Martha and Bob are lovers. While picking wild roses along the country road Bob proposes. Martha kisses him and runs home. Bob follows and obtains the consent of Martha’s mother to their marriage. After several years Bob is a successful attorney and his fortune enables him to buy a new home for his wife and child. In a case of his he secures a divorce for one of his clients, a Mrs. Stanley, who is an adventuress. Bob introduces her to his wife, and she becomes a friend of the family. She tries to win Bob, whom she loves. Circumstances are such that they are left alone a great deal, and one evening when Martha is unable to attend the opera because of the illness of their child, Mrs. Stanley and Bob go without her. They drink champagne, and it is Bob’s first deception. At a dinner some time later, Mrs. Stanley teaches Martha’s child to swear and drink, and the friendship of the two women is broken. Bob takes the part of Mrs. Stanley and in order to save their child, Martha leaves home. Bob employs a detective to follow his wife and kidnap the child. In this object he is successful. Upon discovering the loss of her child, Martha becomes despondent and pawns her jewelry so that she may return and plead with her husband to give her the boy. This he refuses to do and informs her that he will secure a divorce, if possible, and give the child to Mrs. Stanley to raise. Martha is almost crazed with fear, and secures an attorney who gives her very little hope. Court convenes. The testimony is now in. The pleas have been made and because Martha left her husband the judge grants him a divorce and the custody of the child. This is more than Martha can stand, and knowing that this decision means the ruination of her only child, she sacrifices her reputation, and swears that her ex-husband is not the father of the child. Martha faints. The ex-husband swears the opposite, but the words of Martha had its desired effect. The judge changes his decision and returns the child to his mother. Bob and Mrs. Stanley are married and continue to live the fast life that Mrs. Stanley has been used to. On the other hand Martha and the boy, also named Bob, are struggling to live. Bob is now selling newspapers to help his mother, while his former father has lost his practice and has now become a drunkard. Time passes and Bob has become a young attorney, resembling his father. The former Mrs. Stanley pays the penalty of her adventurous life during one of her joy rides when she is dashed to death over a high cliff while in her machine. Previous to this Bob had left his second wife and cares for nothing but drink. During one of his drunken spells he is seen lying in the gutter. He is arrested and thrown into jail. The son has fallen in love and before proposing to his sweetheart tells all to his mother. The mother is finally compelled to explain to him that he is living under an assumed name. This only makes Bob’s love deeper and truer and with this thought he proposes marriage to the girl he loves. The next day in the police court many drunkards are up for trial and when the name of Robert Walters is announced, Bob realizes that it is his father. He immediately asks the judge if he can pay the fine. The judge acquiesces and Bob takes his father home. When the father realizes that he is face to face with the woman who once bore his name and whom he had deceived, he starts to withdraw when Martha calls him back and says, “I forgive you because you are the father of my child.” In the meantime Bob, Jr. rushes to his sweetheart’s home just as the reconciliation takes place. |
||
Ratings: | IMDB: No rating yet | |
Released: | Unknown | |
Genres: | Drama Short | |
Countries: | United States | |
Companies: | Schiller Film Company | |
Cast: | Martha Russell | |
Lily23 : Ah cool. I wasn't sure how wide spread that lore was. Thanks