows one of his assailants down a fire rope from the window of a tall building, grappling with him in mid-air. The terrific struggle which ensues ends by the banker plunging headlong to the street below, thus ending his miserable career. The boy and girl live and love, as in their childhood, down by the sea.
- A young boy hears wondrous tales of London, where the streets are paced with gold. He leaves his country home to see his fortune in London.
- A strong picture dealing with the Philippines, the Army and the Navy. A romance of two continents, beautifully told with the aid of the famous Solax photography. The opening scene of thousands of troops on a man-of-war makes for the success of this wonderful film. The romance begins between an officer of the Army and a Philippine girl. The scene changes quickly to the United States. The return of the officer to the Philippines effects this result; that the Philippine sweetheart of the officer and his American sweetheart are brought face to face in a wonderful climax.
- The four-masted schooner "Caroline," a valuable seagoing vessel engaged in a peaceful legitimate trade along the rough coast of New England, is the central point around which this interesting drama revolves. Her owner has been forced by misfortune to borrow money from a wealthy merchant who is the secret head of a band of smugglers engaged in bringing Chinamen into the United States by landing them secretly upon a dangerous stretch of the seacoast. The merchant wants the "Caroline" for his illegal traffic, and has also made up his mind to obtain her captain-owner's daughter for his bride. The girl, however, is in love with a stalwart coast guard and is seconded in her dislike for the merchant by her brother who, besides being the first mate of the "Caroline," has rigged a wireless apparatus upon the vessel and upon the roof of their home, and has taught his sister how to communicate with him while he is at sea. The merchant succeeds in secreting a number of his desperate band in the hold of the "Caroline" when she sails upon one of her cruises, and thus gains possession of the vessel and places her crew in irons. She is immediately forced into the "yellow traffic" and used to pick up a cargo of Chinamen who are packed in barrels and loaded upon her deck. Meanwhile the activities of the merchant, the girl and the coast guard upon the land combined with the government's efforts to stop the operations of the smugglers add double interest to the story which reaches a splendid climax when the brother succeeds in communicating with his sister by wireless, is made to walk the plank, swims 140 feet under water, finally clinging to a rudder chain and reaching shore in time to lead a large force against the smugglers on land. He pursues the "Caroline" out to sea and leads an attack upon her ruffian crew, which ends in a hand-to-hand conflict and a triumph for the guardians of the law.
- Tony and Delores are happy together. Tony's blindness makes no difference. He earns money by playing on his old violin, an instrument very dear to him. His happy existence is interrupted by a rich man, a Mr. Gilbert who is interested in music. Tony and Delores one day play before Mr. Gilbert's palatial home. The harmonious strains of the violin attract his attention. The alluring beauty of Delores fascinates Mr. Gilbert. He is very attentive and it occurs to him that he could be near her always if he arranged to take violin lessons from her blind husband. In this way an acquaintanceship develops. Mr. Gilbert is captivated by Delores' eastern seductiveness and takes advantage of every opportunity of being in her presence. He invites her to a masquerade ball and other functions. Her poor blind husband is ignorant of the growing attachment and constant companionship of the two. Events come to a climax when Delores, temporarily overwhelmed by Gilbert's luxurious living, leaves her husband. Tony, abandoned and helpless, is soon reduced to penury and is forced to sell his violin. Later, after the novelty of living in luxury wears off, Delores begins to think of her abandoned and helpless husband. Gilbert attempts at this time to get familiar and she repulses him. Then her slumbering conscience is awakened. That night she sees a vision of her blind husband in despair. The strains of his old violin vibrate in her ears; with determination she casts off her fine clothes which Gilbert in his generosity had presented to her and then clothes herself in the rags in keeping with her station. She goes back to her husband full of remorse. He waits for her and takes her to his heart, the Soul of the Violin had done its work and forever after they live in harmony and good cheer.
- A married couple decide to "live separately together."
- A Mexican officer is desirous of obtaining the intentions of the American troops. He converses with Decastro, who suggests that they send Juanita, a Spanish girl, into the American line. Juanita succeeds in getting acquainted with Lieutenant Harvey, of the American troops. Harvey teaches her telegraphy. Juanita, so far, has not been successful in securing any information that would be of use to the Mexican government, so she plans to admit Decastro into the telegraph office, when on one is there but the lieutenant. Decastro, after a struggle, subdues the lieutenant, and carries him to the Mexican general. Juanita, who is in love with the lieutenant, takes good care that no harm is done to her lover, and plans his rescue. The Mexican general orders that he give him all the information he can. He promptly refuses. Juanita interrupts and asks to be left alone with Harvey. Her request is granted. Now she plans his rescue. She dashes away to a telegraph pole, climbs, taps the wires, connects them with her instrument and is successful in conveying the news to the American troops. Enraged at the apparent treachery of Juanita and the persistent refusal of Harvey, the Mexican officer determines that the lieutenant be shot at sunrise. The execution is interrupted by the arrival of the American troops and Lieutenant Harvey is restored to his freedom and the loving arms of his sweetheart.
- The play opens with the escape of John Forsythe from prison, where he has been sentenced to a term of ten years for counterfeiting. He is seen running through the woods in striped clothing until he emerges on an open road. He there holds up a passing chauffeur and secures a linen coat and cap. These cover the stripes to the knees, and he blacks the remainder from the mud of a swamp until those who sit in front can't tell the difference. In this guise he makes his devious way to the house of his brother Robert, a highly respectable member of good society, who has just been made guardian of person and property for a young lady he has never seen, charming Rosalie Clarke, just fresh from boarding school. John enters the house of Robert and demands protection. Robert offers a small sum of money and tells him to get out. John tears up the money and insists upon a larger amount. The good brother goes to another room, while the wicked one responds to a new criminal impulse. He shoots through the door and kills the man who sought to befriend him. He swaps clothes with the dead man, makes up to resemble him, and rings for the police; the latter is an act of insane cunning. Meanwhile, Dublin Dan hears of the escape of a convict he was instrumental in sending to jail for a long term. He goes to the country home of Robert Forsythe and watches at the railroad station. Who should come down by the next train but charming Rosalie. In gathering together her effects she drops the card of Robert Forsythe, and it falls into the hands of the detective. He promptly makes her acquaintance and assists her to find what is to be her future home. His pleasing appearance and manners, he is a winner, inspire confidence, and Rosalie consents. Thus it happens that they arrive simultaneously and opportunely just as the police John has summoned come on the scene. John claims that he is Robert and asserts that he shot a burglar whom he caught in the act of breaking into his house with the intent of committing a felony. This part of, the plot is replete with dramatic possibilities. Detective and criminal both fall in love with Rosalie, and it is man to man from this moment through exciting situations to the end. Dublin Dan's suspicions are excited by some trivial clue he finds, and he manages to examine this silent testimony while the others are variously engaged. He also objects John to sharp scrutiny when the latter receiver Rosalie. The criminal betrays that he did not know she was coming, and the fact that he has not had time to adjust himself to his new environment is shown in his conduct. Forsythe is savage and brutal, or merely sensuous and lazy as the mood strikes him, but in all cases an instinctive malefactor. Forsythe naturally gravitates to his old haunt, a den of counterfeiters, and there renews relations with confederates who have been operating in a small way. Their laboratory is shown behind a long screen, and John takes up his former occupation with the fanatical enthusiasm of an artist. It is revealed that the adventuress, Jumo, is still infatuated with him, though she has ostensibly given her affections into the keeping of his pal, Bill Steele. Mag Steele is an old hag whose services are those of guard over the safety of the retreat. Forsythe has the temerity to take these people to the house of his slain brother and there make merry to the discomfiture of innocent Rosalie. Rosalie escapes and goes to faithful Dan for advice and help. Dan places her with his mother. Dan goes to the Forsythe house in disguise and informs the merry party he meets there that his motor car is stalled not far away from lack of gasoline. Forsythe offers to send a servant for a new supply. Dan extends a hundred dollar bill, the smallest he has with him, in payment, but this does not attract suspicion. Forsythe takes it and gives counterfeit money in exchange. He is certainly suffering from induration of the occipital. The detective detects, but no matter, just wait. He must locate the den. Forsythe locates him and attempts to abduct Rosalie. She barely escapes the first time by the timely intervention of Dublin Dan in the disguise of a cabman. The second attempt is more successful, and Rosalie is carried away to the den. She is there incarcerated in a prison cell; the den is almost as well equipped as a motion picture studio, to languish while Forsythe resumes his nefarious work in the hidden laboratory. Now comes a closing in of all the elements. Juno is so cruelly jealous that she releases Rosalie from the cell after the others have retired for the night and proceeds to torture her, at least she makes ready, when Rosalie's screams bring the others and the former status is restored. Dublin Dan is not idle. He chances upon Matt, the thug of the counterfeiting gang, in a nearby tavern. In preparation for this encounter the detective has brought along a makeup bag which contains among other wonderful things a live carrier pigeon. Matt the thug has become interested in a drunken sailor who rashly flashes a roll. Dublin Dan interferes and conducts the drunken sailor to a bed-chamber. There the detective has an inspiration. He disguises himself as the drunken sailor, secretes the carrier pigeon in his bosom and contrives to encounter Matt the thug near the counterfeiter's den. Matt takes the drunken sailor into the den to rob him. Dublin Dan not only sees imprisoned Rosalie looking out from behind the prison bars, but is given a full view of the secret laboratory. Feigning sleep while the others play cards, he manages to write a note and attach it to the carrier pigeon's legs. As he sends the dove up the chimney, Matt the thug turns suddenly to help himself to whiskey and catches Dublin Dan in the act. The entire gang assaults the detective in a terrific struggle, with a result that he is overpowered, bound and thrown into a dungeon through a trap door. Is he done for? Ask of the white rats that crawl over his prostrate body and gnaw the ropes that bind him. Dublin Dan rises and rids himself of his bonds. He creeps up an iron ladder, opens the trap and seizes a brace of pistols. Now he has the whole gang at bay. After effecting Rosalie's release, he marches the counterfeiters, one by one, into the prison cell and there he holds them until the police arrive. Best of all, he is so cool about it. When the officers come on the scene he is calmly smoking a cigar.
- Clara, a pretty little school teacher, is courted by two young mountaineers. She favors Jim Mason, who is the postmaster of the village, and Harry Barford, his rival, determines to get Jim out of the way, so that he can win her. Jim and Clara decide to marry as soon as Jim has enough money. Harry sees his chance and offers Jim $500 to manage an illicit whiskey still during his absence. Clara's scruples are overcome by the thought of an early marriage and Jim reluctantly consents. Harry immediately informs the sheriff and a posse is sent to arrest Jim. But Billy, the village idiot, who has fallen asleep while playing his little tin flute, overhears the conversation between Harry and the sheriff and informs Clara of Jim's danger. Jim hides in the woods upon the approach of the posse and, meeting Clara, they flee, both riding on the same horse. A long chase through the snow-covered mountains in which they are closely pressed by the sheriff's posse, forces them to a spot among the jagged cliffs, where their only means of escaping their pursuers is a fifty-eight foot plunge into a raging torrent full of broken ice. They urge their horse over the edge of the cliff and plunge to the depths below miraculously escaping with their lives and safely reaching the shore. They take refuge in an Indian village and the chief, a giant Indian over seven feet tall, appoints himself a committee of one to compel the little fat parson to marry them. Clara returns to the village and Jim goes to New York to prepare a home for her. Barford is appointed postmaster and succeeds in intercepting Jim's mail, meanwhile forcing his attentions upon Jim's wife. Not hearing from Clara, Jim decides to take a desperate chance and return to the village by a dangerous route, which will enable him to elude the guardians of the law. In order to do this he is forced to walk hand over hand across a cable 250 feet long, placed by a lumber company over a deep ravine. Arriving at Clara's house he finds her in the arms of Barford, not knowing he has forcibly placed his arms around her. Jim leaves broken-hearted and is seen by Barford, who follows him at a distance. As Jim is re-crossing the 250 feet of cable, Barford shoots him in the arm, in spite of which he succeeds in escaping and returns to New York. A baby is born to Clara, and she determines to find Jim at all costs and tell him that he is a proud father. She goes to New York, and being in need of money, accepts the offer of a motion picture company to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge for $10,000. Jim, who is desperate and out of work, accepts the offer of the same company to also make the leap, and is horror-struck by recognizing his wife, just as she throws herself from the giant structure into the icy waters below. He leaps after her and succeeds in aiding her to reach a tug-boat, where she rests happily in her lost husband's arms. They make a new attempt to get possession of their baby, but are caught in their cabin by Barford and the posse, where a fierce fight is interrupted by a misdirected blow, which fells the poor village fool, Billy. He is revived and it is discovered that the blow has restored his sanity. He tells of Harford's villainy and produces evidence that brands him as the real criminal and leaves Jim and Clara free to enjoy each other's love.
- Charlotte Baker is drugged and taken to a brothel by Paul, her fiance, who in reality is a pimp. To find her, Charlotte's family contacts the celebrated detective Bob Macauley whose sweetheart Sylvia is a struggling salesgirl and the sole support of her ailing mother. When she is turned down for promotion by her boss, Sylvia applies for a position with a kindly woman who has offered her help. To her horror, Sylvia soon discovers that the woman is a madame and has lured her to the same house of ill repute in which Charlotte is being held captive. Meanwhile, searching for Charlotte, Bob visits the brothel disguised as a gasman and discovers that Sylvia is a resident. Thinking that she is there willingly, Bob upbraids her, but upon discovering the truth he rescues her as well as Charlotte and delivers Paul to the authorities.
- 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.
- In the eastern part of New Mexico is locate the little mining town of Gatlach. There, however, we find an active mining camp dependent largely upon the famous Gatlach mine for its existence. Living in the camp we find Florence, who is loved by Jake. Florence, too, loves Jake. A new superintendent arrives to take charge of the mining property. The new arrival meets Florence and the man and girl fall in love. Discontent among the Mexican and half-breed miners develops. They mutiny, coming to the office making demands which the super promptly refuses and orders them from the place. The ruffians withdraw to arm themselves and then plan an attack upon the office and the death of their boss. Jake overhears the plot, and while he has no love for Harry, determines for the sake of Florence to save them. He rushes to the office and warns them just as the mob appears. They are pursued and finally take refuge in a narrow pass. With only one horse, escape for the party is impossible. Jake forces Harry against his will to take the horse and Florence and escape. They depart seeking aid, which is found in the shape of a troop of cavalry out scouting. Thus reinforced, they rush back to Jake's aid, but too late, he has fought his last fight and given up his life for those dear to him.
- The police are on the lookout for Jim Spike, alias Jim Nail, a dangerous highway robber, who has been working with more or less success without being apprehended. The chief of the detective bureau puts two new detectives on the case and enjoins them to be very careful in their investigations, and not to come back without landing the prisoner. The three detectives soon come upon Edgar Carroll, in whom they immediately see a striking resemblance to Spike, the crook. They shadow Edgar from place to place, and soon his life becomes one long game of hide and seek with the detectives. Finally Edgar consults his friend and they both decide to give the detectives a merry chase. Edgar and his friend dress as women and parade the streets in their ludicrous feminine attire. They flirt with the detectives and entice them away from their duty. They do not discover the real identity of their charming feminine companions until they accidentally come upon them one evening and see them leisurely, and with enjoyment, smoking clear Havana cigars. This shocking and unfeminine spectacle arouses their suspicions, but the boys are too clever for these cousins of Sherlock Holmes and, with the aid of an automobile, give them the slip, but the detectives eventually turn up again and arrest the masqueraders. However, they do not remain long in the police station, for the real Jim Spike turns up soon as the crook who tried to snatch Jane Ellery's purse on the ferryboat. Jane is Edgar Carroll's sweetheart, and she recognizes him. A few more complications arise, however, until Edgar and the crook are seen side by side and their likeness discovered, and the cousins of Sherlock Holmes see they have been misguided in their investigations.
- Old John Tiffin, a henpecked husband, while at the table, spilled into his lap all the turkey meat and gravy. His suit is ruined. However, his wife gives him enough money to buy a new one, and he departs for that purpose. Simultaneously with the purchase of Tiffin's suit, Charlie, the lover of Ethel Prentiss, buys himself a new suit for his wedding, identical in style and pattern to that of old John Tiffin. During Mrs. Tiffin's peregrinations she discovers Ethel and Charlie in her lead, and as she has seen her husband's new suit, she mistakes Charlie for him. She follows them, and subsequently learns Ethel's address. Mrs. Tiffin reaches the Prentiss home during Charlie's absence and is informed that Ethel has just married. She notifies Ethel that the man she has married is already a husband, and the father of five children. Mrs. Tiffin departs to secure a warrant charging her spouse with bigamy. Charlie returns to the Prentiss home with his grips. He is set upon by the father and brother of the bride and tossed out of the window. He alights upon the head of a policeman, and one of the wedding guests promptly sets out in pursuit of him. In the meantime, Tiffin who has been turned out of his house by his wife is walking down the street. Charlie, pursued by the policeman and the old man whom he has knocked down in his flight, comes tearing down the street and collides with Tiffin. Regaining his feet Charlie continues his flight, and, thinking from the appearance of Tiffin's suit that he is the man he has been pursuing, arrests Tiffin. Complications are finally cleared away and the respective men restored to the forgiving arms of their wives.
- Dela Hart and her husband, who are in danger of becoming hopelessly estranged, find a new interest in each other through the medium of a lottery ticket and a set of furs. Dela has an ardent admirer who wishes to present her with the furs. He secures a bogus lottery ticket and gives it to her. The furs are to be the result of the winning number on the ticket. All goes as expected. Dela gives the ticket to her husband and asks him to bring home whatever she has won. Unexpected complications result when Mr. Hart presents the furs to his pretty stenographer and brings home a book to his wife as the result of her winning. However, all ends well, and Dela and her husband really begin to become acquainted with each other.
- A naturally-told story of the 8-year-old daughter of a workman who is on strike. The mother falls sick and has no money in the house to buy medicine prescribed by the visiting doctor. The little girl, discovering this, starts out to sell her doll, and by a strange coincidence meets the owner of the factory where her father is on strike. She finally sells the doll to a storekeeper, but the employer, seeing her sad face and winsome way, immediately purchases the doll and returns it to her. The closing scenes of the strike and the intervention of the little girl preventing bloodshed bring about a happy sequel to a pathetic story.
- Slowly and painfully a long line of suffering political prisoners were being brutally driven through the blinding snow to the barren wastes of Siberia, where they were destined to spend the balance of their lives in toil and sorrow. At the rear of the line patiently trudged a feeble old man, who in spite of his advanced years had brought the cruel vengeance of Russia down upon his head by daring to speak his mind in the interests of freedom. In the distance could be seen a small sleigh driven by an aged woman at whose side sat a strikingly beautiful girl. They were the wife and daughter of the exile, who were sharing his sad lot. In the camp of the prisoners they were allowed to live in a small hut, where they tried in vain to make the father comfortable, and soon realized that unless he could be taken back to civilization he would surely die. They sawed a hole in the floor of their hut and placed a trunk with a movable bottom over it. Then placing the old man beneath the floor they put some of his clothes and a note telling of his suicide on the riverbank and waited. For weeks they fed and cared for him secretly while the officials thought him dead. Finally they were given passports and told to return to Russia. The trunk was searched and found to contain clothes, but it was no sooner locked than the exile dropped the clothes into the cellar, and taking their place, was safely on his way across the border. In Russia, General Romanoff had ordered a massacre and his son had been stripped of his uniform for refusing to carry out the general's orders to slay the innocent. Sadly he left his father's house resolved never to return. On the road he met the exile, whose sleigh had been overturned and while helping him, fell under the spell of the large serious eyes of his beautiful daughter. Together they joined a revolutionary society, and when lots were drawn to destroy General Romanoff, the girl found herself called upon to do the dangerous work. Not knowing that the general was the father of her gallant lover, and embittered by her own father's death she consented. A bronze statue was presented to the general, who received it as a token of appreciation of his work, little dreaming that it contained the girl who was bent upon his destruction. But her lover had decided to save his father and the girl at all costs, and the deed was prevented at the very last moment with the general still innocent of his near approach to death. Mourning his son, the general wrote him a letter of forgiveness, but tore it to bits when he learned of his application to the revolutionists. Likewise the son wrote his father begging forgiveness, but destroyed the letter when the general ordered a new massacre. A terrific battle was fought in the streets, the father leading his troops in person against the forces of his sun. In the thick of the fight the general, seriously wounded, experienced a strange realization of the equality of man as he gave his last drink of water to a common revolutionary soldier and clasped his hand in brotherly love ere his soul had fled. So the general's son and the exile's daughter found the two old soldiers peacefully sleeping in each other's arms and their grief was tempered by the mute evidence of the general's change of heart as they smiled tenderly through their tears.
- An old violin maker, living in a small town, spends his time perfecting instruments. Like other men engaged in kindred artistic occupations, he is absorbed in his work and forgets about worldly necessities until want, implacable and inexorable, throws her shadows across his threshold. While the old violin-maker goes out to seek financial assistance from his friend the bookseller, a young violinist comes to his home and leaves a Stradivarius worth $10,000 to be repaired. The young musician came to have his violin repaired, but soon he found that his heart strings also needed repairing, for he fell in love with the violin maker's daughter. Although the violin maker gets temporary relief from his friend, the bookseller, a crabbed and crafty creditor later makes his life miserable. This creditor takes some of the instruments in part payment of his notes. The old musician is now left in narrow straits. In desperation he decides to substitute one of his own violins for the $10,000 Stradivarius. "Surely, that young violinist will not know the difference!" After a pathetic scene in which the violinist struggles with his conscience, his daughter enters and from his peculiar actions she guesses his frame of mind. There is a very dramatic scene between father and daughter. In the meanwhile, the young violinist enters and he saves the situation and makes harmony out of impending discord.
- Mr. and Mrs. Brown, going out for the evening, leave their daughter, Vinnie, alone in the house. Later, her brother, Darwin, comes home unexpectedly. Having no door key, and ringing in vain (as Vinnie is afraid to answer the bell), he climbs in the window. Hearing noises downstairs, Mary thinks it is a burglar. Very much frightened, she locks her door and prepares to let herself down out of the window on bedclothes tied together. Tom comes upstairs and finds the door locked. Then, hearing her open the window, he in turn thinks her a burglar, and goes out of another window in pursuit. Mr. and Mrs. Brown return, and all kind of complications ensue, and they all finish up in the prison cell, charged with being burglars.
- Billy is anxious to be a detective. He buys a book, "How to Become a Detective," and studies the theories of detecting crime most assiduously. So when he finds the diary belonging to Dora Burns and sees an entry that she, Dora, is going to buy a revolver for defending herself against burglars, and a hatchet for killing Edward, Billy sees an opportunity of putting into operation the methods he has learned. He shadows Dora to her home. Dora Burns discovers him, however, and forcibly convinces him that he should skidoo. Billy is persistent. He will not be thwarted. His head is swelled with the awful crime Dora is about to commit and so he runs to get the police. The police arrive and ask Dora for an explanation, for they find blood spots on her apron and on her brother's coat. Dora takes the police to the kitchen and show the police a bleeding rooster. Billy's career as a detective ends then and there.
- Falsely accused of the theft of a million dollars in securities from the safe of his wealthy employer, an honest young private secretary finds himself powerless to prove his innocence because of the perjury of an unprincipled butler who has been bribed to testify against him. The daughter of his employer is the innocent cause of the activity of his powerful enemy, who is an influential banker and the rival of the secretary for the hand of the girl. One of the secretary's cufflinks found near the looted safe suggests to the banker the possibility of fixing the crime upon him. The butler accepts a large sum of money from the banker in return for bearing witness, but is suspected of dishonesty by the maid because of his sudden show of wealth. Detectives are put upon his track, but he learns of his danger and succeeds in effecting his escape, thus making it appear that he himself is guilty of the theft. As a hunted criminal with the police instructed to arrest him on sight he becomes a desperate character and selects the banker as a likely subject for a successful scheme to obtain money. By a clever ruse be obtains an audience with the banker, leaving him bound and gagged several thousand dollars poorer. But his bold move leads to his discovery by the police, who follow him successfully in spite of a spectacular flight in which Broadway, the Bowery, the Brooklyn Bridge and Flushing, Long Island play an important part. The opening of a large cantilever bridge at the psychological moment places the butler in the clutches of the law, but the banker is afraid to identify him as his assailant and there is no direct proof of his connection with the million dollar robbery. Experts find only the safe owner's fingerprints upon the combination of the safe, and a famous detective becomes interested in the peculiar case. He looks up the life history of the victim of the robbery and finds that the old capitalist suffers from a common but little understood affliction. By substituting a hypnotist for the old gentleman's barber he succeeds in obtaining a statement which proves that the capitalist removed the money box from the safe with his own hands and hid it in a fireplace while walking in his sleep. The butler is immediately accused of perjury, but fights desperately against arrest and when finally cornered leaps from the top of a high building to his death. The capitalist carefully follows the instructions given by himself while hypnotized and finding his lost wealth intact, begs the forgiveness of his falsely accused secretary and welcomes him as the husband of his daughter.
- A wealthy old scientist is preyed upon by a fortune hunter who wants to marry his granddaughter, even though she is in love with a hydroplane pilot.
- Clarissa Howland, a young married woman, has written foolish letters to Henry Harrison, a blackguard, who later forces money from her on his threat that he will send the letters to her husband. In an interview in which, failing to produce a thousand dollars he demands, she is forced to promise to give him a valuable emerald necklace. She agrees to leave the library window open so he may quietly enter that evening and receive the necklace in exchange for the letters. This interview is overheard by Bill Burke, a burglar, who follows Clarissa home. That evening Clarissa opens the window and leaves the room to procure the necklace. During her absence Burke enters, and on her return is forced to conceal himself behind the curtains. He sees her place the emeralds in a desk, which she does not lock, and leave the room. Burke thereupon removes the necklace from the desk and is about to leave when Harrison enters through the window. Again Burke is forced into concealment. An instant after Clarissa returns, finds Harrison waiting and demands her letters. Harrison takes them from his pocket and asks for the necklace. Clarissa opens the desk and discovers the jewels missing. She instantly accuses Harrison of having taken them, and in frantic rage tries to take her letters from him by force. As they struggle Burke stuns Harrison with the butt of his gun from his place of concealment, and coolly takes the letters for himself. He is about to leave when Clarissa's three-year-old son in his night clothes enters the room. Clarissa begs Burke to give up the letters at least, if only for the boy's sake, and after a struggle with himself, Burke throws the letters into the fire. He seems interested in the child and finally picks Harrison from the floor, and kicks him out through the window, following himself. Clarissa is seated before the fire with her son asleep in her lap when Burke returns. He stands looking curiously at the mother and son, and then, taking the necklace from his pocket, reaches over her shoulder and drops it upon the child's breast. As he is about to leave, Clarissa's husband enters, and Burke is once more forced to conceal himself. Clarissa, child and husband leave the room. Burke emerges, takes a cigar from the box on the table, lights it, shrugs his shoulders, and exits.
- Clay Woodruff objects to the way his wife dresses when she goes for a walk, so she changes to a suit exactly like his. He, to get even, puts on her dress and hat, but when they see each other they are about to compromise and put on their own clothes, when in walks Aunt Mariah in a harem skirt cut in a very extreme style. Seeing this, Clay decides that this is the limit and forthwith goes on a drunk. His wife and aunt try to cure him by means of mental suggestion, telling him the liquor he drank has been poisoned with morphine and that he must keep dancing or he will die. The butler, coming in with a milk antidote, learns why Clay is dancing and he forthwith begins to execute the same movements, for he too has been at the decanter. The maid arrives upon the scene, and learning the reason, immediately starts to dance too. She has not been behind the others in sampling the bottle. In a like manner the wife and aunt join the party and they all dance to the telephone and call the doctor. The doctor arrives and before anybody can stop him he has sampled the beverage, and when they tell him that he is poisoned we see that he is as vigorous a dancer as any of them. Finally, after they are all worn out they find that it was a mistake arising from the efforts of Mrs. Woodruff in trying the mental suggestion cure.
- James Warren, a poor artist, becomes desperate because his wife, Editha, is discontented with their poverty-stricken existence. During an excited scene he vows he would sell his soul to the devil for success. A gust of wind blows out the light and when he relights the lamp, the devil, in the guise of a stranger, immaculately clad, enters and inquires for a rich neighbor with whom he is to visit. Seeing one of Warren's pictures, he pretends enthusiasm and commissions him to paint a picture. James and Editha are overjoyed. The next day, the devil arranges a meeting between Editha and the rich neighbor's son, Lawrence. Editha and Lawrence become infatuated with each other at first sight. Lawrence invites Editha to attend a ball at his home, and she is about to refuse, not having suitable clothes and knowing her husband would not care to accompany her, when the devil offers her money, advanced on the picture James is to paint, and tells her she can secure a gown. He also contrives to make the way clear for Editha to accept the invitation by telling her that James must accompany him to the city on that evening to arrange a setting, and consequently would know nothing of her having gone. Urged on by the devil, Editha promises Lawrence to attend. As she reaches her door, a stranger (Conscience), in the guise of a crippled beggar, asks for food. They enter the house and Editha becomes conscience-stricken, but persuaded by the devil she does not tell James of her intentions. The evening of the ball, James and the devil start for the city, and a few minutes later Lawrence calls for Editha who is clad gorgeously. The devil, wishing to arouse the husband's jealousy, suggests that he 'phone his wife. Jack 'phones and finding his wife does not answer, believes what the devil has told him of Lawrence and Editha's infatuation, and in a fury starts for home. He arrives at home to find his wife absent. The devil insinuates that she may be found with Lawrence, and Jack believing her faithless goes with the devil to find Editha. They arrive at Lawrence's residence and the devil leads Jack to the conservatory from where they see Lawrence making violent love to Editha. Jack denounces Editha and returns home. The devil is overjoyed at his success. Conscience enters the room and leads Editha back home. She changes her gorgeous costume for clothes in keeping with her position and enters the room in time to see a struggle between Conscience and the Devil in which the Devil is vanquished. Conscience then affects a reconciliation between Editha and James.