There doesn't seem to be much point in describing what actually happens in this movie, does there?
What's interesting about it is that producer-director Robert Paul seems to have emerged from his studio -- after the first shot, which is clearly shot indoors before a backdrop painted to show a prison yard where the convicts are making little ones out of big ones -- and the escaped man uses the hammer on a guard. He's clearly pulling his punches, and Paul tries to use the camera's lack of depth to make the blow appear to strike the actor playing the guard instead of missing.
What's most interesting is this movie's place in the evolution of the movie chase. Cutting to make the chase extend in time and space had been in the film maker's book at least a couple of years since James Williamson had used it in 1901. Paul directs this in eight scenes. Cinema was evolving rapidly at this time, but Paul was insulated by a successful business. He did not have to chase every fad. The fact that he accepted the novelty meant it had real staying power.