Trama

Unhappy with his marriage, The Dreamer runs away. He collapses and is found by The Desert Flower, who convinces him to return to his family. In various illusions he sees himself in three stories: in the first he is Napoleon, in the second he is a Knight, in the third he is a Sultan--but he dies in all of them. Meanwhile, his wife is about to be sent into the desert while refusing to marry a Stranger. Before this can happen, the Dreamer arrives and sends the Stranger into the desert. The Dreamer becomes again a loved, respected member of the Town.—Anonymous

The Restless Spirit idles and dreams while his wife and child come to want. He wanders out and at the top of a hill looks at his hands and sees that they are the hands of a man that the rod of Empire might have swayed. He wanders back to his poor home slowly and broodingly. The wife and child are helped by her father, who reproaches her for putting up with such a man, and the villagers view her husband with contempt. The Dreamer resolves to seek fields anew, and is harried by a vision in which he sees himself as a musician, holding it vast audience at attention. He tells his wife he is going and despite her entreaties he wanders forth. The wife is taken in by her father, who introduces her to the sleek stranger, a contrast to her lazy, careless husband. As the Dreamer goes, he is reviled by the townspeople, but he passes them sullenly and comes to the desert. He wanders on until exhausted, he falls, and is found by the Desert Flower, Pauline, who revives him and takes him to her hut. She, poor woman, has tasted the bitter fruits of deception and the face of her deceiver is ever before her in her haven of retreat and refuge. He tells her of his ambitions, his hopes and desires. The woman sees the little baby shoe hanging around his neck, knows he is married, and endeavors to make him go back. She shows him the vanity of illusion, and in a series of visions he sees himself as Napoleon, in the height of power, a victorious knight, a sultan. He sees himself as a rich man, discontented and grasping. He sees the path of glory which leads but to the grave with its endless procession of conquerors of men of might and means. He sees the end, the grave. The woman asks him whether his grave will be honored if he neglects his loved ones. He is conquered in his turn and she leads him out and sets him on his way with a wistful look after him. Meanwhile, his wife is turned from her father's home for refusing to marry the sleek stranger, who follows her with mild advances. The Dreamer meets them thus on the edge of the desert and sends the stranger into the waste while he returns with his wife and child to the town, where he braves the jeers of the people and cows the landlord. He confronts them all and silences them and sets to work diligently to right the wrong. The stranger wanders out into the desert towards the woman he wronged and who he will never see again. In time the Dreamer makes good and is both loved and respected.—Moving Picture World synopsis