Picture Stories Magazine (Sept 1914-Feb 1915)

The Scales of Justice. Adapted from the FAMOUS PLAYERS Film hij Wm. Orchard. A woman is wrongfully accused of murder, and the warrant for her arrest must be signed by her lover, a District Attorney, who is called upon to prosecute. He throws up the case, and then comes the final scene when the real murderer is denounced in court as he tries to escape. Cast Robert Darrow Edith Alice Frank Dexter ... Walter Elliott ... Old Russell .. PAUL McAllister JANE FEARNLEY CATHERINE LEE HAROLD LOCKWOOD HAL CLARENDON MARK PRICE |ES, this is the eternal story of two men and a woman, with its tale of disaster to each of the parties. It began when Robert Darrow resigned his position as junior partner in the city firm to take up the post of District Attorney of Russellville. It was a great rise in the world for the clever young lawyer, and his many friends admitted that he deserved his success. Those who witnessed the installation ceremony — for Darrow's district in the United States covered an area about the size of Wales — never forgot it. Thousands of people lined the streets and cheered the District Attorney on his way to the Court House, where he took the oath to dispense justice and punish wrongdoers without fear or favour. Then there was a reception in the evening, and Robert Darrow received the congratulations of his friends and acquaintances. Darrow's head was quite unturned by all this success, but the words of congratulation he prized most of all in the great throng were those of a woman. Edith Dexter had known the young lawyer before he became the District Attorney of Russellville, for he had acted the part of peacemaker between the young widow and her grandfather, Phillip Russell, the biggest landowner in Russellville. Five years previoiisly Edith, as a girl of eighteen, had foolishly wedded a young man whose taste for alcohol had furnished her grandfather with a legitimate excuse when he forbade her to have nothing to do with Frank Dexter. Old Russell had a more eligible match in his eye for Edith — his protege, Walter Elliott, who was his right-hand man in the office and the son of an old and esteemed friend. 1 Idith had refused this young man and married Dexter, with the result that her grandfather had disowned and disinherited her. A fatal accident had cut short Dexter's career about four years later, and Edith found herself a widow with her little daughter Alice, and nothing but destitution staring her in the face. She had had a few business dealings with Darrow and, hardly knowing why, she had poured her troubles into the ears of the young lawyer. Darrow promised to help her and sought an interview with Edith's grandfather. He pleaded her cause eloquently, and at the dramatic moment ushered in Edith and her child. Even then things would have been doubtful were it not for the diplomatic intervention of little Alice, who climbed on a chair and patted her grandfather's face caressingly. The grim old countenance relaxed, and Darrow retired, knowing that he had won. * * * " Mr. Russell," said Elliott unhesitatingly, " I want to speak to you on the subject of Edith. Perhaps you have noticed " ' Yes, yes," replied the old man warmly. " I have noticed, too. Remember, my boy, it is my dearest wish that you marry Edith and share the fortune I shall leave her. I know that Darrow calls too often, and I'll speak to Edith to-night." The young man retired with an anxious face. He had good reason for his anxiety to marry Edith as quick as he could, for he