The dramatic thread of this little tragedy is the jealousy of a woman toward her new daughter-in-law, and the artistic manner in which the different characters are portrayed is indeed commendable. The opening scene reveals the interior of a butcher shop in the town of Meudon, France, where we see the industrious young butcher attending to his customers, while his mother, a comely woman past the prime of life, acts in the capacity of cashier. The general aspect of the place reveals an air of tranquility and happiness, until the son who has recently been married, brings his young bride into the place. The mother up to this time has had no rival in her boy’s affections, and now when the older woman sees part of the work in the little shop being assigned to the young woman, she becomes insanely jealous. From that moment the mother-in-law treats the young woman with utter contempt and makes her life unbearable, although the elder woman is diplomatic enough to act kindly toward her rival when in the presence of her son. The two woman have many disagreeable scenes, and things reach such a serious state that the young bride is forced to complain to her husband of his mother’s harsh treatment, and threatens that unless the situation is altered he will be compelled to choose between his mother and wife. The young man who is deeply grieved and horrified upon hearing the sad news, remonstrates with his mother, and tries to point out the proper course to pursue which will increase the happiness and content of all parties concerned. His talk with the old lady has very little effect, for she has made up her mind to cherish a hatred for the young woman who has supplanted her (as she imagines) in the affections of her only son. The feud between the rivals finally reaches a serious climax. One day they are left alone in the shop, and the younger woman attempts to assume the duties in the cashier’s desk. The old woman imperiously commands her to leave the place, and when the latter refuses to obey, the enraged mother-in-law attacks her. There is a lively scuffle between the two women, in which the younger one fares badly. The next day while some peasants are at work in the field, one of the party finds the dead body of the young bride hidden under a hay stack. An alarm is sounded, and soon the whole village is upon the scene of the crime. One of the men finds a large butcher knife, the deadly instrument with which the crime was committed, and recognizing it as the property of the dead woman’s husband, naturally, the blame of the terrible crime is at once thrown upon him. The lifeless form of the woman is carried to her late home, and when the bereaved husband is accused of the deed, he nearly goes frantic. But as the evidence points towards his guilt, he is led away to pay the penalty of the crime. His guilty mother stands by and lets the officers take the young man without uttering a word in his defense. The next scene we see the old woman who has completely broken down beneath the weight of a haunted mind, and her guilty conscience has been too much for her and she is suffering from a stroke of paralysis. Before her eyes she continually sees the vision of the crime, and unable to bear up under the terrible anguish longer, she makes a confession of her guilt, when she receives a letter from her boy in which he tells her that he is condemned to die for a crime of which he is innocent. The guilty woman calls for a piece of paper upon which she writes, “My son is innocent, it was I who killed Charlotte.” The confession is carried to the prison just as the young man is about to ascend the gallows. From that moment he is a free man, and is allowed to return to his home, where he finds his mother in an extremely weak physical condition. The officers come to arrest the guilty persons, but too late; she has passed beyond the power of a mortal jurisdiction and entered upon that spiritual pathway which leads to the distant home where all are judged fairly.