| Plot Summary |
Repentant of the mistake of her innocent girlhood, the worn-out woman returns to the town of her birth, to the only ones to whom she can turn in her extremity, her parents. She finds them in the graveyard. As she walks through the streets the villagers shun her. The news is rapidly passed that the Magdalen has returned. The gray beards are indignant that she should blast the fair name of their town by her presence there. The citizens' committee calls upon the new minister and instructs him to order the woman out of town. The minister carries his message, but the woman tells him it is her house and she shall stay there. The young minister is struck with the woman and the sincerity of her repentance. He remonstrates with the gossips. He returns to the woman and comforts her. In the meantime, the citizens have gathered to trumpet her out of their village. Hearing some approaching, the minister, fearing to arouse further scandal, steps into her house. The woman bravely goes out to meet her assailants, and they begin to jeer at her and stone her, until the minister defends her. The unoffending half-witted fellow is hit with a brick and killed. And there is a suggestion of a future bond of sympathy between the Magdalen and the minister.
Written by Moving Picture World synopsis
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