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- The adventures of a female reporter in the 1890s.
- The classic story about the jealous and evil queen who tries to kill the beautiful maiden by giving her a poisoned apple. Snow White falls into a deep sleep and can only be awakened by a kiss from a prince.
- Earlier version of Reinhardt Orientalist pantomime, later remade by Lubitsch: a pathetic hunchback performer and a flirtatious dancing girl get involved at the court of a despotic Arabian desert sheikh, complete with sinister eunuchs.
- At the opening of the story, Nell Gwynne, a popular English actress, is seen as an orange girl selling her goods in and around the old Drury Theater. While she is bantering, Lady Olivia Vernon, the ward of Lord Jeffreys, Chief Justice of England, appeals to Nell for a hiding place. Lady Olivia is being pursued by her guardian and his soldiers and Lord Jeffreys is trying to force Lady Olivia to marry a wealthy lord. By quickness of wit, Nell secures a hiding place for Lady Olivia and later directs Lord Fairfax, Lady Olivia's lover, to the hiding place. While the soldiers are searching for the young couple, Nell distracts their attention by her powers of mimicry. Nell has been endeavoring to secure a part in one of the productions at the Drury Lane Theater, but has been unable to secure an opportunity to show her ability. In desperation she had assumed the role of the orange girl, hoping in this way to find occasion to demonstrate her histrionic ability to the manager of that theater. On the occasion of the illness of one of the principal characters in a production, Nell secures an opportunity to appear in the part. She makes an instantaneous hit, and from then on her success is assured. Lord Jeffreys tries to force Lady Olivia to marry the wealthy Lord Rochester, but Nell Gywnn repeatedly outwits the chief justice. Fairfax, Lady Olivia's lover, is finally captured by Lord Jeffreys and thrown into prison. Lord Jeffreys has trumped up charges against Fairfax, and by trickery has made King Charles believe them. Nell seizes an opportunity to disguise herself as Lord Jeffreys, and to issue orders which help release Fairfax. Nell's final appeal to the King saves her young lover, and he is set free to join his sweetheart. Lord Jeffreys, for his trickery, is dismissed by the King. Nell continues on her rollicking way, and is the idol of the country. Her final good deed is the presentation of a wonderful hospital to the nation. Although she is now the favorite of the King, Nell does not forget her old friend.
- (Reel 1) Beamish McCoul joined the Irish insurrection and had become a leader in the movement when he was arrested and placed in Wicklow Jail. His property was confiscated by the authorities. When his followers learned of his imprisonment, they perfected a plot for his escape, which involved a rope, a fast horse and a boat to carry him from the country. Arrah Meelish, the prisoner's foster sister, volunteered to carry the idea of their plot to him. She approached the armed sentinels and begged permission to kiss her brother farewell, as the next day would bring about his execution. While kissing him a note was slipped from her mouth to his without being detected by the wardens. Later the guards were seized and Beamish made his escape from the prison, hurried to his sweetheart, Fanny Powers, bid her farewell and left for France. Four years Beamish spent in reckless exile, and, unable to endure it longer, returned to Ireland. He learned that Fanny was still true to him, having refused Colonel O'Grady, the magistrate, and her legal guardian. Beamish, on his arrival, quickly gathers together his old friends. He robs Michael Feeney, collector of the Government Clerk's Office, of his gold and banknotes and of his free pass across the mountain, because they had confiscated his property. Arrah, who has promised her hand to Shaun, a postman, secretes her foster brother in her barn and informs him of her imminent marriage. Beamish gives her as a wedding present a number of banknotes, which he robbed the collector of. Feeney, who is also a suitor for Arrah's hand, tells her that he suspects Shaun is the man who had robbed him. She is surprised and tells him she has plenty of money, at the same time showing him the banknotes which her foster brother gave her. These are recognized by the collector, who says nothing. The following day Shaun and Arrah are wed in the old barn in which Beamish is secluded. Major Coffin, an English officer, brings Colonel O'Grady information that a rebel had made a bold robbery and was at present secreted in Arrah's barn. They set out at once for her house, in company with Feeney, the informer, Fanny and soldiers. The gaiety is stopped and the searching party begins its work. Beamish makes his escape through a window, and. grasping a branch of a tree nearby, lowers himself to the ground and hurries away. Arrah is accused of harboring the rebel as Feeney had found McCoul's coat, which contains the mountain pass. Her husband takes the blame of Beamish's robbery, and says the coat is his. He is arrested and taken to prison. (Reel 2) Beamish goes to the place where he is supposed to meet his sweetheart. He is greatly distressed at not finding her there. As he sits in solitude, a messenger arrives with a letter from Fanny, saying that she had been at Arrah's cottage and knew all. He replies, stating that he has left for Dublin to visit the Secretary of State and secure, if possible, a pardon for Shaun. Fanny returns home and announces to Colonel O'Grady that she is now prepared to become his wife, but before their marriage he must obtain a pardon for the release of Shaun, who is ignorant of the whole affair. The colonel consents to do his best. Arrah is now seen at the prison, hopefully awaiting a word from her husband. Feeney enters Shaun's cell, accompanied by Fanny. Feeney starts to heap insults upon Arrah, and although Shaun's hands are tied, he pounces upon him, causing him to cry out for help. The guards order Feeney from the place. Fanny tells Shaun that she is going to denounce her affianced husband in order to save the postman from unjust punishment. Arrah, at this time, comes to the door and falls into her husband's arms and confesses that it was Beamish she had concealed in her barn. Everybody is ordered out of the room as the guards conduct Shaun into the courtroom to await trial. The verdict handed down is to the effect that Shaun must die the following day. (Reel 3) Beamish McCoul arrives at the Secretary of State in Dublin and proclaims his identity with a written confession of the affair. Colonel O'Grady arrives a few minutes later and the secretary hides McCoul behind the curtains, while O'Grady makes a plea for Shaun's release. The third person to put in an appearance is Fanny Powers, and the secretary conceals the Colonel in another place about the room. During her interview, the two men, each unconscious of the presence of the other, finding it impossible to restrain themselves longer, slip from their hiding places and confront the young woman. The old secretary reunites Beamish and his sweetheart, writes a pardon for Shaun, which he hands to the colonel, and the three depart on their missions. Meanwhile Shaun's hour approaches. Arrah climbs to the battlements of the castle in the hope of seeing her husband for the last time. Shaun discovers a loose stone in his cell, and with almost superhuman strength, breaks the barred window, thereby effecting his escape. Feeney meets Arrah upon the battlement and tries to induce her to forget Shaun and become his wife. She refuses. He is infuriated. In the meantime Shaun is stealthily climbing up the ivy on the outside of the jail, and when he reaches the top he enters into a fierce struggle with Feeney, who is finally overpowered and thrown into the waters below. At this moment the colonel, Beamish and Fanny arrive with Shaun's pardon. Beamish asks Shaun to pardon him for all the trouble he has caused him, which is joyfully granted, and the story ends showing Shaun placing his arms about his wife's neck.
- Marguerite is a courtesan in Paris. She falls deeply in love with a young man of promise, Armand Duval. When Armand's father begs her not to ruin his hope of a career and position by marrying Armand, she acquiesces and leaves her lover. However, when poverty and terminal illness overwhelm her, Marguerite discovers that Armand has not lost his love for her.
- Silas Croft was a kindly old Englishman who had a farm in South Africa. With him resided his two nieces, whom he had taken from their drunken, worthless father when they were of a tender age. Jess, the elder, was brilliant and educated; Bess, the younger was beautiful, but frankly admitted that she did not possess the mental attainments of Jess. The two were great friends, and Jess, although the senior by only three years, had almost a motherly affection for her pretty little sister. Croft, finding old age stealing upon him, advertised for a partner, stipulating that he must be a gentleman. Probably it was his secret idea that the right man might come along, and fall in love with his favorite, beautiful Bessie. Captain John Neil, an English army officer, who had found his income insufficient to support him in his profession, heard of the business opportunity and accepted it. Jess, the unimpressionable, speedily fell in love with him, and her womanly intuition told her that she could win him, for he was fascinated by her. The girl was happy for a while, but suddenly learned that her little sister was also in love with the handsome Englishman. The elder sister realized that happiness for her, meant sorrow, probably life-long sorrow, for Bess. Accustomed to making sacrifices for the girl she so tenderly loved, Jess made another. On the pretext of a visit to an old school friend, she absented herself from home, knowing that Neil would be bound to fall in love with Bess, who was beautiful and amiable. The expected happened. At the time Jess departed, Neil liked both girls, but preferred Jess. Thrown into daily companionship with Bess, he soon grew to love her, and made her happy by proposing to her. And little sister wrote to big sister, telling her the glorious news, never even suspecting the truth. Jess received the letter in her place of refuge, and rejoiced that she had been able to ensure the happiness of Bess, while at the same time she wept in secret over the fate that had taken all romance out of her young life. At this time, the rebellion which freed the Transvaal from British rule was brewing. Croft, who at first doubted that any trouble was impending, at last realizes the gravity of the situation, and Neil consents to go to Pretoria and bring Jess home before it is too late. The gallant soldier arrives in the city, but is unable to leave with his charge, because the Boers have besieged the place, and even couriers cannot pierce the lines. A certain Frank Muller, son of a Boer and an Englishwoman, is one of the leaders in the revolt. He had proposed to Bess and been rejected. Learning that his successful rival is in Pretoria, he plans to dispose of him. Pretending great friendliness, he sends Neil a pass for Jess and himself, signed by Oom Paul Kruger. The unsuspecting Englishman falls into the trap, and with the girl, leaves under the charge of a Boer escort, furnished by Muller. These men have been tricked into believing that Kruger has ordered that the couple be killed, and while they are crossing a river, fire upon them and believe they are slain. Jess and Neil, however, have a miraculous escape. Following the crossing of the river under fire, on their way to Pretoria, Jess and Neil become separated, and the girl reaches the farm alone. There she finds that the villain Muller has been ahead of her, and that her uncle is a prisoner, on a charge of treason. Muller, who is military head of the district, tells Bess that Croft will be convicted and hanged unless Bess consents to marry him. The girl, however, refuses, the court-martial is held, and when Jess arrives, her uncle is under sentence to die at dawn, a few hours away. There is no one to whom she can appeal, and Jess, grief-stricken, decides to be her own avenger. Muller is asleep in his tent, waiting for the dawn when the last of the protectors of the girl he covets shall be separated from her by death. He awakes with a start. Bending over him is Jess. He believes it is a visitor from another world, for he could have sworn that he had seen her die a horrible death. Stricken with terror, unable to speak or make a motion, he goes to his death, his last thought being that there is a life beyond the grave, and that evil brings its own punishment. Jess wanders away into the desert and dies. Neil, searching, finds the body. The troubles of the others are finally swept away, and Neil and Bess live happily many years in their English home, never realizing that they owe everything to the self-sacrificing Jess, although they sincerely mourn and miss her.
- Allen Gordon, a young clerk, is discontented and longs for great wealth. His discontentment causes his sweetheart to break their engagement, as his lust for money would only make her miserable. That evening in his room, Gordon falls asleep and has a startling dream. He receives a telegram from his lawyer, advising him that his uncle in Italy has suddenly died and left him one million dollars. Upon receipt of the money Gordon adopts a life of ease, dons expensive clothes and is introduced into society by his lawyer. Here he meets Will Graft, a foppish dude, who instantly schemes to marry his sister to Gordon. A few evenings later a brilliant social function is held at the Graft home and Gordon is the guest of honor. During the course of the evening Will's sister enchants him with every trick and artifice within her power and Gordon, enraptured with her charms, puts an engagement ring upon her finger. A few moments later he is shocked to hear her boasting of her conquest to her mother and brother and to hear Will congratulate her upon lauding him. Seeing through their deceit, Gordon now arranges with his lawyer to send a fake telegram announcing his fortune has been swept away in disastrous speculation, and determines to prove his fiancée's love. The telegram is delivered to him at the Graft home, and the engagement is immediately broken. While the servant is bringing his coat, Gordon now sternly rebukes the sneering brother, strikes him in the face with his glove and departs, and the dream ends. With a start Gordon arouses, and he is delighted to find it has all been only a fancy. Cured of his discontent he hastens to his sweetheart's home, restores the ring on her finger and joy once more fills their lives.
- Anny works in a cigar-shop. Wholesaler Willmann fancy Anny and hire her as his housemaid. Soon the two have an intimate relationship. But Anny finds someone new. At a carnival. Her next step is to get Willman's son to get to his father's safe. Together they steal the family's fortune and have a great time doing away with all of it. Anny sink deeper and deeper in misery.
- Yeoman loves outlaw's daughter, who is stolen heiress.
- A lieutenant saves a sacked seamstress from the streets.
- Balduin, a student of Prague, leaves his roystering companions in the beer garden, when he finds he has reached the end of his resources. He is scarcely seated in a quiet corner when a hideous, shriveled-up old man taps him upon the shoulder and whispers vaguely of a big inheritance for Prague's finest swordsman and wildest student if he will enter into a certain agreement. Balduin rebuffs him, satirically asking his weird companion to procure him "the luckiest ticket in a lottery or a doweried wife." The old man goes off chuckling and thence onward persistently shadows Balduin, exerting a sinister influence over him, while Balduin is still disconsolate under the frowns of fortune. The Countess Margit Schwarzenberg, hunting with her cousin, to whom her father has betrothed her, meets with an accident. She is thrown over her horse's head into a river, but Balduin, who has been directed to the spot by his evil genius, plunges in and rescues her. Subsequently Balduin calls to inquire as to her condition at the castle of her father, the count, but be makes a hurried departure when Baron Waldis arrives, the contrast in their appearance discrediting him. His desire to win the countess and to humiliate the baron becomes so pronounced that he readily accedes to the compact suggested by Scapinelli, the old man, who has so pertinaciously dogged his footsteps, particularly when he learns that untold wealth and power will be his when he assigns to the other the right to take from his room whatever he chooses for his own use as he desires. The agreement is signed. Balduin receives a shower of gold and notes as his portion; Scapinelli takes Balduin's soul exposed in concrete form by his shadow. Balduin prosecutes his love affair assiduously and with apparent success, till the baron is informed of it by a jealous gypsy girl. He challenges Balduin to a duel, and the latter, assured of his superiority as a fencer, readily agrees. Count Schwarzenberg learns of the impending duel and appeals to Balduin not to kill "my sister's child, my daughter's future husband, and my heir." Balduin gives his promise, but when he goes to the venue of the duel he meets, his own counterpart stalking away derisively wiping his gory sword on his cloak. Balduin turns and in the far distance sees the dying victim of the deed he swore he would not do. He rushes from the spot horror-stricken. When he regains sufficient composure he makes his way to the castle of the count, but is refused admission. Determined to explain that he had no complicity in the death of the baron, Balduin climbs into a room in which the countess is seated. She receives him coldly, but soon succumbs to his ardent wooing. Just as he seeks to leave her she notices he has no shadow and that the mirror gives no reflection of him; and she drops back affrighted, the ghastly apparition of himself which takes shape in the corner of the room sends Balduin scuttling away from the castle in a paroxysm of terror. He makes a frenzied flight through a woodland estate and the streets of Prague, but wherever he stops to recover his breath he is haunted by the counterpart of himself. He reaches his rooms and draws a murderous looking fire-arm from its case. As the phantasmagorical figure strides towards him with a sinister grin, he fires, and in a few minutes the blood gushes from his own side from a fatal wound.
- A peasant girl sent to make a claim on her family's ancestral home in England's Wessex is seduced and left with child by its current owner.
- A railroad engineer is torn between love and duty, in this case tearing up a family burial ground for a proposed right of way.
- Back from a crusade, the hero of Sir Walter Scott's novel fights for courtly love and Saxon honor.
- After the murder of her lover Julius Caesar, Egypt's queen Cleopatra needs a new ally. She seduces his probable successor Mark Antony. This develops into real love and slowly leads to a war with the other possible successor, Octavius.
- Count Croisset proposes to the dancer Odette Blant, on condition she leaves the theater. Odette accepts, assuring herself that she will not miss dancing when she has become a countess. But one day, she receives an offer she can't refuse.
- The owner of the great works seen in the film is afflicted with insomnia, and uses chloroform. His daughter, Eva, loves young Dennison, her father's engineer, much to the chagrin of Briggs, the works' manager. The latter uses every endeavor to belittle Ralph in the eyes of his sweetheart, and is present at the inspection of a huge chimney under course of repair. Eva and her father are also present, and Briggs insinuates that Ralph is afraid, when Eva dissuades him from journeying to the top of the shaft. On the way home, Eva's little brother forms one of the party, and Ralph, ever willing, is prevailed upon to procure a ball of cord for the youngster's kite; also the usual modicum of drugs for Eva's father. Briggs, during the absence of the younger man, forces his attentions on Eva while she is boating with her brother, and is repulsed. He evolves a scheme of revenge, and, at night, goes to the shaft, which he ascends from the inside and removes the top series of steps from its walls. On the following morning Ralph is given a letter warning him against Briggs, and in which Eva entreats him not to trust him. The works' manager is standing near and again taunts Ralph with his fear, with the result that the latter decides to ascend the chimney forthwith. Eva and her father arrive to witness the two men nearing the top of the huge shaft, and the girl's fears are soon realized to the full, for a violent quarrel is seen to be going on between the two, A few seconds later and the pulley block and rope come hurtling through space, Briggs having detached them from the cross bar, thus cutting off communication with the ground below. A terrific struggle follows, and the two men are seen at each other's throats on a perilous footing afforded by the brickwork. The brave workmen are making efforts to scale the interior, but are prevented by Brigg's rascally scheme. Ralph suddenly thinks of the cord for the youngster's kite, and is dropping this down when Briggs overpowers him. At last the villain dozes, tired out from his exertions, and Ralph, taking the drug from his pocket, plentifully dopes him, then throws down a note requesting the boy to fly the kite as soon as daylight permits. At dawn the kite is skillfully raised and we see it near the top of the shaft, where Ralph and the now securely bound Briggs are. The latter does not move, but Dennison is too intent upon the kite to notice him. At last the frail messenger of deliverance is within reach, and Ralph takes the revolver from Briggs' side, firing several shots as a signal. A rope is drawn up, and Ralph is enabled to reach the men who have scaled far up the interior of the chimney. He is assisted to earth and is seen to have turned absolutely gray from his trial. Briggs is found to be dead, having succumbed to the overdose of chloroform, Ralph is charged with manslaughter, but is finally acquitted of the charge, and the last scene shows the lovers free at last from care and delivered from a villain's treachery.
- A suffragist exposes a corrupt political boss who had compromised her lawyer fiancé.
- Henri is surrounded by fawning courtiers, who hide behind their smiles a deadly intent to do away with him at the first opportunity in favor of his brother, Duc d'Anjou. There is but one man who is honestly Henri's friend. This man is Chicot the Jester, a huge, handsome, fearless fellow, true as steel, to those who called him friend, deadly as venom to those who dared betray him or his sovereign, and the only person who may speak the truth to the king. Chicot the Jester is given an order by the king for the arrest of the gallant Count De Bussy, whose deserved popularity with the ladies of the court irritates the petulant Henri constantly. Chicot the Jester had the courage of his convictions; he was a man who dared. Knowing his friend De Bussy to be guiltless, he tore the court order into shreds and ordered De Bussy into retirement at the peaceful castle of Baron de Meridor, whose beautiful daughter, Diana Chicot, knew to be the adored one of De Bussy's heart. How De Bussy complied; how he was waylaid by the king's men within Diana's gates; how Diana nursed him secretly; how the uncouth Count de Monsoreau had the beauty kidnapped upon De Bussy's return to court; how De Monsoreau married her before Chicot, who had overheard the plot could interfere.
- Adaptation of "Fedora", a play by Victorien Sardou.
- An actor poses as a drunkard to repel a girl, but falls in love with her.
- Irma Vallon, an adventuress entices the high minister of the cabinet, Dauban, to fall in love with her, only to bring about his downfall as the accomplice of Leuvor, his enemy in the cabinet, who promises to pay her a large sum of money if he is successful. Her Hindoo servant, Ali, falls a victim to her charms. At her feet he confesses his love for her. She dismisses him immediately, adding an enemy to her list. Her co-partner in crime starts a sensational rumor in the newspapers of a notorious actress who has indebted herself to a large sum of money as guarantee to a note that she has issued to a high minister of the cabinet. Dauban signs his name. At the point of destroying herself, her victim is pressed to do as she wishes. The ruination of Dauban successful; she leaves Paris and goes to Spain, in search of other victims. She goes under another name and lives as a wealthy widow. The Duke of Gervan, who spends leisure hours driving about in his motor car, has a mishap, and is obliged to beg for hospitality of the nearest house, which is that of the rich widow, Mrs. L Vernon. Her beauty and her ways seem to attract the duke's attention to such an extent as to invite her to a royal affair one week after the mishap to his motor car. At the ball in the palace, she feigns illness as an excuse to be alone with him. But her other victims are not dead. Dauban hears of her engagement and sends a message that he will expose her before her marriage as revenge for her sins dealt to him. Ali, her former servant now selling rugs for a living, is standing down in front of her home selling rugs to some of the peasants. She remembers his love, and sends for him, telling him to go to Paris, and get the letters from Dauban, making him rich if he succeeds. Ali the Hindoo, offers to go, but once away from her his mind is set for revenge. He goes to Paris to see Dauban, whose disgrace is now killing him. Ali gets him before his life is extinct, and begs on his knees and to the gods with oaths, that he win get revenge for two, if Dauban will give him the letters. Trusting the Hindoo, he gives them. Irma, in the meantime, takes no chances and begs the count to marry her before he leaves for the meeting of the high nobility at the king's palace. Irma, now married, waits tor Ali's return, and is satisfied that there can be no danger of being exposed. Ali calls to see the duke, hands the letters and the picture and leaves. He now sees that this adventuress has duped him. His mind set, he orders his things packed, and takes her to his ancestors' palace, where there is a dungeon which houses the magic veil that brings revenge to those who have been wronged by a woman.
- A wayward girl falls in love with the handsome image of a burglar she sees in a photograph.
- The story concerns a mercenary and managing mother and her daughter, Agnes. The young lady loves a youthful doctor, but a match is frustrated by the mother, who seeks to marry the daughter to the highest bidder. The mother's extravagance ruins the father, who, being in ill health, succumbs to heart failure. With poverty staring them in the face, the mother takes Agnes abroad, finally forcing her into a marriage with an Australian millionaire. To do so, the mother intercepts all letters between Agnes and the young doctor, with the result that each feels that the other has ceased to care. The millionaire and his young wife, while on their honeymoon on his yacht, are shipwrecked. He is dealt a terrible blow on the head, and it completely destroys his memory. The young wife is saved and returns to America, while her husband is picked up by a French fisherman. His memory gone, he does not recall his previous existence in America. Agnes and the doctor renew their love affair and finally marry, excellent proof having been furnished that her former husband had drowned in the shipwreck. There is no opposition to the marriage now, as the mother also had perished in the catastrophe. Five years later, the young doctor has become a famous brain specialist. To him, Agnes' former husband comes for an operation in the hope of restoring his lost memory. The two men, never having met, fail to learn they are both married to the same woman. She discovers it, however, and with her happiness at stake, does not tell her surgeon-husband the truth, but attempts to dissuade him from operating on her first husband, fearful that the operation will prove successful and her first husband regain his lost memory and recognize her as his wife. The humanity in the surgeon surmounts his wife's pleas, but the patient fails to withstand the operation and Agnes' happiness is assured, despite the terrible situations which confronted her.
- A chivalrous British officer takes the blame for his cousin's embezzlement and journeys to the American West to start a new life on a cattle ranch.
- An impoverished young man loves a professor's daughter.
- Count Bertrand is an army officer who enjoys the utmost confidence of the military leaders of his country but who nevertheless finds time to devote himself also to the interests of several charitable institutions. He and his wife are always among the first to offer their services when some charity fete is planned, and both being splendid riders, are chosen to take charge of a pretentious society circus designed to raise money for an orphanage. In order to stage the production in professional style, they hire Ivanoff, a circus manager, to assist them. Ivanoff gladly accepts their offer of the commission, not only because of the liberal payment promised, but also because of the fact that he is in reality a spy in the pay of a neighboring power and thinks that through association with the count, he will be able to gain possession of some valuable government secrets. He bides his time and finally, by drugging the count, succeeds in getting into his own hands some maneuver plans which had been entrusted to Bertrand. These he delivers to the prime minister of the hostile power, and Bertrand is arrested on a charge of having sold the information to the enemy. He is convicted on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to twelve years in prison. Countess Bertrand is prostrated by her husband's disgrace, but confident of his innocence, sets herself to find evidence which will set him free. Certain clews lead her to suspect that Ivanoff is the real thief of the plans. To find him is in itself a difficult task, for he has disappeared and left no inkling of his whereabouts behind him. Finally the countess hits upon a plan. She will disguise herself, join a circus and seek for Ivanoff among the haunts of circus people. This she does, and it is not long before the famous "Lady of the Mask," a superb equestrienne who never allows her features to be seen, even by her colleagues, is one of the best known performers in the circus world. The masked rider, of course, is none other than the countess herself. The time the circus with which she is connected plays a long engagement in the hippodrome at the capitol of Rugaria, the country which Ivanoff serves. Alexis, the countess's servant, locates Ivanoff's divorced wife, Nadia, and from her they learn that the spy is in the city, living luxuriously on a large sum of money paid him for the stolen plans, and several days later they see him occupying a box at the hippodrome. Ivanoff is struck with the grace of the masked rider and asks for an introduction, which is granted. The countess, never taking off her mask, leads him on until he invites her to take dinner in his rooms. She accepts, and as they are dining suddenly removes her mask and covers him with a revolver. She forces him to give her the plans and his correspondence with the Rugarian officials and is delighted to find that the papers prove conclusively her husband's innocence. Still covering Ivanoff with the pistol, she makes her escape from the house. In her haste she drops one of the documents, but Alexis, the servant, whom she has left on guard at the door, picks it up and jams it into his pocket. Now that she has the precious proofs, the countess loses no time in leaving the Rugarian capital. Ivanoff, however, has not lost his presence of mind and succeeds in getting a warrant for her arrest. He charters a high-powered motor car and starts for the border at top speed. There is an exciting race between his machine and the train which bears the countess. The auto wins, and when the daring woman reaches the frontier, Ivanoff and a squad of military police are waiting for her at the border station. The papers are taken from her and she is hustled across the border into her own country. She returns heartbroken to her home. Several days later, Alexis, who has follower on another train, arrives and gives her the paper which she dropped in fleeing from Ivanoff's house. It proves to be a letter from the prime minister of Rugaria to the spy and conclusively proves the innocence of the count. This letter, turned over to the military authorities, wins a pardon for Bertrand and brings back happiness to the woman who dared.
- Romeo and Juliet type story loosely based upon the famed Hatfield/McCoy feud.