- Reverend Eric Norton leaves his position in a fashionable New York congregation to preach in a poor mining town, against the wishes of his wife Cecelia. Disputes rage about the safety of the mines, which have been closed under pressure, but in spite of threats from powerful miner "Bull" Morgan, Eric uses his influence with the owner to reopen the mines. Bored with her drab life, Cecelia deserts her infant son and runs off to Paris with former lover Richard Allen, who eventually leaves her. Penitent, Cecelia decides to return home only to find that her husband, believing her dead after reading about her apparent suicide in a newspaper, has married Edith Jackson, his ward. Bull Morgan attempts to blow up the mines but is buried in the explosion instead. Sneaking into her home for a last look at her son, Cecelia accidentally sets the house on fire. After a brave rescue of the baby, Cecelia begs Eric's forgiveness, then dies.—Pamela Short
- The story opens in the interior of a fashionable New York church. In the pulpit stands Eric Norton. The congregation is bored. Among them are Eric's beautiful wife Cecelia and their wealthy bachelor neighbor Richard Allen. In the farthest corner of the church sits an old white-haired man, Doc White, Eric's father's boyhood chum. Eric later receives a letter from Bombay, India, telling him of the death of his old college friend and of the little girl, Eda, who has been left to his care. He sends for Eda and she comes to his home, bringing sunshine with her, and becomes devoted to Eric's infant son. In the mining town a great burly miner is urging the men to stop their work on account of the fire-damp in the mines. To rouse them further he points to a fire-damp victim who is carried past. Eric receives an appeal from Doc White to come and lead them out of their misery. Alone in his study, he fights the battle out. In the long mirror he sees three visions. One is of himself at the altar of a fashionable church. The other is the dirty road of a mining town, where he stands preaching. He is scoffed and jeered at. Eric turns from this vision with a shudder. Then it slowly fades into the figure of Christ guiding his lambs along the rocky mountain waste. Eric realizes his duty from these visions and decides to give up all his wealth and fame and go down into the mines. Cecelia is infuriated at his decision. She tells Richard, and he consoles her, telling her that he will be always near her. Later we see them in their new home, a plain little cottage in the mining town. As Eric endeavors to preach to the miners and help them he is abused and scoffed at. He meets The Brute, who is drunk. As time goes on, through Eric's influence with the mine owner, the mines are opened and prosperity reigns once more. The Brute, incensed and enraged by his defeat, determines upon revenge. Cecelia, unable to bear the life any longer, writes to Richard to come for her Friday night at midnight, and she will fly with him. Friday night comes. The mines are aglow with lights, and in Eric's library he sits reading to Eda and Doc White, while upstairs Cecelia packs her grips and waits for the midnight hour. Suddenly over the quiet of the village a deep rumbling sound is heard, and as the explosion of the mines occurs, The Brute, who had achieved his revenge, is caught in his own trap. Returning home from the disaster, Eric is stunned at the sight of Cecelia ready for departure. Cecelia hysterically tells him that she can live in the mining village no longer, and that Richard is taking her away. Richard confesses his love for Cecelia and Eric faces him like an infuriated animal. "Take her. If you ever betray her trust then you shall answer to me with your life." One night they visit Doc White's leaving the child in the care of the housekeeper. In the living room below the nursery the window curtains blow against the lighted gas jet, and catch the flame. Soon the room is a mass of flames, and the housekeeper, rushing down the stairs, upon seeing the flames, runs from the house hysterically. As Eric and Eda and Doc White come on the scene Cecelia staggers out with the child in her arms. She places it in Eda's arms and then falls senseless to the ground. As she dies, she faintly gasps out the story of her betrayal and Richard's desertion in Paris.—Moving Picture World synopsis
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