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- In the wayward western town known as Hell's Hinges, a local tough guy is reformed by the faith of a good woman.
- The picture tells the story of a little Spanish boy who is cast upon the shore of the east coast of Mexico early in the sixteenth century, when Mexico was dominated by the Aztec Indians. Never having seen a white person before, the local natives, a tribe called Tehuans, bring him up as a god and call him Chiapa. When he reaches manhood, Chiapa is given authority over his entire tribe. He falls in love with the priestess, Tecolote, and she yields to his advances although she is quite unworthy of him, and encourages other suitors. Then the Aztecs hear that under the white god the Tehuans are very prosperous, and start forth to conquer them. The Aztec army is under command of Mexitli, the chief general of Montezuma, the Emperor, and having conquered the Tehuans, he carried off Tecolote as his personal slave. Chiapa follows as a spy. In the garden of Montezuma, he is wounded by a guard, but Lolomi, the beautiful daughter of the Emperor, saves him. They fall in love. Meanwhile Mexitli has tired of Tecolote, and now seeks the hand of the Princess Lolomi, who would rather die than have him. As the Emperor gives Mexitli his consent, he tries to get the princess by force, and in doing so discovers Chiapa. Luiapa is sentenced to die at the end of the year on the sacrificial stone. But Lolomi, finding her pleas to her father of no avail, sends word to the Tehuans that their god is captive. An avenging army sweeps down, and there is brought about a sequence of thrilling scenes with a smashing finish.
- Tom "Wolf" Lowry, the owner of the Bar Z ranch, tolerates no intruders into his life. When he hears that settlers have entered his valley, he goes to confront them but has a change of heart when he sees Mary Davis, a young woman who has come West to find her missing sweetheart, Owen Thorpe. Mary nurses Lowry back to health after he is wounded by Buck Fanning, the real estate agent who sold Mary her claim, when Lowry prevents Banning from raping Mary. Lowry soon falls in love with Mary and she agrees to become his wife, having lost all hope of finding her former sweetheart. By coincidence, Lowry finds Owen, but when Owen and Mary meet and plan to run away together, Lowry insists that she honor her agreement to wed him. On the day of the wedding, however, Lowry has a change of heart and takes Owen and Mary to the minister and tells him to marry the two lovers instead. Lowry then leaves Mary a note saying that he is going to Alaska. Five years later, Mary and Owen are the parents of a young son, named Tom, and the recipients of a letter from Lowry who now lives in isolation in Alaska.
- Jack Harding, a wealthy ne'er-do-well, becomes involved with a Broadway vamp. When she is murdered, Jack is falsely accused of the crime and must turn for help to his lawyer--his wife.
- D'Artagnan goes to Paris and becomes a member of the famous King's Musketeers. The Queen sends him on a dangerous mission to England. His three companions are either captured or put out of commission in the course of fights on foot and horseback. D'Artagnan reaches London and recovers from the Duke of Buckingham a pair of studs the Queen gave him as tokens of regard. On the ship on which he returns the hero is captured by his deadly enemy, De Rochfort. Jumping over the side, he clings to the chains of the vessel till it reaches port in France. He restores the studs to the Queen, and she has them put back into the necklace where they belong. Cardinal Richelieu has induced the King to command the Queen to appear wearing the necklace at a great court ball. When he sees the complete necklace, his plan to embarrass the Queen falls through. In addition to obtaining the favor of the Queen, D'Artagnan is rejoiced over the safe return of his comrades and his reward from his sweetheart for his bravery.
- Peggy, a rambunctious young American girl, goes to Scotland to visit her uncle. Her American ways both shock and eventually delight the people of the old village--especially the handsome young minister.
- "Phantom" Farrell was known as one of the cleverest crooks in the world, with a penchant for jewel robberies. He planned to attend the Bereton ball and steal a famous necklace which he knew the daughter would wear. Chance makes it possible for Farrell to gain admittance to the Bereton mansion before the night of the ball, in the guise of a detective, and it happens that he meets the young woman whom he has planned to rob. Farrell is so attracted by her beauty and winsomeness that he falls in love and decides not to steal the necklace. At the ball the necklace really is stolen and Mr. Bereton, the owner, immediately asks "The Phantom," whom he knows only as a detective to find the thief and locate the jewels. "The Phantom" has observed the intimacy between Bertie Bereton, the son of the household, and one of the guests, a Dr. Ratcliffe. He finally forces Bertie to confess to him that Dr. Ratcliffe is really a noted race track gambler who has forced him to aid in the theft of the necklace in order to square certain gambling debts which he holds against him. Dr. Ratcliffe has already made his escape from the house, but "The Phantom" overtakes him at the railroad station and compels him to return to the house where, with the assistance of his valet, he recovers the valuables. In addition, he forces the gambler to give up all claims on the young man. The arrival of the real detective whom "The Phantom" is impersonating and three others, complicates matters for that worthy, and he would have been caught immediately had not Bertie warned him of their approach. The escape of "The Phantom" and his valet is effected only after a series of stirring adventures, but it is finally accomplished and as the pursuers dash off down the road, "The Phantom" and his faithful valet emerge from behind a hedge and start a long walk back to town. The valet upbraids his master for his weakness in not actually stealing the jewels himself, but "The Phantom" remembers the beautiful girl whom he has made happy by his success in restoring the necklace and he walks along the dusty road perfectly happy with himself.
- Luke McVane, a big, good-natured, desert miner, comes into the little adobe frontier outfitting town of Sage on the Arizona desert with about $300, the result of three months' hard work and a clean up on his desert claim. Not a bad sort at heart, but crazed by desert fire water and fleeced of his wad by "Crooked Jim" Ashley, a tough gambler. Luke turns bad, kills his man and, sobered by the tragedy, makes for the desert with the sheriff in pursuit. Jim Daly, the sheriff's deputy, forms a posse and follows the trail of the sheriff and Luke. Luke lures the sheriff into the sand hills and ambushes him and shoots him from his horse. Unaware of the pursuing posse, and not having the heart to let the sheriff die in the desert, Luke takes the wounded man with him to his claim. He matches up the sheriff's wound and nurses him back to health. The posse find the sheriff's horse but lose the trail in a sand wash and return to town. During the sheriff's convalescence, Luke tells him the facts of the case: that he really shot in self-defense and fled fearing that he would be lynched by the gambler's friends before he could secure a fair trial. The sheriff believes him and promises to use his influence to have the charge against Luke dismissed if Luke will surrender and accompany him back to town. Luke thinks it over and decides to take the sheriff's advice. When the sheriff is able to travel but still weak from the wound, they start back. Hostile Apaches jump their reservation nearby and they intercept Luke and the sheriff on the way back to town. In the battle that follows both the sheriff and Luke lose their lives. They are found by a posse from town after the Indians. Luke with a revolver in each hand wounded by a number of bullets, with his back supported by a small sand hill and across his lap the body of the dead sheriff.
- Cliff Hudspeth, the leader of a band of outlaws in Arizona, has won his place by the killing of notorious gun-bullies. At their headquarters, in the Gila Mountains, in consultation with "Ace High," his lieutenant, he plans depredations on the neighboring settlements. Although Hudspeth is powerful, their rule is disputed by El Salvador, a half-breed, and his following of desperadoes. Desert Pass is the scene of many conflicts between the contending bands. Rumors of the arrival of miners with gold causes El Salvador to send "Cactus" Fuller, his henchman, to levy tribute by a hold-up, which is successful. Flushed with triumph, he boasts in the "Golden Fleece" saloon of the ignominies to which he would treat Cliff Hudspeth if he ever met him. Hudspeth arrives and makes Cactus, whom he throws out of the saloon, realize that something must be done to retrieve a shattered reputation. Coming out of the saloon, Hudspeth sees Norma Wright, a milliner, standing at the door of her little store, and waves her inside, as he anticipates trouble. The shooting commences and Cactus is defeated. As Hudspeth is preparing to leave town Norma denounces him as a cold-blooded murderer. Stung almost to madness by the girl's accusation, he seizes her and gallops out of town. At his retreat he locks the stupefied girl in a room and seeks to drown the memory of her words with whiskey. The whiskey, and his awakened conscience, bring him to review his life, and, half delirious, he sees his victims pass reproachfully before him. The girl, too, becomes aware of the human side of the man and next morning she brings him around to her way of thinking and extracts a pledge that he will never willingly kill another human being. Soon after there comes from a member of the legislature offer of a pardon and restoration to citizenship if Cliff will undertake to rid Arizona of El Salvador. Hearing of Cliff's new appointment, El Salvador is wild with rage, and burns the town and drags Norma away to the mountains. Cliff Hudspeth rescues her and kills El Salvador, although mortally wounded himself. He places the girl on a horse, which bears her to safety, and passes away consoled that his last killing was in her defense.
- "Draw" Egan, a notorious bandit of New Mexico, has come to the end of his tether. His gang has been dispersed, many slain, and more in jail, and there is a reward of $1,000 offered for Egan, "dead or alive." While drinking in a saloon at Muscatine, Egan chances across Matt Buckton, a leading citizen of the neighboring village of Yellow Dog. Yellow Dog is a town infested with gunmen who make life miserable for the few respectable citizens. Buckton is on a still hunt for some strong men who will shoulder the unenviable responsibilities of sheriff, and put the fear of God and the law into the hearts of his undisciplined fellow-citizens. While Buckton is thinking over his seemingly impossible quest, the bully of Muscatine enters the saloon and accosting "Draw" Egan, finds himself crumpled upon the floor without opportunity for repartee. Buckton is so much impressed by the quietude and deftness of Draw Egan's work that he immediately offers him the job of cleaning out Yellow Dog. So Draw Egan, as William Blake, is installed as sheriff of Buckton's promising community. William Blake soon has the bullies and gunmen of Yellow Dog well in hand, with law and order restored by the capable ex-bandit. At the time when the respectable citizens are singing the praises of the new sheriff, one of the worst of Egan's old gang, Oregon Joe, strolls into town, sizes up the situation, and holding a threat of betrayal over the sheriff's head, proceeds with the aid of the tough element to undo the sheriff's good work. For himself Egan cares little, but while endeavoring to live down his past and lead a clean life, he has fallen in love with Buckton's daughter Myrtle. Day by day he submits to Oregon Joe's insults and the tough element gradually gets the upper hand. Things have reached such a pitch that one day the gunmen, headed by Oregon Joe, decide to drive the respectable citizens out of town and run the place for themselves. It is up to the sheriff to decide, and his manhood asserts itself. He confesses the evils of his past life, throws himself on the mercy of his fellow citizens and promises to surrender to the government if they will allow him one day to restore order. He makes good; the gunmen are whipped into submission and Oregon Joe, the blackmailer, meets his just reward. The sheriff surrenders and is locked up in the caboose, but the next morning a delegation of citizens greets him with the assurance that to them Draw Egan has ceased to exist and that Yellow Dog only recognizes Sheriff William Blake. Myrtle Buckton is one of the delegation.
- Denton rides into Yellow Ridge with a money-belt filled after years of toil in the mines beyond the desert. The local gamblers covet the fortune but fail to get Steve to try the roulette table until the enticer, Trixie, comes to exercise her charms on him. He blindly follows her lead and is watching the wheel with stern stare when a telegram is received. He asks the woman to read it. She lies when she says it contains good news, for it tells of his mother's critical illness. In the morning Steve awakes to find his belt is empty. In his feverish search through his pockets, he comes upon the telegram. As the truth dawns he goes to the telegraph office to send home a wire. The operator hands him the news that his mother has died. Wild with rage, he shoots up the town and drives away with Trixie lying limp over his horse before him. His heart is now filled with hate for all women and Trixie becomes his slave in a community where he tolerates only the scum of the section. Across the desert comes a pack train of Mississippi farmers who have left their fertile valleys to hunt for gold. Their water is all but gone and their stock is fagged. Their leaders plead with Steve for aid, but the white race may expect nothing from him. Back to the wailing women and children go the despondent leaders. Mary Jane, a waif among them, is not cowed by the story they tell, and by night she goes to repeat their please to the harsh white man. He looks upon her as another victim to share Trixie's lot, but her innocent, fearless attitude toward him makes him hesitate. Meanwhile, his men have carried off the women of the train. As the men pursue and bloodshed is in the air, Steve yields to the little girl and trades the safety of those people for his rich mine, leaves his wealth to his followers and guides the strangers out of the desert.
- Gambler "On-the-Level" Leigh gives up his profession for his little sister, Alice, whose precarious health demands that she move to the mountains. There, the gambler meets the fiery dance hall girl Coralie whose advances he rejects. His funds exhausted from the expense of the move, Level unwillingly returns to his old profession, but Coralie induces the dealer to "cold deck" Level, and he loses every cent. Out of desperation, Level decides to hold up the passengers of the stagecoach while unknown to him, Black Jack shoots and kills the driver for the express box. Learning of the driver's death, Level surrenders himself to the law and is jailed. Escaping from his cell, Level discovers Black Jack uncovering the express box and arrests him. Level returns to town with the real murderer, is cleared of all charges and is reunited with his sweetheart, Rose Larkin.
- A minister who was raised in the Kentucky hills returns home from preaching in Vermont to try to end a generations-long feud between his family and another, the McCoys. His family wants nothing to do with any kind of truce, and throws him out. He moves into a small shack in the mountains, and continues his preaching of non-violence and peaceful co-existence. However, when he is forced to rescue his sister from the clutches of one of the McCoy men, he finds his philosophy put to the test.
- Jim Treen, a road agent, is engaged to Molly Stewart, who has no notion of his secret profession. When she discovers Jim's hidden treasure cache, she breaks their engagement. Though he pleads with her, promising to reform, Molly will not marry the bandit. Bill Carey, interested in Molly's savings, woos and wins her. The evening they are to be married, she entrusts to Carey her bank account, asking him to invest it for her. Carey beats it out of town on the night stage. Jim Treen is notified that Carey has left Molly in the lurch. The former road agent rides after the stage. Carey bribes the driver with a bonus of one hundred dollars to make the eastbound limited. Treen, however, by taking a perilous short cut over the mountains, stops Carey at the train, snatches away his gun, and compels him, at the point of his own weapon, to hand over Molly's money. Jim restores her savings to the woman he still loves, and Molly becomes his wife.
- Attractive young Englishman Harry Dickson is engaged to beautiful English girl Elsa Arlington. While serving as a deputy commissioner in a principality in India, he becomes acquainted with Janira, a nobleman's daughter, who is given in marriage to dissolute Indian Prince Chandra. While the festivities are in full swing, the groom dies from a stroke of apoplexy. His body is put on the funeral pyre. At the period of this play, it was the practice among the people of India for the widow to throw herself on the fire in which her husband's body was burning. Janira is compelled in spite of herself to submit to this custom. Just before she is placed in the flames, Dickson and his servant see what is going on and rescue her after a fight. Dickson becomes infatuated with Janira and keeps her in his bungalow disguised as a servant boy. His sweetheart Elsa arrives from England, and he soon feels a reviving of his old love for her. His attentions to Elsa trouble Janira, but she is faithful to him and will not admit to herself that the white man can do any wrong. Dickson is summoned before the English commissioner and the father of Janira accuses him of having kidnapped the girl. The deputy puts up a bold front. Then to settle the matter, soldiers are sent to Dickson's house to fetch the girl. They return in a short time with the message that they found on their arrival that the bungalow was in flames. After the structure had been destroyed, they saw in the embers a human body burned to such an extent that it was unrecognizable. Dickson reels and the commissioner hastens to support him. The girl's father totters out of the office.
- Van Dyke Tarleton is an artist. He is absorbed body and soul in his latest creation, "Lucifer, Son of the Morning," but lacks a model to depict the brooding evil, the smoldering, sardonic sin that he has visualized in the spirit's face. Naomi Tarleton, his wife, is a beautiful and gentle creature. Tarleton has an attack which necessitates a sojourn in the desert, and he, with his wife, arrive in Tophet, an Arizona border town, where "Bowie Blake," bad man, witnesses their arrival. Tarleton recognizes in Blake a Lucifer in the flesh, and insists that "Bowie" become his model. His demand is refused. Later Blake becomes enthralled when he sees Naomi. Tarleton witnesses the meeting from a window and determines that his wife shall accomplish what he has failed to do. He sends her to the gambler, telling her to beg Blake to come. She does this, and Blake becomes the model. Tarleton insults his wife continually in Blake's presence to prevent the brooding evil, sardonic hardness, and the grim deadliness in the eyes and face of his model from disappearing. One day Tarleton faints at the canvas and the doctor advises that he be taken to the mountains. The three find an ideal camp, and the painting goes on, Tarleton insulting his wife more and more, until Blake decides to leave them, as he can stand it no more. He hesitates on the road, not willing to leave Naomi alone with Tarleton, and eventually returns to find that "Red" Gleason and Jose Ramirez, two outlaws, have killed the painter and are drawing cards to see who shall possess the woman. He kills them both, and takes Naomi to a cave farther in the mountains. Through an injury, Naomi loses her mind. Blake treats her as a child, until her mind becomes clear. He then tells her that he intends to have her as his own. Naomi exerts her influence, and he fights his battle, and wins over himself, upon which he agrees to take her back to town. They stand where the trail leads to the desert town. She holds her hand out to him: "What can I say?" she cries plaintively; "What is there for you and me to say to each other?" Bowie remarks: "I'm sayin' just this: some day I'm comin' after you." She looks at him and answers softly: "Yes, I think you will do that, but I make no promise, there are things to be done, that time and striving will do. It is in your hands, Bowie." "That's all I ask," he answers. "I'm takin' that chance."
- Priscilla Miller, the village milliner, and a leader in the uplift work of the village, is a young and pretty girl. She receives a letter from Lon Haskins at Gunning, Arizona, informing her that her uncle has died and left her his business. Priscilla decides to go to Arizona and run the business herself. Upon her arrival there she discovers the business to be a big saloon, and gambling and dance hall. She is much shocked and orders Lon to close the whole works. This angers the townspeople and Jim Black, a professional gambler, suggests that he marry Priscilla and take over the business. He goes to her room to put his plan in force but there he runs into Lon, who orders him out. He and Black meet outside the saloon and Lon informs him that he also is offering his services in the marrying line. The men decide that Lon and Black gamble for Priscilla, the first man who goes broke to leave the town and give up the girl. Lon, by means of a trick seal ring, wins but, thinking Priscilla does not care for him, he says nothing to her about it. Priscilla decides to go back home and writes a note to Lon telling him he is welcome to her uncle's place, as he would have been to the owner, had he cared. Lon mounts his horse and overtakes the stage, grabs Priscilla and they ride to the minister.
- An narcissistic woman with the ability to charm, Leila Aradella reaps delight from preying upon weak men. Her first victim is John Morton, a talented lawyer, whom she ruins both morally and financially. Her second victim, Rex Walden, the generous son of society matron Mrs. Walden, becomes her complete slave. Mrs. Walden sends her elder son Franklin to try to dissuade Leila from toying with Rex's affections. Franklin, however, also falls under Leila's spell, and Rex is driven to suicide by her callous behavior. Desperate, Mrs. Walden enlists Adele Harley, a girl of strong moral character, to fight Leila for Franklin's affections. Adele's determined victory causes Leila to lose her confidence, and in a drunken state, she cuts her own face with a shard from her shattered mirror. Permanently disfigured, Leila ends a broken and lonely woman.
- Glory Wharton is the granddaughter of civil war veteran Jed Wharton. Jed entertains everyone with his war stories, but has a serious drinking problem. Glory is determined to help him overcome this.
- Truthful Tulliver, a Westerner and a journeying newspaperman, followed by Silver Lode Thompson, printer and compositor, arrives in Glory Hole to start a newspaper. He is visited by York Cantrell, an Easterner, whose mining interests keep him in the vicinity. They stand at the office window watching two sisters, Grace and Daisy Burton. The girls are insulted by men hanging around the Forty Rod saloon and dance hall, run by "Deacon" Doyle and secretly owned by York Cantrell. Tulliver rushes to their assistance and incurs the enmity of Doyle. The next day Truthful states, under big headlines, that Doyle must go, and the following morning finds a notice on his door that Doyle will be in the Forty Rod Saloon at ten o'clock, and there is not a pen pusher in Arizona that can run him out of town. Truthful surprises Doyle and his henchmen by coming into the saloon through a rear door, and. from his horse, lassoes and pulls them out into the desert, where he tells them never to return to Glory Hole. That night Truthful is shot at from York Cantrell's room by Doyle, who has returned. Truthful then drives both from town, not knowing that York has wronged Daisy Burton. Daisy confesses to Grace, and Grace finds Truthful, who, misunderstanding, thinks she is the one who cares for Cantrell. He promises to bring him back, and reaches the railroad, intercepts Cantrell, and forces him to return. Then understanding comes. Cantrell wants to marry Daisy and live a new life, and Truthful comprehends his mistake. Grace turns toward him, with her thanks and relief, and sees him watching her with such eloquent eyes that hers fall for a moment. Then she comes to him and with happy faces, hands clasped, they see York Cantrell married to the sister, and as the priest blesses them, Truthful clasps her close.
- Jim Maitland (Gordon Mullen) loses his last cent gambling the Double Stamp saloon and gambling hall, and shortly after it closes, he robs the proprietors "Keno" Bates (William S. Hart) and "Wind River" (Herschel Mayall) are robbed, at gunpoint. After the surprise, they track Maitland down, and Keno shoots him dead on self defense. Keno goes through his belongings and finds a letter and a locket; the letter announces the arrival of the deceased's sister, and the locket has a cameo picture of Doris Maitland (Margaret Thompson). Thus, Keno tells Wind River they must do a heap of lying. Meeting the girl at the stagecoach's arrival, Keeno feels responsible for the innocent and attractive Ms. Maitland; he tells her a white lie, that her brother was a good man, "killed in a mine accident," who had left her a cabin and money - and Keno turns his own cabin over to Doris. Keno and Doris began to fall in love. Anita (Louise Glaum), a dance-hall girl, aggressively tries to seduce Keno. Keno repels her, and later, the dance-hall girl catches sight of her rival when Keno muses on the cameo. Anita decides to expose his lies to Doris in a private conversation at the cabin. First, Doris gets into a fight with the saloon girl but then Doris accepts the painful truth. Furious, Doris confronts Keno outdoors, and his admission of having killed her brother is followed by her sending a bullet into his body. Keno, disillusioned, wounded, staggers back to the Double Stamp, asking Wind River for his saddle bags so he can ride out. But not far from town, as he lays dying, Wind River tells Doris all the facts about her brother. They find Keno, and Doris nurses him back to health.
- An outlaw on the run comes upon a widow and her small child. When the child is bitten by a snake, the outlaw risks his life by riding into town to get a doctor.
- Richard Deering, a wealthy New Yorker, spends his holidays in a magnificent lodge in the heart of the Adirondacks. His daughter, Evelyn, Donald Greene, his ward, and Robert Ross, his confidential secretary, are his companions. On the eve of Thanksgiving, Greene is called to New York on business. He leaves reluctantly as he is deeply in love with Evelyn and jealous of Ross. The next morning, while at breakfast, Donald receives a telegram from Evelyn that her father has been shot and begging him to come at once, and bring a detective. Greene goes to Horace Lee, a crime specialist, and returns to Deer lodge accompanied by the detective and his assistant, Joe. They find Deering unconscious attended by the country doctor, and Dr. Adamson, a specialist from New York. The detective and his assistant set to work to unravel the mystery. Suspicion lights on the family butler, who was the last to see his master alive, and who had been acting strangely. Through adventures and deduction the detective unravels the mystery. The butler is exonerated as his worried demeanor is found to be the result of an effort to shield his son, an escaped convict, who had sought refuge in the lodge on the eve of the shooting, and the charge of attempted murder is brought against Donald Greene, who had brought in the aid of mechanical science to perform the deed in his absence. Donald Greene, who has inherited a trace of madness, becomes hopelessly insane. Evelyn gives her hand to the man of her choice, Horace Lee, who is completely restored to health.
- Dick Carson stole into the familiar hall. A light was still burning in the library. It was an unheard of thing for his father to be up at such an hour. Was it possible the old man was thinking of him, regretting perhaps his inexorable part in the stormy scene of the evening before? Dick hesitated at the library door. Then Clara's face appeared to him. He turned on his heel and hastened noiselessly up the stairs. Like a thief now in his father's house, he must gather together a few old treasures he could not bear to lose, and escape into the night. Two blocks away, a girl was sitting at the switchboard of the local telephone station. Between twelve and one in the morning there were almost no calls. Clara Morrison had fallen into a reverie. Dick hadn't told her in so many words, but she knew she was the cause of it all. Old Mr. Carson would not hear of his only son marrying a telephone girl. But how terrible that he should have turned Dick out of the house. Suddenly the instrument began to buzz frantically. It was the Carson's number. Through the receiver, bound about her head, she heard a voice, his father's voice, quivering with fear uttering incoherencies. Now it was interrupted by a volley of rough expletives. There was a confused noise as of a struggle, of furniture overturned, then someone fell heavily. At the same instant the connection was cut off Clara rang up the police in furious haste. When the officers reached the house, they found Dick in the library bending over his unconscious father. A suspicious looking bundle lay on the floor where, in the straggle the young man had evidently dropped it. The servants, huddling, pale and frightened, in the doorway were jabbering confusedly of a quarrel, of Mr. Dick breaking into the house, of how they had caught him and cut off his retreat. The officers took the young man into custody. His vehement protestations availed nothing. The next morning the papers were full of it. It was Clara's testimony which saved her lover. She swore that if the real burglar were brought to her, she could identify him from the voice she had heard over the phone. She flung herself heart and soul into the defense. The guilty man was found, and Dick cleared of all shadow of suspicion. Mr. Carson's recovery was not rapid, but when he was himself again, his pride was completely melted before the harrowing events of those weeks. Clara Morrison was a revelation to him of pluck and devotion Disinherit Dick for loving such a girl? He had already set the day, with the bride's consent.
- Jim Houston, the "Shootin' Iron" Parson, comes to Barren Gulch to reform the morals of the frontier community. He receives the support of "Birdshot" Bivens, the sheriff of the county. Jim's wife, Mary, however, is a weak character. She falls a prey to the seduction of Dr. Hardy, the village gambler and saloon keeper, and elopes with him. Jim Houston, forsaking the ministry, goes to the mountains and cares for his child in a log cabin home. Later the child falls very ill. Mary, in a mountain storm, comes unwittingly to their door. Dr. Hardy is sent for as the only physician in the district. He ministers to the child and confronts Houston, who intends to kill him. Mary is asked to make her choice between Houston and Dr. Hardy. She points towards the child and goes to its bedside. Houston forgives his wife and instead of killing Hardy permits him to go unharmed.
- The U.S. Army and the Indians sign a peace treaty. However, a group of surveyors trespass on the Indians' land and violate the treaty. The Army refuses to listen to the Indians' complaints, and the surveyors are killed by the Indians. A vicious Indian war ensues, culminating in an Indian attack on an army fort.
- Ashley Hampdon, a Wall Street financier, has a daughter named Lina. Gregg Lewiston wants to marry the girl. The father tells him that the girl can please herself. As he does not seem to progress in his love-making, Lewiston puts through a scheme to ruin Hampdon in the market, so that the father will bring pressure to bear on his daughter to marry the suitor as he has lots of money. Hampdon is distracted by his losses. While aimlessly looking over his papers Hampdon comes across a little note signed by a western mining man, Bot White. It is an offer from White to assist Hampdon at any time and in any place, physically or financially. Hampdon had once befriended White and as he would not take anything else in return, White gave him the written offer. Hampdon sends a message to White to come to New York at once. When White appears, Hampdon tells him of his suspicion, that Lewiston injured him through an accomplice who had given him a wrong tip. Lina takes offense at a conversation she hears between Lewiston and White and tells White that she objects to him. He is put up at a club by Hampdon. There Lewiston sends Rankin (the same broker that he used to ruin Lewiston) to White with a tip on the market. White sends for detectives. They connect White's room with that of Lewiston's on a floor above by means of a wire and with the aid of a Dictaphone they overhear Lewiston and Rankin concocting a scheme to ruin White as a friend of Lewiston and a possible rival to Lina's hand. White and Hampdon use this information to make a fortune much to the discomfiture of Lewiston. As his treachery is now revealed, Lewiston is unable to win Lina. He goes to the club and insults White by saying in a loud tone of voice that this is the first case he has known of a man trying to buy a girl. White wants him to fight, but Lewiston excuses himself by remarking that it is a gentlemen's club. Finally Lewiston strikes White for calling him a coward, but spectators separate the men. Lewiston goes to his uptown home and White follows him. There is a fight and White gets the best of it till Lewiston hits White over the head with a bronze vase. Just then John Worth, who is a friend of White's and is half crazed from losses due to the villainy of Lewiston, appears at a window and shoots Lewiston in the arm. White having accomplished his mission, goes to bid his friend, Ashley Hampdon, good-bye. Lina has come to admire White for his loyalty to her father and for his efficiency. He does not seem to understand the change in her and bids her farewell. She, however, gets her father to take her on the same train on which White goes. They meet on the platform of the observation car where the misunderstanding is cleared.
- Lillian Hillary's mother encourages her to marry a rich man after her father's death and the loss of the family fortune. She chooses Bert Werden, who is more wholesome than her other wealthy suitor, financier Graham Henderson. When Werden loses his fortune, Lillian's goading causes him to work night and day dealing in the stock market. Although he regains his fortune, his health soon suffers and he develops an obsession with making money. Werden neglects Lillian, who misses his attentions. After Werden forgets their third wedding anniversary, he responds to Lillian's displeasure by coldly handing her a $50,000 check. When Henderson tries to gain control of a syndicate to bankrupt Werden so Lillian will leave him, Werden, to save himself, asks her to give the check back, but she refuses. Thinking that Lillian will accept Henderson, Werden is about to shoot himself when he overhears her tell Henderson that she refused Werden's request so that he would go broke and forget about greed. Werden sends Henderson away and is reconciled with his wife.
- Confederate soldier Frank Winslow is terrified of the war and eventually runs away from battle. But when he finds himself behind enemy lines with vital information, he must decide between his fear and his conscience.
- Bob Wiley had staked out a homestead in New Mexico, five miles from the border town of Lawton's Ridge. Wiley was a pioneer, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, and a devout believer in the superiority of his country to any other land on the face of the globe. He lived in a whitewashed cabin, over which the Stars and Stripes forever waved, with his little son, Bobby, and a faithful Indian, Joe Good-Boy. Wiley had lost his wife in the rough pioneer days. When his boy was yet a baby, he chanced on gold in the bed of a stream that ran through his clearing which gave him another incentive to save all he could and make his boy a rich man. While, however, he was drawing out more gold daily and his bank account in Lawton Ridge was growing steadily, a pair of corrupt local politicians, attracted by the wealth of the find, conspired to rob him of his homestead on a technicality. In this they succeeded and Bob Wiley finds himself dispossessed by the agents of a government he has served in its hour of need. He goes to Washington to prove his claim, gets no redress, and returns to find his land preempted and his little boy dead. His heart is filled with bitterness against his own country and he seeks revenge by joining the bandit forces of Pancho Zapilla who is preparing to raid Lawton's Ridge. Entering the village as a spy he tells the colonel in command of the American troops that Zapilla contemplates a raid on a town several miles distant. This information sends the troops off on a false scent and leaves Lawton's Ridge open to an attack by the bandits. But Wiley gradually awakens to the enormity of his offense and by courage and devotion he saves the town, thwarts the bandits, pledges his allegiance to the flag, and becomes once again a loyal, patriotic American.
- Misao, daughter of poor Japanese farmer Ichii, is in love with Yoshiro, but consents to marry Toyomo, who pretends that he wishes to marry her, and offers her father one hundred yen as a dowry. Misao writes Yoshiro telling him that she is resolved to sacrifice her own happiness upon the altar of family needs. While Yoshiro is reading and brooding over the letter, old beggar Horisho finds him. Misao once helped Horisho by dividing her last crust with him during the famine; now Horisho determines to help the lovers. He goes to Toyomo's home and begs him for a hearing, but Toyomo kicks him out. That night while Toyomo makes advances to Misao and telling her of his deceit and how he doesn't intend to marry her, Horisho slips into the room and kills Toyomo, then tells Misao that Yoshiro awaits her by the fishing boat and that she must go while Horisho remains behind to aid her escape. Toyomo's servants, finding his body, call in the Japanese and a mob sets out for the beggar. He is killed but lives long enough to see Misao and Yoshiro safely in a boat out to sea.
- Gray Feather, daughter of the Blind Arrow Maker, is in love with White Arrow, son of the Sioux war chief. Gray Feather visits "The Gray Woman of Many Sorrows," the fortune teller of the Sioux, and is warned by a premonition of danger, and tries to persuade her lover not to go on the usual hunt. White Arrow is wounded and Little Elk, believing that White Arrow would die before aid could reach him from his people, determines to apply to a passing wagon train for assistance. The settlers, fearing to gain the enmity of the Sioux, determine to delay the train until White Arrow can be restored to his people. Little Elk, who carried White Arrow to the wagon train, sees an approaching band of Crow hostiles. He tells the settlers to park the wagon train until he can come to their aid with his own people. A fierce fight follows in and around the wagon train, in which the Crows are practically all killed. It is with much gratitude that the settlers bid farewell to their red men friends while White Arrow and Little Elk return to their own people.
- Molly Ashley, a child of the slums, is charged with being an accomplice to a shoplifter. Although innocent, she is convicted of shoplifting and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Jim Tracy, the leader of a band of gangsters, rescues Molly. The following morning Detective Stone is assigned the task of locating and running down Jim Tracy's gang. To secure evidence against the gang, he disguises himself as one of the gangsters, runs into their place, and pretends that the "cops" are after him. Tracy and the gang take him in. Molly falls in love with Stone and discovers his true identity. One of the crooks gets sore at Jim and betrays them to the police. Jim accuses Molly of betraying them. Stone resents his accusation. A fight follows and Jim is killed. Stone takes Molly away and gives her a chance to be self-supporting.
- Jack o' Diamonds and his partner, Two Spot Hargis, are known as square sports in the desert town of Oxide. Jack gives liberally to all charities, and is surprised when one day a pioneer missionary refuses to take his money as he considers it ill-gotten. About this time Col. Ransome enters Jack's gambling place. The colonel, a big ranch owner, intoxicated and loaded down with money received in a cattle deal, insists on a game for the highest stakes. Jack consents, wins the colonel's money and also a deed to the ranch. In the fight that follows Colonel Ransome is shot by one of his own foremen, Anastacio, who has previously planned to rob his master and hates to see the money get away from him. The onlookers think that Jack killed the colonel, but as there is a general shooting no fuss is made about the matter. Jack becomes disgusted with his present mode of life and quits the gambling game. He takes up the ranch that has been deeded to him by the dead colonel. When Jack and his partner, Two Spot, arrive at the ranch they discover that the colonel has left an only daughter, Virginia Ransome, who is being educated in New York. Jack determines to put the ranch in order and hand it over to the rightful heiress. When things are in shape he writes to Virginia to come west. When Virginia arrives she treats Jack as a hired servant. He still keeps on with the work around the ranch, but is hampered by Virginia's attitude, as this encourages Anastacio and the hands to almost open mutiny. After plotting to dethrone Jack and secure both the ranch and Virginia for himself, Anastacio tells Virginia that Jack Diamond is the murderer of her father. Virginia dismisses Jack and makes Anastacio her foreman. Jack and Two Spot leave the ranch, but determine not to leave "the little lady" to the mercy of Anastacio. Jack dispatches Two Spot to the nearest fort for the rangers and returns in time to rescue Virginia from Anastacio and the rangers arrive in time to clear up the ranch. One of Anastacio's associates tells Virginia that her father was shot by Anastacio and not by Jack. Virginia apologizes to Jack for her past unkindnesses and offers to turn over the ranch to him as rightful owner. Jack will only entertain a proposition that involves a half ownership, and eventually wins Virginia as his wife.
- Joe Elk was a half-breed Indian and greatly admired by Walter McRae, factor of the Big Otter Trading Station, the farthest north of the outflung posts of the Hudson Bay Fur Company. Joe Elk, despite his white blood, had been accepted by the Indian tribe of which his uncle, Troubled Thunder, was chief, and it was settled that upon the death of the uncle, Joe Elk would become chief. Joe Elk had a great longing to visit the cities of the white men and above all worshiped at the shrine of McRae's daughter, Alice. She, unaware, of the feelings she inspired in the Indian, liked him impersonally, as did her father. Joe Elk visited Montreal with McRae, and when the factor, his daughter, and the Indian returned to the north, they were accompanied by Bruce Smithson, an acknowledged favored suitor for the girl's hand. Joe Elk brought back with him a determination to erect schools and give the children of his tribe the advantages of the white men he had seen in Montreal. The ideals of Joe Elk were not received in any too friendly a spirit by the Indians, however, and he met with no assistance in his desire to erect his schoolhouse. He learned that the feelings of the white girl for him were not the same as he held for her, but that, instead, it was Smithson who was the favored suitor for her hand. The unwillingness of his people to aid him in his desire to uplift them embittered Joe Elk, but encouraged by his white friends he stuck doggedly to his task and completed his schoolhouse. His determination to follow up the ideals of the whites, caused the tribe to cast him off. Then, he in turn, apprised by Alice McRae that he could never hope to win her, turned from the whites and sought to revert back to the ideals of the Indians. There came a blizzard. The Indians, shut off from their food supplies, robbed the storehouse of the company, leaving the factor, his daughter and Smithson without food. The protests of Joe Elk were unheeded and in the middle of the night, he was bound captive and forced to desert the outpost with the other Indians. A day's march away he was given his share of the stolen food and then offered the choice of accompanying the tribe or of returning to the whites. He chose the latter course. McRae, in attempting to protect the food, had been killed. The girl and Smithson faced death from starvation when Joe Elk suddenly appeared and took command of the situation. Followed many days of privation and untold suffering while the three walked many miles across the frozen lands of the north. Unknown to the others, Joe Elk saved his own meager food supply for them. When all three faced death, he forced his food on the man and the girl, sending them on, while he remained behind to meet his Maker. The girl and the man were saved and Joe Elk, though he died, was the Dawn Maker for his tribe, for the ideals for which he had really died were eventually carried out by the whites, whose devoted admirer he had been.
- Sheriff Hale, the idol of the citizens of a frontier town, is suspected of cowardice when he fails to bring in a noted outlaw who has been seen nearby. Earlier in the story the sheriff was befriended by the mother of the outlaw, she rescuing him from death in the desert. The mother has died and the sheriff corners Bill in her cabin after her death. The memory of her saving his life causes the sheriff to release Bill Todd, with the warning that if he ever returns to the county he will be shot. In the meantime the sheriff is accused of cowardice and his resignation is demanded by a committee of townsmen. The sheriff turns in his star and resigns. A fortune in gold bars from a nearby mine is stored in the bank at Gold Bar. Bill and his gang attempt a raid on the bank. The townspeople are terrified and it is only the bravery of the sheriff that saves the treasure and captures the bandits. The sheriff again gets the drop on Bill Todd and forces him to commit suicide to avoid capture. The grateful townspeople return the sheriff's star and reinstate him in his old position.
- Abraham Lincoln is shown in his youth addressing an audience of villagers on a street corner. A terrific thunderstorm comes up, driving his auditors away, and Lincoln mounts his horse and rides away. The storm increases in fury, and Lincoln is compelled to seek shelter at a farmhouse owned by a widow, Mrs. Barnes, who has a 10-year-old son, Harry. Mrs. Barnes prepares a hearty meal for Lincoln, who dries himself at the hearth, and when the storm has ceased wishes to pay Mrs. Barnes for the meal. Knowing his poverty, she refuses to accept anything, and Lincoln gravely gives her an I.O.U., reading: "I.O.U. the price of one good meal. Also my life, as I might have lost it in the storm. Abe Lincoln, Lawyer." Ten years later the Civil War breaks out, and Harry Barnes enlists. During the course of the war the Union soldiers take up headquarters with a Southern family, and Harry meets Betty and falls in love with her, and secures her promise to marry him after the war is over. As the Union soldiers move on they are caught in an ambush, and Harry's horse is shot from under him. He leans into the thicket and in a running fight with his pursuers manages to elude them and takes refuge at Betty's home. Betty is fearful that Harry will be captured, and provides him with a suit of civilian's clothes, and that night he endeavors to steal back to his regiment. He is captured, however, and according to military rules is held as a spy, being caught within the enemy's lines without his uniform. Harry sends a letter to his mother telling her of the facts, and she makes an impassioned plea to General Porter, the Southern soldier for her son's life, to no avail. Harry is shot, and a pathetic and dramatic scene takes place as the mother fondles her boy's lifeless body and calls for vengeance upon the heads of those responsible for his death. A month later General Porter lays plans to crush the North, and sends his son Bob to General Lee with plans of the Union fortifications. Bob has a narrow escape from capture, and in his flight comes upon the home of Mrs. Barnes. With her heart heavy with grief over the death of her son, her sympathy goes out to this hunted youth, and she hides him in the room formerly occupied by Harry. Bob has thrown down his coat, and the letter to Lee drops out. Mrs. Barnes reads it, and in a flash she plans a terrible revenge on General Porter. While Bob is sleeping in thorough exhaustion after his nights of peril, she hides his clothing and substitutes her son's uniform, and when the Union soldiers come hunting for Bob she helps in his capture and accuses him of being a spy, turning over to the Union officer the letter to Lee and telling him that Bob came there posing as a Northern officer. Bob is arrested and held for trial as a spy. The failure of Bob to deliver the letter leads to a terrific battle, in which the Confederates are driven back. Mrs. Barns, in calm contemplation of her work, realizes what an injustice she has done, and filled with remorse has terrible visions which nearly drive her mad. She finally resolves to appeal to Lincoln, and hurries to him. Her plea is overruled by the cabinet, but when Mrs. Barnes lays Lincoln's old I.O.U. in his hand and demands payment of his obligation, he is persuaded to sign the pardon which is rushed by fleet messengers to save the Southern boy's life.
- Frank Wilding, owner of the Lost Hope mine, is just setting out for the mine with the pay budget, when the stage arrives and reports another hold-up. Afraid to venture with the money, he entrusts his errand to Edith, his wife, as he figures the bandits may not suspect a woman of carrying so large a sum. She is followed in the stage by Jim Brandon, a bandit in disguise. Jim defends her from the attentions of a drunken gambler, and wins her confidence. Later, the coach is attacked by Juan, a Mexican thief, who robs the driver and Brandon, and tells Edith that he will take nothing from her save a kiss. Though her money is safe, she resents the insult and she slaps the thief across the mouth. Ordering her companions to drive on. Juan drags her to a deserted shack. Brandon returns on their trial, arriving just in time to rescue Edith.
- Avis and Franklin Hilliard are the spoiled, overbearing children of a wealthy father who has just died. Lord Cecil Oakleigh, a fortune hunter, is Avis's fiancée, although there is no love between them, he marrying her for her fortune and she marrying him for his title. Mr. Hilliard has left the superintendent of his mine in full charge of his fortune. Hilliard's lawyer later writes the superintendent to come to New York as soon as possible as there are many things to be straightened out. Dave Page, the superintendent. leaves for New York immediately. Among Mr. Hilliard's papers is a sealed document for Mr. Page. Upon opening this, Mr. Page finds that Hilliard has left him his entire fortune, because, he has cheated Dave's father out of his share of the mine in years gone by. Dave, although he has been snubbed unmercifully by the Hilliard children, resolves to let them go on enjoying the money and not tell them the contents of the paper. Cecil Oakleigh, however, fearful lest Avis's fortune be not so large as he expects, insists that the Hilliards demand to know the contents of the paper, and without knowledge of their lawyer, a search warrant is obtained and they go up to Dave's room and demand to see the paper. Dave puts up a fight but he is overpowered by the sleuths whom the party has brought with them. The paper is found and its true contents learned. Avis, who has come to like Dave, is stunned with grief, as also is Franklin her brother. Lord Cecil proceeds to break his engagement with Avis. A few days later Dave calls at the Hilliard home and offers to give Avis and Franklin back the mine on the condition that the next time Avis marries she choose a man worthy of her. Avis thereupon asks Dave if he will marry her and he says he will be glad to.
- Jim Carson, a young Tennessee mountaineer, and Millie James, a mountain girl, are worried over the condition of Jim's mother. Millie nurses her tenderly. Jim's worry is increased by a note which he has received from John Calhoun, a miserly landowner, stating that, unless he pays the overdue rent on the shack which they occupy, that Jim will be evicted. Realizing that terrible shock would be dangerous to his mother, Jim goes out and attempts to borrow the money. He meets with no success. Meanwhile, Calhoun, accompanied by two deputies and his overseer, Ned Simms, goes the rounds of the cabins to collect his rent. He arrives at Jim's cabin. Jim being absent upon his mission, Millie states that they have not the rent, whereupon Calhoun orders them evicted and the men at his command place the dying woman out on the roadside on a mattress, also throwing their scant furniture into the roadway. The shock of the eviction kills the mother, Calhoun goes on his way. Jim arrives at the cabin and learns of the eviction and the death of his mother. Shortly afterwards he leaves to wreak his vengeance upon Calhoun. The mountaineers carry the dead woman into the cabin and restore the furniture to its original position. Jim Carson, by a short cut, waylays Calhoun, shoots at him and kills his horse. In a desperate struggle between the two men, Calhoun's revolver is accidentally discharged and Calhoun is killed. The body is discovered and Ned Simms and a posse set out upon the trail of Carson. He is captured, placed on a horse under a tree with a rope about his neck and left there, Simms knowing that at sunset the horse will return to the stable, leaving Carson to hang. Simms returns to the cabin of Carson and finds Millie there and taunts her with Jim's fate. The mountaineer whose horse Jim borrowed his already arrived on the scene. He hears the argument in the shack, goes to the window and covers Simms with his own rifle. Millie leaves on horseback and rescues Jim. She liberates him and at her request Jim rides towards the North, where Millie promises to join him after burying his mother.
- Dr. Dudley Duprez is a well-known Louisiana physician. His beautiful but wayward niece, Rose Duprez, is abducted by Paul Crenshaw, a friend of the doctor, and to prevent her shame from becoming known, Rose kills herself. Dr. Duprez learns her secret and determines to make Crenshaw expiate his crime. While traveling on a Mississippi River steamer, the doctor wins Mercedes, a beautiful slave, at cards. He takes her home and, passing her off as a distant relative, arranges it so that Crenshaw falls in love with the girl. A wedding is arranged, and immediately after the ceremony Dr. Duprez announces to the assembled guests that Mercedes is a slave and that he considers he has punished Crenshaw sufficiently by making him the husband of a "nigger." A yellow fever epidemic breaks out shortly after, and Crenshaw is shot when attempting to evade the quarantine. Dr. Duprez is told by a dying overseer from the plantation where Mercedes was born that the girl is of Spanish and American ancestry, without a drop of negro blood in her veins, and was made a slave through a conspiracy. The doctor returns home, confesses his wrong to Mercedes and is forgiven by her. In the end they are married.
- Jed Thompson keeps a supply store near the gold fields, and is cordially disliked by the miners because of his miserly ways. An epidemic of malaria breaks out and Jed sees his chance to get rich by selling quinine capsules at five dollars a dozen. He refuses to let Ray Knowles, who has no money, take any of the medicine on credit for his sick father, and sternly forbids Dora, his daughter, to part with any quinine except for cash. The next day Ray returns, pleading that his father is much worse. Dora, who is alone in the store, gives him the capsules. On returning and discovering her action, Jed Thompson remains to tend shop and forces his daughter to work the claim. Dora becomes ill from exposure. But Thompson is too stingy to waste quinine upon her. In her delirium she wanders to the Knowles cottage, where she is taken in and nursed back to health by Ray, Her father comes to claim her hut the miners hold an indignation meeting, and then they give the raiser his choice of selling out or being kicked out. He chooses the former, and starting with his pile across the desert, on finding a little gold in the sand he uses his last drop of water panning it. The old man dies of thirst and in his last delirious dreams it seems to him that everything about him has turned to gold.
- Fred Martin is a Southern spy. A northern dispatch bearer is captured, and the signature to his messages is forged and Martin is sent on the dangerous mission of luring the Northern troops into an ambush. He accomplishes this, and a terrible battle results, in which the Federals are driven back. The work of Martin is so damaging to the North that plans are laid for his capture, and John Bruce, a secret service man, is assigned to the task. He goes to Martin's home town and presents a forged letter of introduction to the Martins, purporting to be signed by Fred Martin. He is welcomed into the home and to further his ends makes love to Anna Martin. While in the Martin home the Northern troops surround the house and Bruce, fearing that his plans to capture Martin will fall if the field is not left clear for him to return, is compelled to make himself known to the Northern officer. Fred Martin is expected on a visit that night, so Bruce shows his credentials as a secret service man and instructs the soldiers to secrete themselves about the house. In bidding good-bye to Anna he drops the passport, and she learns the awful truth. Anna has been expecting her brother, and has given the signal, a candle in the window, that the coast was clear. Gun in hand, Bruce awaits Fred, and the anguished girl sees the spy in the moonlight, crouching behind a bush. Galloping towards home, Fred is surprised on a bridge by two northern sentries. Dismounting, he hands them a pass hoping they will be deceived by the northern uniform he is wearing. In swift succession he delivers crushing blows upon the faces of the sentries, and they tumble off the bridge into the water, and leaping on his horse he gallops away. With swift strokes one of the sentries gets to shore, and leveling his rifle takes a quick shot at Fred as he goes around a bend in the road, little thinking it will hit the mark. Fred's horse is struck, and leaping into the air it turns a complete somersault backwards and falls on Fred, Crushed and hurt, Fred extricates himself from the dying animal, and crawls away. The delay has saved him, for the northern soldiers awaiting him give him up in the early hours of the morning, and when Fred drags himself to the door he is unobserved. Anna and her mother put Fred to bed. In his wounded condition he is helpless, and Anna realizes that he must be captured unless she saves him. Attempting to leave the house, her way is barred by a northern sentry. Donning her brother's clothes she manages to affect her escape, and leaping on a horse gallops swiftly away. Bruce has determined upon a bold stroke, and impersonating Fred he goes to the union colonel and tells him a detachment of southern soldiers is nearby, and attempts to lead the northern soldiers into an ambush. In the meantime Anna is making a wild ride, sparing neither the horse nor herself, and she arrives in time to bare Bruce's plot, and accuse him. On her part, Anna has fallen desperately in love with Bruce, and he has lost his heart to the brave girl, but each buries personal feeling for the sake of their respective countries. Bruce is arrested and quickly tried and convicted of being a spy. He is led out in the field, and a dozen soldiers face him with leveled rifles. Anna sees the impending execution and with an agonized scream darts across the field, but the rifles thunder a volley and the man she loves falls dead. The picture ends with Anna sobbing over the dead secret service man.
- Exiled from Mexico, wealthy Spanish grandee Don Jose crosses the border and is captured by a band of Indians under Chief Black Bull. All of those in the caravan are killed, with the exception of Don Jose's baby daughter, who has been secreted under the wagon train. Black Bull takes the child into his tribe and brings her up like one of his own children. Years later, John Cobb and his partner become lost in the desert. Cobb is found unconscious beside the body of his partner by Black Bull's adopted daughter, now known as Little Fawn. Cobb is taken to the Indian village. There he falls in love with his rescuer, Little Fawn, and marries her. Soon after an Eastern financier offers to buy the mining claim which Cobb and his dead partner had been working before they became lost in the desert. Cobb sells out at a good price and takes his bride back East to Washington, where he introduces her as a Spanish lady. At a reception in Cobb's home two of the Indians in Black Bull's tribe who come to Washington to see the Great White Father, visit Little Fawn, as they continue to call her. Their visit greatly scandalizes society women at the reception and believing Little Fawn to be an Indian they snub and "cut" her until the girl's spirit is crushed. Little Fawn steals away and travels overland to the reservation. Cobb follows her, but too late. Black Bull, after revealing the secret of her birth, points out the mound that marks her grave.
- Betrayed by a man when she was a naive young girl, Honore hates all men and takes her revenge on every man she can. When she meets General Durand, the uncle of her betrayer, she sees a chance to ruin his whole family. Durand falls in love with her and proposes, and she sees her plan for revenge about to come to fruition. Then she falls for a young French soldier who knows nothing about her past. Complications ensue.
- The introductory scenes show Frank Payton and his fiancée, Nell Hartman, in a southern town in the spring of 1861. The war breaks out and Frank becomes an officer in the southern army, while Nell's little brother, Bill, enlists as a bugler. Stupendous and awe-inspiring scenes are shown as the war progresses. Frank is made a major, and one day is confronted by a large force of Union soldiers, and holds them at bay at a bridge. From the top of a high hill the general sees Frank's desperate predicament and realizes that if Frank's command is driven back the Union soldiers will cut his army in two. He therefore rushes an orderly to Frank with a hasty message to hold the bridge at all hazards, as reinforcements are coming. The orderly is shot from his saddle by Union soldiers and the message discovered. The Union general dresses one of his men in the uniform of the dead orderly and sends him to Frank with a message to which the signature of the Confederate general is forged, telling him to retreat at once. Frank gives the order, and as the men retire before the advancing Union soldiers, he is struck by a bullet and falls, and at the same time Bill is fatally wounded. The message has fallen from Frank's hands, and Bill picks it up and sticks it in his blouse. When Frank recovers consciousness he is in the hospital, and Bill is dead. He sends the little bundle of Bill's clothes to Nell with a pathetic little note. The retreat has cost the Confederates dearly, and Frank is court-martialed for disobeying instructions. He is found guilty and dishonorably discharged, being read out of the service and his uniform stripped of its trappings in a most impressive scene. He goes home to Nell, but she, broken-hearted, turns from him, saying she could never marry a coward. Many years pass, and Frank is a white-haired, sad old man, and Nell has never married. The grizzled veterans of the war are holding a reunion, and are marching down the street, cheered by the throngs which line the sidewalks, and led by a fife and drum corps. As the martial strains of the music reach Frank's ears he goes to the window, and the sight cuts him to the heart, for he is denied his rightful place in their ranks. The day also brings back memories of the past to Nell, and she goes up into the attic and brings out her old clothes from a trunk. Among her treasures is the tattered uniform of her dead brother, and she brings this out. She feels a piece of paper in the lining, and tearing the lining apart she discovers the lost dispatch upon which Frank retreated. As the full consciousness of what it means flashes over her she rushes out and intercepts the parade. Excitedly she tells the old general the startling news, and it is decided to march to Frank's house. The parade halts before his door, and the old officers and Nell enter. Frank is sitting in a big armchair with his head fallen over upon his chest. They gently shake him, but he does not awaken, and then they discover that he has passed into the great beyond.
- Lieutenant Danny Ward, just out of West Point and ready for action when he is sent to the United States Mexico border. He falls in love with Ysobel Ventura, and then rescues her from Pedro Lopez and his gang. Looking for revenge, the bandits come after Danny, and when they catch him, they put him in front of a firing squad. After the apparent execution, the bandits start terrorizing Ysobel, but then Danny saves her once again, because the bullet that should have killed him lodged instead in a St. Christopher medal that Ysobel had given him. After routing the bandits, who believe that they are fighting a dead man, Danny brings Ysobel to his regiment's fort and marries her.
- After an idyllic mountain life in Russia, Berna goes to live with her uncle in the Jewish section of Kiev, arriving just as Cossacks massacre most of the Jews in the city. Berna escapes to New York and works at a sweatshop controlled by Boss Jim McManus, but he seduces her, then throws her out on the street, and she becomes a prostitute. Berna later marries Nicolay Turgenev, a young musician, and they soon have a child, but McManus' daughter Ellen falls in love with Nicolay after seeing him perform and convinces him to leave Berna. To make the separation legal, McManus, now a judge, grants Nicolay a divorce and also gives him custody of the child. Almost insane, Berna goes to McManus, denounces him at gunpoint and then kills him.