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- Three sisters, all raised as boys, have trouble fitting into male-dominated society.
- A bachelor who cannot bring himself to break a date ends up with three dates at the same restaurant on the same night. He juggles the dates, keeping each from seeing the others, by feigning reasons to excuse himself from each table.
- The Merediths, in reality much in love, have quarreled and agreed to separate but cannot agree as to the disposition of their little daughter Beryl. All this is opportune for the plans of Spider, a notorious kidnapper and his gang, who plot to steal Beryl while her nurse flirts in the park with one of their pals. The scheme works out as they plan and the child is taken to a deserted gambling den. The father and mother, in desperation, each apply to Babbings, a celebrated detective, although each accuses the other of haying kidnapped the child. Babbings privately suspects Spider's gang, whom he knows to be in town, but intends to make sure, so he has Spider shadowed. His men discover that Spider is receiving telegrams in code. It is necessary to get this code, so Babbings and one of his trusted men go to the hotel where Spider is stopping. Here they are at a loss until Barney, one-time messenger boy, comes whistling into their office to apply for a position with "reglar deetectuvs," and carries Babbings' bag to the hotel. Babbings has noticed the boy's shrewdness and asks him what he can do. Barney replies that he can "hold his tongue and talk deaf and dumb." This appears to please Babbings, who hires the boy at once and starts him to work by telling him to get the code book from Spider's room. The lad, disguised as a bellhop, accomplishes this and Babbings tells him the real plan, which is for Barney to masquerade as a wealthy deaf and dumb boy going to a sanatorium with an attendant. Spider will undoubtedly think this is a nice morsel for himself and will take Barney to the spot where he is hiding little Beryl, thinking to receive still another big ransom. This happens as Babbings has foreseen and Barney finds himself in the deserted house with little Beryl and Spider's gang. He manages to phone his information to Babbings in the night and the latter comes to the house disguised as a member of the gang. He gives the password and all would have been well had not Mrs. Meredith, summoned by the gang for the purpose of wringing money from her, entered and exclaimed his name, warning the crooks. They succeeded in making a getaway, but take Beryl and Barney with them. Barney is nearly discovered in his efforts to speak to Babbings but manages to disarm their suspicions and later signals to a small town sheriff whom he sees reading the notice of the thousand dollar reward offered by the Merediths. The sheriff, however, objects to sharing the reward with Barney and locks him and Beryl in a room while he goes to town to get it. Barney escapes, however, and an automobile race to town follows in which Barney is the victor by a few seconds.
- A young couple gets married in secret because her family objects to the match. To escape the family, the couple goes into hiding.
- In New Jersey lives Teddy Rutherford, a vigorous exponent of preparedness. Before the populace realize it, the community becomes a hive of munition manufacturers. Teddy falls in love with Pacifice Ford, who happens to be the daughter of an extreme pacifist When Teddy's courtship is refused in favor of a youthful pacifist, the youth vows that he is through with the fair sex for all time and imbibes freely in spirits nectareal. On awakening the next morning he finds himself in jail with a girl nursing his discolored optic, the cause for which he does not seem to be able to remember. After becoming acquainted with his fair nurse, Teddy decides that the world is not so bad after all, and when he learns that she is Janie Smith, the deputy sheriff's daughter who is never allowed to venture outside the prison grounds by her watchful parent, he welcomes with joy the information that he is sentenced for thirty days in jail. Someone's mania for placing bombs under Jersey ammunition plants and blowing them into the thin air disturbs the sheriff's peace of mind to the extent of promising the hand of his daughter to the person who can throw some light on the mystery. When his worries are at their height the sheriff discovers the new trend of Janie's affections and orders the prison authorities to allow Teddy to go free on the ground that the prisoner's health is in great danger. The latter finding that he is by no means a welcome caller at the jail, decides that he will get back, and proceeds to live the life of an unlawful citizen. He tries speeding only to find that he has crossed the city line and is sent to the wrong jail. Breaking up a pacifist meeting conducted by the father and fiancé of his former sweetheart, robbing a house, and other disorderly acts fail to attain the desired results. As a last resort Teddy impersonates the mysterious stranger who has been sending the munition plants skyward, from a description of the culprit which has been spread broad-cast. He finally realizes his great ambition but is given little time to rejoice over his success for things take an abrupt and serious turn when he discovers that he has no means of proving that he is not the desperate criminal he is impersonating. Fate intervenes, however, at the last minute just as Teddy is about to be lynched by the angry Jerseyites and not only does he go free but he catches the real criminal, thus winning the hand of his sweetheart.
- Jim Adams, son and heir of a wealthy New Yorker, is left a fortune in a will, providing that he is married before a certain date. He wakes the morning of the fatal day and realizes that he has forgotten to get married. He advertises in the papers for a wife and is. besieged. Beth Alden, a young newspaper reporter, is sent to cover the case, and when she arrives Jim will not listen to her story. He thinks that she has come in answer to the advertisement and so carries her off to the minister's, where they are married, and he gets his fortune.
- Episode 1: "The Jade Necklace" Dorothy Desmond, an inexperienced Kentucky girl whose father, an editor, had been shot at his desk by a political opponent, and whose mother had dropped dead of shock, found herself left virtually penniless. She believed she had a gift for writing and came to New York to seek a position on a newspaper. She was assigned to Chinatown to get an opium den story. She missed her escort and bravely and foolishly went to Chinatown alone. She yielded to the invitation of a Chinaman to enter his shop and inspect some beads, and he was at the point of attacking her when a storm of revolver shots broke, and a tong war was on. At the crack of the first pistol the Chinese shopkeeper desisted from his evil designs and shoved Dorothy into a secret room, the door of which he closed and locked on the outside. The girl was mad with fear. To her through the deadening walls came the sounds of the shooting. Then the shots ceased as suddenly as they had begun, and she heard faintly the gongs of police ambulances and patrols. Had she been liberated she would have seen white-jacketed emergency surgeons and orderlies picking up dead and wounded Chinamen and putting them into the wagons, while blue-coated officers with busy clubs rounded up other Chinamen, dragging them from all sorts of odd holes and corners and packing them into patrol wagons. "Worst tong fight in years," a sergeant observed pleasantly to a newspaper man. "Seven dead already, and some of the wounded sure to die. These Chinks shoot mighty straight for heathen. In the dark, too. What always puzzled me was how one tong could spot the other tong when they get mixed up in one of these nasty little wars. All Chinks look pretty much alike to me. You can never find out what started one of those shooting festivals. They won't tell a white man a thing. We can take our fill of guessing, though. Maybe it was a woman taken away from a member of one tong by a member of another. Maybe it was opium, maybe, you can think up a whole lot of maybes if you try, but what's the use"?
- After a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house, to care for his young daughter.
- Returning home from boarding school for the Christmas holidays, Bab finds herself treated as a little girl while the family concentrates upon the impending wedding of her older sister Leila to Carter Brooks. To remedy the situation, Bab seizes upon a photograph of a matinee idol and invents her own suitor, Harold Valentine. Brook recognizes the photo and induces the actor to present himself to Bab as Harold Valentine. When he appears at her door during a party being thrown in her honor, Bab, bewildered and frightened, decides that her sole means of deliverance lies in the recovery of her letters from the actor's apartment. Leaving the party, Bab blunders into his apartment, sets off a burglar alarm and is arrested. She is taken home and after learning her lesson, is promptly sent back to boarding school.
- When headstrong young Bab Archibald comes home from school for a vacation, her father--trying to teach his spendthrift daughter the value of money--makes a deal with her: he will deposit $1000 in her bank account, but that will be her allowance for the entire next year. Bab immediately buys a car, and almost as immediately crashes it through a fence and into a milk wagon. She gets arrested for speeding, and after she pays fines and damages, is left with a total bank account of 16 cents. She takes a job driving a cab in order to make money, and one day a customer leaves something in her cab--a floor plan of the Archibald mansion. Realizing that he must be a burglar, she sets a trap for him--but things don't turn out quite the way she expected.
- Dorothy Desmond, an inexperienced Kentucky girl whose father, an editor, had been shot at his desk by a political opponent and whose mother had dropped dead of shock, found herself left virtually penniless. She believed she had a gift for writing and came to New York to seek a position on a newspaper. She was assigned to Chinatown to get an opium-den story. She missed her escort and bravely and foolishly went to Chinatown alone. She yielded to a Chinese man's invitation to enter his shop and inspect some beads, and he was about to attack her when a storm of revolver shots broke, starting a tong war. At the crack of the first pistol the Chinese shopkeeper desisted from his evil designs and shoved Dorothy into a secret room, slammed shut the door and locked it from the outside. She was mad with fear as through the deadening walls came the sounds of the shooting. Then the shots ceased as suddenly as they had begun, and she heard faintly the gongs of police ambulances and patrols. Had she been liberated she would have seen white-jacketed emergency surgeons and orderlies picking up dead and wounded Chinamen and putting them into the wagons, while blue-coated officers with busy clubs rounded up other Chinamen, dragging them from all sorts of odd holes and corners and packing them into patrol wagons. "Worst tong fight in years," a sergeant observed pleasantly to a newspaper man. "Seven dead already, and some of the wounded sure to die. These Chinks shoot mighty straight for heathen. In the dark, too. What always puzzled me was how one tong could spot the other tong when they get mixed up in one of these nasty little wars. All Chinks look pretty much alike to me. You can never find out what started one of those shooting festivals. They won't tell a white man a thing. We can take our fill of guessing, though. Maybe it was a woman taken away from a member of one tong by a member of another. Maybe it was opium, maybe, you can think up a whole lot of maybes if you try, but what's the use?"
- Grace Calvert, a newspaper reporter, is loved by the editor and keenly desired by the sporting editor, neither of them knowing that she is married to an artist. She returns to her husband's studio one night and finds that he has murdered one of his art patrons, who had sneered at his work. Later the murdered man is found by the janitor and it is discovered that he is the brother of the editor. Grace was seen in the studio by the sporting editor, and is assigned to cover the story, but pleads sickness. Later it is discovered that Gray has committed suicide and that the reason for Grace's being in the studio was that the murderer was her husband.
- An affianced socialite falls for a cockney he shelters in return for saving her from her burglar father.
- Isabel Ralston, a young newspaper reporter, is send by the order of her managing editor into the middle of a mystery that recalls Poe's "Murders of the Rue Morgue." Cynthia is the niece of an old lady, Harriet Kennedy, whose wealth and the imminence of her departure from this mundane sphere, have inspired her relatives with greed and caused them to conspire so that her demise may be hastened. But Cynthia is more than that. She is of the "criminal type." Miss Ralston falls under the evil sway of Cynthia and her band of harpies who have installed themselves in old Miss Kennedy's home, because, having befriended the old woman once, she has been sent for by the latter in her extremity. Jonas Slaughter is a lawyer and a sort of relative of old Miss Kennedy. He is also an occupant of the house. Slaughter and Cynthia, together with the dissolute nephew of Miss Kennedy, plot to kill the old lady and to throw the blame on Miss Ralston and John Farrar, Miss Ralston's law office fiancé, who has accompanied her at her request and who is stormbound as she is in the house of "The Black Door." James Kennedy, the nephew, who is egged on by Cynthia to garrote his aunt in her bed, and who is nerved to the deed by the administration of cocaine, is recognized by Miss Ralston, who has been kept awake by the storm, and brought to book by her for the crime, after she herself has been accused. The unmasking of the real murderer, James Kennedy, is skillfully handled. The mystery of the "Black Door," is solved when it is discovered that Cynthia has been in the habit of telling most industriously a story, which is based on an old southern superstition, that the front door of a house occupied for more than a century turned black when any member of the family died, and that it was she who blackened the door with a big brush in order to impress on the minds of simple folk that the death of Miss Kennedy had been wrought by some mysterious agency.
- When her two roommates, Maude Raynes and Helen Bartlett, become engaged, Darcy Cole invents a titled fiancé of her own, in part to ward off her friends' nasty remarks about her untidy appearance. Darcy's friend Gloria Green lends a photograph of her cousin, Jack Remsen, made up as a lord for a college play, then transforms Darcy into a stylish beauty. As a practical joke, Gloria's fiancé Tom Harmon agrees to lend his bungalow to each couple for their honeymoon. Darcy pretends to elope with her imaginary lord, played by Jack. The real and pretended honeymooners arrive in succession and are assigned bedrooms by housekeeper Veronica. When Veronica sees Jack remove his makeup, she is certain he is Gentleman Jack, the burglar she has been reading about. Finally, Gloria and Tom arrive and straighten matters out, and Darcy and Jack decide to become real honeymooners.
- In a calm sea and under a cloudless sky there comes a great catastrophe, in sight of the U.S. Coast Guard Station at Mantaloking. A passenger steamer catches fire from an explosion of her boilers and sinks rapidly as the boats of the Coast Guard speed toward her. Among the passengers is a young mother, with a little daughter named Belle, who is unable to reach the boats before the sinking of the vessel, and takes to the water with her little one on a piece of wreckage. They are rescued by Tom Dawes, son of the Coast Guard Captain, but the mother dies as soon as the station is reached, and the little one is adopted by the crew at the station. The lapse of years discovers Belle of Barnegat as the prize pupil at the village school, and that she may be properly cared for amid the proper surroundings, Bill Dawes has resigned his captaincy of the Coast Guard Station, and is now conducting a prosperous boats to let and fishing tackle business. The days of the summer vacation arrive, and Belle ably applies her arithmetical knowledge toward keeping of the boat house books. Some of the customers become attracted to the little girl, who as soon as she is old enough becomes known as the Belle of Barnegat, and her lover, Tom Dawes, become greatly grieved thereat. One day when one of the customers at the boathouse tries to kiss her, he is seized and thrown into the bay by Harry Fonda, who had often admired her, but never ventured to tell her of it. Belle becomes interested in her new acquaintance, so vastly more refined than the rough and untutored Tom, and Tom becomes more and more jealous, until one day, while Tom and Belle are out in a boat, he would have shot his rival had not his father interfered. One day Belle receives a letter from Harry Fonda, and Tom demands to see it. Belle refuses to disclose its contents, and when Tom tries to take it from her, she destroys it and is locked in her room. Full of despair, Tom hurries to the boathouse, hoists the sail of his boat, and points her anywhere away from the scenes that have become hateful to him. The boat capsizes, and the ropes and sheets of the rigging become so wrapped about Tom's body that it is impossible for him to extricate himself. This is seen by Bill Dawes from the dock and he, crippled with rheumatism, pleads with Harry Fonda to go to the rescue, but he refuses. At the same time Belle breaks from the barred window of her room, and when her plea also fails to move Harry, she rows out into the storm herself, saves Tom just as the entangling ropes are pulling him under, and in each other's arms the vows are made which are never to be broken.
- While traveling on her honeymoon, newlywed Milly Morehouse overhears her husband Bob boast to his friend Dick Elliot that she was "easy to get," so Milly decides to get even. Slipping off the train, she wends her way to their nuptial country hotel and registers under a false name. There she meets Dick, who is wooing the indifferent Pauline Reid, and enlists him and a gang of ruffians in a kidnap scheme. Milly sends word to Bob through Dick that she has been kidnapped and is being held for a $5,000 ransom. When Dick returns with the news, Pauline idolizes him as a hero, and Bob raises the money to pay the ransom. The kidnappers turn out to be deadly serious and keep the money, but the lesson that Bob and Milly learned was worth the price.
- Kate Merry, the daughter of a washerwoman, married Will Cairns, a worthless fellow. Soon she realized his bestial character, leaves him and goes to work in a department store, where she becomes acquainted with Marion Nelson, a wealthy patron and who takes Kate into her home. Meanwhile Kate's husband gets a divorce for desertion and takes up a faster life than ever. He is a good dresser and gives the impression of being of good family. One day in front of a theatre Marion Nelson is caught in a jam between automobiles and Cairns saves her. From this instant a friendship springs up between the two. Marion, not penetrating the real character of the man, falls in love with him. One day she takes him shopping with her and Kate sees them by chance. Marion has a brother who develops a fondness for Kate. Unknown to Marion, Cairns saw Kate the day they were shopping, and to protect himself, tells Marion's brother that Kate shouldn't be allowed in the house; that she is no good. Marion is confronted by Kate and is told that Cairns is a worthless and degenerate man. Kate is not believed, Marion contributing some other motive to her action. Their friendship is broken. At last Kate decides to show up Cairns' true character. She writes a note to Cairns that she is willing to go with him. She then persuades Marion to come to her house and secrete herself. Cairns comes; he is drunk, and enticed a little by Kate, shows his true character. Philip, who has stood the separation from Kate as long as he could, has decided to locate her and make up. He comes in just at the wrong time and sees Kate struggling against Cairns. He denounces Kate and rushes out. Kate then sends Cairns away. Marion, heartbroken over his revelation, comes out of her hiding place and takes Kate home with her. Later Philip is made to see the truth of the situation by Marion and all points toward happiness.
- Hope Brandon, reporter for a New York newspaper, is assigned to dig up facts with reference to Count Stratom's meddling in affairs of the American government. Through her fiancé, Lieut. Strong, of the Navy, she makes the acquaintance of the Count, who has no suspicion of her mission. She finds that Strong has been betrayed into the hands of the Count, by one of his clerks; the Count also secures important code information by drugging Strong in his office. Hope witnesses this, and succeeds in defeating the Count's plans, and securing possession of papers necessary to convict the Count; and at the same time recovers the documents stolen from her lover.
- Claire Bristow, the girl reporter, answers an advertisement for a lady's companion, hoping to get a story. She becomes the companion of a wealthy widow, Mrs. Durkee, who has a wonderful collection of jewels and a great liking for champagne. Helen learns that two foreign crooks are trying to get possession of the widow's jewels. The crooks get Mrs. Durkee intoxicated and are on the point of making their escape with the jewels when Claire's lover, a detective, arrests them and regains the jewels.
- Jessie Forsythe, a girl reporter, is instructed to visit dance balls on the East Side of New York to get color for a series of stories. To gain the favor of "Dago Mike," a saloonkeeper and politician, she takes the place of a cabaret dancer, who has fallen ill, and soon becomes a favorite. Her society is sought by McTeague, the ward boss. John Dillon, a poolroom keeper, does not believe that Jessie is really a cabaret performer, but that she has been inveigled into the life by spurious means, determines to rescue her. Dago Mike in attempting to frighten Dillon away from the girl, starts a fight in which he is badly worsted by Dillon, who is set upon by a gang of McTeague's gunmen. A fierce fight ensues, in which Jessie seizes a weapon and defends Dillon when his life is endangered. As a result of her experiences she uncovers a sensational story of the inside facts of a conspiracy which have long baffled the newspapers.
- Dora Mills, an employee in the big office of Alexander Taylor, goes with some friends to a neighborhood dance hall where she unknowingly meets the son of her employer, Ralph Taylor, who has just returned from college for his Christmas vacation. The two people have a love affair, sincere on Dora's side, but not so with Ralph, who is not aware of her employment in his father's office. When the child comes, Dora is driven from her home and is the social derelict and outcast. While this is going on young Taylor marries Florence Lalor, a society girl. When Dora has no way to turn she sums up courage and goes back to the place of her old employment and there through the help of her forelady, who likes her, she gets back her old job. Dora is in ignorance of her betrayer until one day when she happens to see on her employer's desk a picture of a man and woman and a baby. She learns the truth and seeks revenge. Florence, young Taylor's wife, calls up the office and asks for a stenographer. Dora is sent. She arrives in the home of her betrayer. Young Taylor comes in while his wife is upstairs, and there is a scene when he tries to buy Dora off. When Taylor goes out that evening with his wife, Dora stops her work, rushes upstairs, grabs the baby, and wants to kill it. Then a better thought strikes her, a thought for a complete revenge. She rushes back to her hovel, grabs her own infant, hurries back to the home of young Taylor, puts her own child in the crib where she feels it rightfully belongs and is on the point of rushing away with the Taylor baby when she faints. She is found by the Taylors when they return home. There are explanations. Dora denounces the man who forsook her, and Florence drives the man who ruined Dora from her side and takes Dora in her arms for protection.
- Becky Warder constantly indulges in the telling of little white lies. In an innocent effort to ease the troubled marriage of her quarreling friends Eve and Fred Lindon, Becky meets secretly with Fred, thereby constructing a web of deceit that leads Eve to suspect Becky of trifling with her husband's affections. Eve informs Becky's husband Tom of these meetings and Tom, suspicious, accuses his wife of infamy. After denying her participation in the matter, Becky goes to Baltimore to see her father Stephen Roland, who, like his daughter, is a schemer. Roland begins to construct an elaborate plan by which his daughter can win back her husband and so sends a false telegram to Tom notifying him that Becky is extremely ill. Rushing to Baltimore, Tom overhears Becky inform her father that she will not participate in any more lies, and, elated by his wife's reformation, Tom forgives her.
- David Garrick, a man from the city, disinherited by his father, wanders to a small town where he meets Mary Carroll, a simple little country girl. Mary holds clandestine meetings with Garrick, until surprised by her parents, who insist that her company see her at her home. Garrick has betrayed Mary and in answer to her pleadings as to when they will be married he sets the time for 3 o'clock of a nearby day. Great preparations are made at the humble little home while Garrick struggles with himself undecided whether to keep his promise. As he debates a letter comes advising of his father's death, and that he has been left the sole heir. Immediately his mind reverts to his old sweetheart, Katherine, a social favorite, and he decides to break his promise to Mary. He goes and leaves no trace of his whereabouts. At the Carroll home, Grace, Mary's older sister, who is studying voice culture in the city, arrives for the wedding. The hour of 3 o'clock arrives and patiently the little family waits. At 3 :15 Mary's father goes to summon Garrick. Upon his return he tells of Garrick's flight. Mary, holding in her heart the secret of her betrayal, is affected suddenly with a peculiar form of mental derangement. Grace sees a picture of Garrick and vows that she will avenge her wronged sister. As time rolls on each day at 3 o'clock, arrayed in her simple wedding gown, Mary sits and waits and waits for him who seemingly will never come. Grace, back in the city, becomes a popular favorite known as Madame Mimi. During one of her recitals Garrick is among the audience. His sweetheart of the former days became tired of waiting for him and married, and he became a man about town. He is introduced to Madame Mimi, who immediately recognizes the betrayer of her sister. Their meetings become frequent. Soon Garrick confesses his love for her and she, in reply to his proposal, replies, "Yes, tomorrow at 3 at my apartments we will wed." He is somewhat startled but she retaining her composure, questions him for his actions. Mary and Mrs. Carroll are called by wire, and plans are laid for the wedding the next afternoon.
- Myra Fielding, a young country schoolteacher, becomes dissatisfied with the narrow outlook of her home, and goes to the city, despite the protests of her half-accepted sweetheart, Bert Temple. There she obtains work in a cabaret, hoping to attract the attention of some theatrical manager. She becomes acquainted with Al Wayne, a flashy "sport" who, although he is married, insists on paying attention to her. She learns that her father is in urgent need of medical attention, and having no money of her own to defray the necessary expenses, is forced to borrow from Wayne. He gives her $500, securing an I.O.U. for the money, thinking in this way to obtain a hold over the girl. Wayne has taken the money from funds belonging to his wife, Edith, who, when she discovers her loss, accuses him of the theft. Wayne leaves her in anger, and going to Myra, demands that she leave the town with him. Myra refuses, and as they are arguing, Bert Temple enters the room. Temple thrashes Wayne, but scorning the life he thinks Myra is lending, leaves her. Wayne leaves for Chicago, but is robbed of his wallet on the train by a pick-pocket, who is later killed while jumping off a car. The thief is identified as Wayne by the papers in the wallet, Wayne does not correct the error, preferring to start life again under a new name. Arriving in Chicago, he embarks upon a "political career" in a tough quarter of the city. All of his old associates think him dead. Edith, meanwhile, has discovered Myra's I.O.U., and writes her, reproaching her for not only stealing her money, but her husband also. Myra calls on Edith, and tells her that she never knew that Wayne was married, and promises to repay the money. In the course of time, Myra succeeds in her ambition, and becomes a musical comedy star. By a strange coincidence, Temple, her old sweetheart, meets Edith, and falls in love with her. She, thinking Wayne dead, marries Temple, and they go to Chicago to live. Temple eventually becomes District Attorney. He starts to wipe out the political gang that has been grafting on the city. Wayne, who is one of the gang that Temple is after, recognizes him, and learns that Edith is his wife. Wayne goes to Temple's home, and revealing himself to Edith, tells her that she is still his wife, but offers to remain silent if Temple will stop his prosecution of the gang. Edith, half-crazed by the situation, meets Wayne at his apartment to see if he will relent. Myra, playing in a Chicago theater, sees Wayne, and marvels at his being alive. Investigating, she learns the true state of affairs and discovers that Edith is to meet her former husband at his apartment. She remembers the wrong she unwittingly did Edith, and desiring to do what she can to help her follows her. There, from a place of concealment, she sees Edith, attacked by Wayne, shoot and apparently kill him. She leaps out from her hiding place and hurries the other woman out of the room through the fire-escape. Then she returns, in time to be caught by the police, who have arrived, attracted by the noise of the shot. Edith goes to her home all unnerved, and confesses everything to her husband. He loves her well enough to stand by her, and conducts an investigation into the entire affair. The search reveals the fact that, instead of having been killed by Edith, Wayne was shot by a man who had lain in wait for him for that purpose. Myra's sacrifice was therefore made unnecessary and she is released, bearing with her, nonetheless, the blessings of her former sweetheart and his wife.
- Prologue: Stuyvesant Hardy, a wealthy man, comes home to his wife and young son. He greets them happily, goes upstairs to his room and takes a drug which transforms him from a gentleman to a bestial and mean brute. He goes from the house and seeks out the roughest of companions in men and women. His wife, who is frail, dies during her husband's four-day debauch. Coming home, he finds his motherless son. It is this shock which braces Stuyvesant Hardy and saves him thereafter from the drug. The Story: Will Hardy, the grandson of Stuyvesant Hardy, is sent to college where, doing athletic sports, his leg is broken. The doctor leaves medicine for him. Instructions are that he is to take one dose in case of. severe pain. But Hardy suffers so that he takes another dose, and the next day bribes the porter to have the box refilled. In this way the youth contracts the drug habit. He is a brilliant fellow and graduates a valedictorian from college, with his secret affliction. He goes into his father's law office, the father having escaped the hereditary taint. The drug habit has him in its clutches, and he is compelled to live a Jekyll and Hyde existence. He has the inherited craving for low life and bestial living whenever under the narcotic. When the sale of drugs is put under the jurisdiction of the State he has a hard time. About this time his father takes a case against John Kerry, a crooked ward heeler. On one his debaucheries Will meets Edna Murray, who is a tool of John Kerry. She gets drugs for Will, and he, in his morbid condition, becomes enamored of her, not remembering bis sweetheart, Virginia Wells, whom he loves deeply while in his moral senses. It is the object of Kerry to get Will so tied up with Edna that he can hold it over the head of the prosecuting attorney when the time comes. Virginia, who is interested in mission work, has a fleeting glance of the dope victim in company with the Murray woman, but does not realize it is Will. The face affects her strangely, and when she sees her sweetheart again, who has supposedly been away on a trip, she tells him of this strange resemblance. The trial of Kerry draws near. Virginia that day, returning from the mission, wanders to where she saw the man resembling Will. She runs to him, in the company of the Murray woman and Kerry. She realizes it is her sweetheart and follows them to a den belonging to Kerry. Virginia rushes back to Will's father, who receives a note written by Will, at Kerry's command, stating that he will be harmed unless the case against Kerry is called off. Virginia tells where Will is hidden. The father phones detectives, and together they go to Will's rescue. They take him home, and when the drug wears off Will realizes, as his grandfather realized, what the drug had brought him to, and now Virginia's love had triumphed. He takes Virginia into his arms and then falls to her feet in humility and gratitude.
- Seductress Leila Templeton flirts with Harleth Crossey at his wife Marcia's dinner party. After the intoxicated Harleth takes a midnight drive with Leila, his next-day apologies fail to assuage Marcia's humiliation. Later, Harleth's secretary calls Marcia to say that he will not be home for dinner. When the maid warns Marcia that the chauffeur is crazily threatening to shoot her unless she marries him, Marcia tries to contact Harleth, but is told by a lying switchboard operator that he is with Leila. Harleth's subsequent tirade expressing a need for "personal liberty" drives Marcia to seek a divorce. Two years later, Harleth marries Leila. After she responds to his complaints about her flirting by asserting her "personal liberty," Otis Vale, whom Leila has driven nearly insane with her teasing, abducts her. His frenzied condition causes their automobile to tumble over a cliff, killing them both. When Harleth learns that "Mrs. Crossey" has died, he imagines it to be Marcia, and rushes to her. The relief he shows convinces her that their "invisible bond" is intact, and they reconcile.
- Virginia Randolph, a southern girl, comes to New York and gets work on one of the big newspapers. Her first assignment is to expose the harpies who prey on young girls at the railway stations. She is seen walking off with a notorious young fellow, by a young southerner, who some two years before asked her to marry him. He follows the couple to a house, which he knew to be a den of thieves. He enters, pretending to be one of the gang, and after hearing Virginia's story, he aids her to land the gang behind the bars.
- Richard Powell, a newspaper reporter, is taken to task by his editor for inattention to his duties in regard to the furnishing of interesting "copy," and told that unless he can find better "stories" he will have to seek another position. On his way home from the office, while racking his brains as to the best way of securing a "scoop," he encounters a lone woman, whose appearance and dress denote that she is not of the kind usually out on the streets at night, and turning on his heels he follows her at a safe distance. Soon he sees an automobile draw up to a curb and depart, having a man standing there as though about to keep an appointment. Then from the bushes a second man appears, masked and muffled. An encounter ensues, in which a pistol held in the hand of the first stranger is discharged, and he falls to the ground. Hurrying to the spot, he is confronted by the masked man, who in a peculiar and strangely musical voice, commands him to proceed no further in the affair, as the man on the ground was justly killed. Immediately the speaker disappeared and the reporter followed, to see him conceal the pistol and mask in some vines overhanging a wall, and then disappear. Returning to the dead man he found a policeman standing over him, who called him by name, and inquired what he knew of the affair. In his duty to his editor he forgot what he owed to a law abiding community, kept his counsel, said nothing and the dead man was taken away in the automobile which had brought him to the Knot. Powell told his story to his best friend, Sergeant Lewis of the police, was rebuked for his treatment of the affair, and a bet of $10 was made, that he would find the mysterious man with the musical voice in ten days. On the ninth day he again met the mysterious woman in the case, followed her to a church, entered close upon her heels, and in the eloquent clergyman he found the same voice that had fascinated him on the night of the murder. After service, he confronted the clergyman in his study, told him why he had come and with remarkable coolness and resignation, the now unmasked man told his story. It was that of a tender girl, his only sister, enticed from her home by the unprincipled scoundrel, only to be cruelly insulted and deserted, of a broken-hearted woman, who left to fight her battle of life alone, became secretary to the Governor of State, and later his wife, of a happy wife and mother, found out and threatened by the scoundrel, who had deserted her, who hurried to her brother for counsel and advice. That brother advised her to keep the appointment insisted upon, got to the spot before her, and then occurred the tragedy of which Powell had been the witness. After the tragic recital the two men stood eyeing each other. The clergyman spoke: "Well, he said, you know everything now. What are you going to do?" As the clergyman looked deep into the eyes of his questioner he could see nothing but sympathy in them as the reply came, "Nothing." Powell then hurried away from the church and sought his friend Lewis. "Time's nearly up," said the Sergeant as he entered the room. "Did you make the scoop?" Powell opened the table drawer where he had left the money staked on the bet, took out the two $10 bills and slid them over to the winner: "No, I found I had forgotten the voice."
- Palmer, a newspaper reporter, is assigned to get an interview with Richard Hunt, reform politician. Unable to set an appointment with him the girl climbs through the window one night and awaits his arrival. While there she sees one of the rival candidate's tools try to steal some important papers. She attempts to thwart the theft and is struggling with the man when Hunt arrives. Later the girl saves Hunt's life and then he asks her to marry him. Because she felt that he was innocent of an attempt to poison his rival candidate, and because the evidence seems to be against him, the girl promises to marry Hunt, rather than have to testify against him. Later everything is cleared up satisfactorily.
- When Helen Girard learns of her husband's mode of life she refuses to accept support from him. Girard is a drunken and worthless specimen of the wealthy criminal class. She lives in his home, however, in order to conserve her family reputation, but supports herself by writing articles for a morning newspaper. She is assigned by the editor to study the sociological aspects of the New York night courts, and in the execution of her duty is brought many times in the company of Exton Manley, a lawyer. In an altercation with her husband, Helen struggles with him for the possession of a revolver with which he has declared his intention of killing her. She is knocked unconscious, and when she regains her senses she sees her husband lying on the floor, dead, with the discharged pistol beside him. James Hale, the butler, who had sworn vengeance on his employer, is arrested for the crime and prosecuted by Manley to a conviction and sentence of death. Only after the man's sentence does Manley realize the full enormity of his action, he having been convinced from the beginning that the woman he loves had fired the shot which killed Girard in order to save her own life. When she failed to confess to him he believed that she had killed with intent, but his affection for the supposed slayer forced him to protect her at another's expense. Manley goes through tremendous mental torture during the days that precedes the date of Hale's execution. Helen notices the peculiar attitude of Manley, but she does not suspect that he believes her guilty. Just as Father Burke has finished administering the last rites to the condemned butler, he receives a complete confession from him to the effect that it was he who had killed Girard.
- Emily Ray, who works in a department store, is taken in by her wealthy Aunt Carmen. Emily falls in love with Oliver Browning, but her aunt dismisses him as a nobody and a fortune hunter. Emily's wealthy married cousin, Rosamonde Vallant, always trying to keep up with the latest fads, gives a party in honor of Professor Syle, a distinguished radical who lectures her guests in "parlor Bolshevism," then takes them to Greenwich Village to meet his comrades. Emily attends the gathering, as does Aunt Carmen, who later invites the Bohemians to her home. There, overindulging in vodka, they become wild and disorderly. Oliver arrives just in time, and, with the servants' help, gets the guests under control. Eventually Emily marries Oliver, and society girl Vera Ballymore marries Professor Syle, launching him into a successful career as a lecturer in polite circles.
- Jim Ruddy, a criminal, has two daughters. Peg and Tot have been taught by their father, to become thieves. Peg, at the beginning of this story, has just been released from the penitentiary. Tot, thus far, has evaded capture. Tot has a sweetheart, Pinky Welsh, a sneak thief, and Peg on her release meets a fellow convict, Mike, the Bat. A Sister of Mercy offers to lead Peg in the paths of righteousness, but Peg says that she prefers to work out her own salvation. When Peg informs her father that she has decided to live "straight" he turns her into the street. In her efforts to secure employment she finds herself hounded by the Detective Sparks. She is on the point of securing a position through an employment agency when the detective interrupts. Other attempts are equally unsuccessful, and after barely escaping arrest for begging Peg becomes a model for an artist. He provides Peg with enough money to clothe herself and they are often seen together in public places. The intimacy between Peg and the artist causes a breaking of the engagement between Grace Drew and himself. The engagement ring is transferred to Peg although the artist has no intention of marrying her. In the meantime, Tot's career also receives a setback. Her father is arrested for having burglar's tools in his possession and Tot, hearing of the Uplift Society, secures his release through them. Then occurs the episode which brings about her uplift. As she is about to pick the pocket of a woman she is detected, but instead of handing her over to the police Grace Drew, the woman, takes Tot to the mission, where Tot learns the lessons of forgiveness and redemption. So impressed through Tot's influence, her father and Pinky are finally redeemed, and Tot and Pinky are married at the Mission.
- Joan and Mary are the daughters of Joseph West, pastor of the village church. Mary is wild; Joan is the reverse. Among the school children is Basil Forde, a hunchback, timid and gentle, but subject to much abuse from the other children because of his deformity. Pity has drawn Joan and Basil together, while Mary, whom Basil loves, loathes him. Mary is cruel to Basil and is commanded by the teacher to apologize to him. She refuses, and when the teacher attempts to chastise her Mary fights back and is expelled. When this is brought to her parents. Mary is punished, and develops a loathing for Basil that follows her through the coming years. Time passes and we see Mary and Joan grown. Basil is deeply in love with Mary, who despises him. Joan has never changed toward Basil. In his devotion to Mary, Basil never sees the wistful look In Joan's eyes. Basil lays the little fortune he inherited at the feet of Mary who only laughs and taunts him about his crooked back. Comes now a Tempter. This Hugh Dean son of a classmate of the pastors, is received into the family. Hugh pays court to Mary who has been promised in marriage by her parents to Mr. Bolton, the young rector of a neighboring parish. Mary is easily fascinated by Dean and he is requested to keep away from the parsonage, and they meet in secret. Mary and Dean are surprised on one of their secret meetings by Basil, Joan and Rev. Bolton, who decide that Mary's parents should be told. Joan makes the disclosure and Mary elopes to the city with Dean, and they are married. The quarrel and she finally leaves him and obtains a job on the stage. Basil follows Mary to New York. He meets Dean and learns from him that Mary and Dean have separated. Basil determines to effect a reconciliation. Mary refuses to see Basil, and he follows her to a café, where he finds her. Mary will not listen to Basil's pleadings, so he sends for Joan to come to the city. When Joan comes to Mary's apartment with Basil she is not the Joan of old; instead she is the gayest of the crowd, and drinks and smokes like the rest. Basil sees that all this is only a sacrifice of her self-respect for her sister's sake. He also discovers that Joan has loved him all the time. Mary and Joan return to the parsonage and Basil tells Dean that Mary is repentant. A reunion is effected. Later Basil and Joan are married.
- Author Hilary Farrington and his wife Eloise have been married about a year, and although Hilary loves his wife, he has become engrossed in his writing and doesn't realize how lonely his wife has become. Eloise starts spending time in the company of Darrell McKnight, who neglects his own fiancée, Nora Gail. Eloise promises to go west with Darrell if her husband doesn't take her to his bungalow, where he is beginning his new book. Darrell tells Nora that he loves someone else. Nora decides to team up with Hilary to prevent a scandal. When Hilary leaves for his bungalow without asking Eloise to accompany him, she phones Darrell and tells him she will be ready to elope with him in half an hour. While Darrell waits outside the Farrington house, Hilary returns, having forgotten something. Eloise is dressing and does not hear Hilary enter the house. While he is looking for the forgotten item, Nora arrives and tells Hilary the whole story. They agree to work together to make Eloise and Darrell sick of each other. Hilary goes to Eloise's room and feigns surprise when he sees her preparing to leave. Darrell enters the house, and he and Eloise are taken aback when Hilary suggests the pair use his bungalow for their "honeymoon." When the two protest, Hilary convinces them to go by pulling out a gun. Darrell and Eloise encounter another surprise at the bungalow. The chauffeur reports that the car is out of gas, so all three principals have to stay in the bungalow. After a meal in which Hilary keeps reminding Eloise of their own honeymoon, Hilary says he will try to get gas for the car. Just as he is leaving, Nora appears, pretending she is lost and her car has broken down. Now Darrell believes that Hilary and Nora have planned an elopement of their own. Eloise become jealous, and everyone goes off to their rooms except for Hilary, who remains downstairs in the dark. Eloise calls her uncle, who is a Bishop, tells him everything that has happened, and begs him to come to the bungalow to help her get rid of Nora and Darrell. After a series of misadventures during the night, Eloise awakens first, finds Hilary's car, and discovers it has plenty of gas. She drives off and meets the Bishop at the train station. Back at the bungalow, Nora and Darrell have made up and decide to get married as soon as possible. Eloise and the Bishop arrive, and Nora and Darrell get married on the spot. Eloise and Hilary send everyone off in the car, then settle it for their own "second honeymoon."