Moving Picture World (Jul-Sep 1914)

326 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD LICEN SED FILM STORIES EDISON. OVALIFYIXG rOR LEXA (July 13).— Hans was head over heels in love with the cnarming Lena Bimblebaek, domestic engineer of the Brownson family. Lena liked Hans, but she was not the kind to allow a little thing like liking to blind her to her obvious course. So she spoke to Hans firmly but kindly as follows : "I don't marry no man only what has a automobile, some property and a Van Dyke whiskers." Hans, crushed by this unexpected blow, crept away. On the sidewalk he picked up a diamond ring. Hurrying to a pawnbroker, he bashfully slipDed the ring across the counter. The pawnbroker gave him all he asked on the ring and Hans nearly fainted. With an energy Napoleon might have envied, Hans started his campaign for hi? beloved. His first step was to buy an automobile for twenty-five aoJiars. The man who owned it assured him that it was cheap at that price. Hans next bought a plot of land in the heart of the select residential part of Webb City. It is true that Webb City existed for the most part in the ingenious brain of the real estate dealer, but that did not bother Hans. Then Hans trimmed his whiskers into some semblance of the style affected by the Dutch painter, and went to call on I^ena. After her first shock of startled surprise. Lena willingly consented to take an automobile ride out to their new property. Before the ride was ended, Hans found himself secretly wishing that he had spent as much as S^Ti.Ott and had bought a really modern car. When he discoverRd that a small boy was catching sunfish in his Webb City plot, he found it very hard to explain tilings quite satisfactorily to Lena. The diamond ring had been lost by Mrs. Brownson. Lena's mistress. She informed the police that it was missing. Through the pawnbroker, they traced it to Hans. So it happened that when Hans returned from his ride, he was incontinently throw" into a dark and gloomy cell to weep and wonder mournfully whether Lena would ever be his. THE TWO DOCTORS (July 14).— Henry Martin ana Bob Westerly studied together at the same medical college, or better, they were both at the same medical college, for whereas Martin threw himself into his work with a devotion that brought upon him the opprobrious nickname of ■■grind" ; Westerly was entirely too fond of a good time ever to let his studies interfere with having one. As a result, it occasionally happened that Westerly found it difficult to keep his work up to the level of that of the rest of the class. On one such occasion, he entered Martins room and attempted to steal Martin's laboriously-prepared notes on an important thesis. Martin came in while he was at work, and caught him. Instead of reporting Westerly to the Dean, as he should have done, however, he contented himself w^ith ordering Westerly contemptuously from the room. Years later. Martin had a modest little practice in the heart of the country. Westerly had settled in the citv. Throueh methods which were as unscrupulous as they were unorofessional. he had become successful and rich. Alice, a poor shop girl, nervously broken down as a result of hard work, was given a fair example of Westerly's methods when she went to him for treatment. Westerly quite coldly and simply refused to see her unless she paid in advance, and when her money was all gone, told her that he was not in business for love. Through the generosity of her friends. Alice was sent into the country. As luck would have It. she came to the village in which Dr. Martin lived. The doctor immediately took the girl under his care. Thanks to his treatment, and to the kindness of the people of the countryside, she was soon completely cured. When Dr. Westerly's health broke down, he went on a shooting trip to recuperate. While hunting in the woods, he accidentally shot himself in the arm. His guide helped him to Dr. Martin's. Martin's first and natural impulse was to refuse to treat his old enemy, but the man's pitiful condition left him no alternative. But when he called in Alice to act as a nurse, and she recognized Westerly as the man who had taken all her money, and then brutally dismissed her. it was almost too much for the doc tor s forbearance. However, the two repaid Westerly good for evil by nursing him back to health and strength. But when the grateful and remorseful patient offered to set Martin up in a lucrative city practice. Martin refused with thanks^and Alice kissed him. THE EVER-GALLAXT MARQUIS (July 15). — The Marquis was thp pest of the hotel. His impulsive, romantic disposition, coupled with an entirely un-American manner of expression. made every man in the hotel extremely anxious to show the Marnuis the interesting "-"^^ibilities •f a coach wmp. For the Marquis lavished his attentions upon every woman in the hotel. It made not the slightest difference to him if she were single, married or engaged. For each he was a devoted slave, filled with oily smirks and sleek insinuations. One day the Marquis dieappeared for a time, and returned — honi soit qui mal y pense — with a garter. This article of apparel, he proudly informed the men, he Intended to give to one of the ladies in their party as a slight token of his esteem. Henry promptly wagered the Marquis that none of the ladies would accept his present. It was agreed that the attempted act of presentation should take place on the evening of a large masquerade ball at the hotel. On the evening of the dance the Marquis pursued Alice to a quiet corner, and begged her to accept the garter. Alice modestly retired behind a curtain, and told the Marquis that if she decided to accept his present she would let him know. The Marquis waited in an ecstacy of suspense. While he waited, the guests in the plot crept up behind him. In a few moments a remarkably well-shaped limb appeared through the curtains. Upon it the Marquis fastened the garter. Immediately afterward the groom upon whose leg the present bad been fastened stepped out. Immediately after that Henry challenged the Marquis to a duel to the death. The Marquis did not want to fight at all, and it required considerable effort on the part of his somewhat unsympathetic second to get him to the duelling ground. When the sword was placed in his hand he closed his eyes and thrust wildly in the general direction of his opponent. A groan of horror greeted nis effort. When the Marquis opened his eyes he discovered Henry stretched on the ground before him. The horrified seconds warned the Marquis that his only chance of escaping the electric chair was to fly from the country at once. So. while the Marquis fled wildly on an unsaddled horse, Henry arose and went back to the hotel with his friends. AX UP-TO-DATE COUR'. SHIP (July 15).— Abe Perkins and Si Prime were ardent rivals for the hand of the charming widow Gray. The widow rather liked both of them, but with typical feminine perversity, refused to express any decided preference for either. Si's feelings may be imagined when, calling on tie widow one day, he discovered that she was going out riding in Abe's buggy. Si had rather hoped that she would go walking with him. While Si was sulking after his rival's triumphant exit, a man on a motorcycle arrived on the scene. There was a seat on the motorcycle whereon a passenger might be carried. A sudden brilliant scheme flashed into Si's placid rural mind. Hastily diving into his jeans, he brought out a large wad of money, and bought the motorcycle. A few hasty directions from the man convinced Si that running a motorcycle was ridiculously easy. Mounting his newly-acquired property, he set off in pursuit of the buggy. As luf'k would have it. Abe had been obliced to stop in order to mend one of the reins. The widow, impatient of the delay, and filled with astonished awe at iS's motorcycle, readily accepted his invitation to take a ride. Abe finished mending his trace, and rode despondently back to town. When he drew up in front of the village garage, his eyes fell on an automobile for sale at an almost unbelievably reasonable price. If Abe had known anything about automobiles the price might well have given him pause. But he didn't. So he bought it and set out after the motorcycle. Long since. Si had discovered that the motorcycle had not quite the same docile nature he had at first fondly supposed. After ten minutes of riding the widow was reducea to a state of incoherent terror. Finally they hit a rocK — and stopped. Just at this moment Abe arrived in his machine, picked up the bruised and indignant widow, grinned at his rival, and speeded down the road at a spanking gait of six miles per hour. The discomfited Si followed on his wounded but yet unconquered motorcycle. When Abe and the widow arrived at her home the ma(^hine gracefully and unostentatiously blew up. While Si was laughing at Abe. the ruffled widow swept into the house, vowing she woull never speak to either of them again. ACROSS THE BURXIXG TRESTLE (July 18). — Tom was an expert telegrapher when he married Doris. During the course of their courtship he had tauent her how to send and receive, and as a result, at the time of their marriage, she was almost as proficient as her husband. Six months afterward Tom became very ill. The doctor ordered him to go to the mountains to recuperate. To raise the money which was so badly needed to restore Tom to health, Doris began to look about for some means of livelihood. An advertisement in a newspaper, offering a position to an unmarried telegraph operator seemed to offer the best chance. So Doris presented herself at the office of the division superintendent. When he askel her if she were married she replied defiantly in the nefative. The superintendent engaged her. and assigned her to a wild station on the mountain division of the railroad. Jake Mills, the operator Doris relieved at the station, was very indignant at his summary dismissal to make room for the girl. He left the station sullenly, muttering vague threats. A few weeks later Tom was allowed to leave the sanitarium. He came directly to the station and Doris took him to the little home she had prepared In the woods. Jake Mills saw them together. Knowing that Doris must have been unmarried to get her position, he jumped at the obvious conclusion. On the morning after Tom's arrival Jake came to the station and attempted to kiss Doris. Her furious resistance angered him beyond measure, and when he discovered from a dispatch that the division superintendent was coming to the station that afternoon, his mind was in exactly the ri^ht condition to prompt him to attempt a terrible revenge upon the man who had discharged him. Accordingly, he set fire to the trestle across which the train must pass. Doris discovered the fire, and while Tom held Jake at the point of a revolver, rushed down the track and made her way over the blazing timbers on the trestle. Arrived at the other side, she staggered up the track, and flagged the train just in time. The rescued party reached the station just in time fo rescue the weakened Tom from Jake's clutches. The grateful superintendent readily forgave Doris for her deception, and appointed her husband and herself to a far more important position, carrying with it a very comfortable salary. MEG O' THE MOUXTAIXS (Special— Two Parts — July IT). — Meg lived down in Carolina in the shadow of the great Blue Ridge. When she had been a little younger she had been winsomely and strangely beautiful— a gypsy-like elf of the woods and forests. Xow, she is mad.... The neighbors said cruel things about Meg. and turned their faces aside when she passed. And from her little son, they shrank, and turned away as from a thing accursed. When Hugh Gregory opened a store in the little mountain town-^and fell in love with the widowed Darthea Westerly, he incurred the bitter hatred of Simon Grant, who had long courted Darthea. When Meg's little son ran away, and Gregory found him, and gave him back to his mother, the crazed woman thought she recognized in him the father of her boy. When she returned home she told her brother that she had found her child's father. The brother, infuriated, confronted Gregory, and demanded that he marry his sister. Gregory, naturally, refused indignantly. Simon Grant met Jake. Meg's brother, while he was still half insane with rage over Gregory's refusal, and found him in a willing mood to listen to Simon's scheme. The next day, as Gregory and the colonel were riding together, Jake, egged on by Simon, fired at them from a barn. Gregory proved himself a good Samaritan by saving Jake from the infuriated mob which thirsted for his life. Meanwhile. Darthea, who had fallen in love with Gregory, learned of Meg's terrible accusation against him. The story naturally changed her feelings toward the man, particularly when Gregory, realizing the futility of argument, refused to say a word in his own defense. Then suddenly Meg came upon Simon Grant, and with a miraculous flash of understanding, remembered that he. not Gregory, was the man. But with the passing of her madness. Meg's lif« fluttered and went out like a candle in the wind, but not before she had told Gregory and Darthea tlie t^uth. VITAGRAPH. '■THE SOUL OF LUIGI" (July 13).— In the poor Italian quarter of Xew York lives Luigi. an Italian peasant and inventor, who is so absorbed in his work that he greatly neglects his wife, Xedda. She is younger than he and fond of pleasure. Xot understanding his neglect, she strongly resents it. Tonio, a dissipated young Italian, makes love to her. but she repulses him. Luigi interests John Graham, a millionaire, in his invention. One night Graham sends for him in a hurry, just as he is about to take Xedda to the theatre. She is hurt and disgusted and Tonio sees his opportunity. Having received a small legacy from Italy, he persuades Xedda to elope with him. Luigi's proposition is taken up by Graham, and he returns flushed with triumph to tell Xedda, only to find a note saying she has gone with Tonio. He curses her and vows to henceforth devote himself, body and soul, to money-getting. His invention is a success and he moves to a wealthier neighborhood. Tonio, after a short time, deserts Xedda. leaving her with a little girl, Beata. Xedda worked day and night to give the child an education. Years pass and riches pour in on Luigi. but they bring him no pleasure, as he has become a man without a soul ; a miser. One day, Xedda is ill and Beata out of work, when she sees Luigi's advertisement for a stenographer. After some difficulty, Beata secures the position. Luigi without knowing why, takes an interest in the girl, and his heart is softened. Chance brings him and Xedda together. Dying, she begs his forgiveness, which he readily grants, acknowledges his own mistakes and before she passes away, promises to bring un Beata as his own child. His love for the g=rl brings back to him the soul he had lost in his love for gold.