Reel Life (1916-1917)

‘A LASS OF THE LUMBERLANDS’ Dollar Holmes' plots are foiled and Helen comes into her own THE struggle for the possession of Little Bear’s warrant for the Indian lands is the theme around which all the action revolved in "Retribution,” the fifteenth and closing chap¬ ter of the Mutual-Signal photo-novel, “A Lass of the Lumberlands,” in which Helen Holmes has played the role of the dauntless heroine. When Little Bear went to his death in the icy waters of the Merced River he carried with him the warrant which would ensure to its possessor a clean title to the land. This chapter resolved itself into a game of warrant, warrant, who has the warrant? Holmes makes the first move and scores a point by getting ahead of Tim Morrisey when both are searching along the river for some sign of Little Bear’s body. As Holmes drags a coat out of the water and from a pocket draws the coveted deed Morrisey ap¬ pears around a rock ready to fight for possession of it, but Holmes is too quick with his gun and goes off victorious, and then begins the play of wits between the two factions to establish their right to the land. Among the other interesting incidents of the chapter is a splendid free-for-all fight which lasts for many minutes and ends in many bruises and sore heads, which marked the effort of Llolmes to drive Tom Dawson off the land. He is foiled in this attempt, however, by Tom’s men, who were the better fighters. Holmes has many opportunities to display his villainous nature and his wily cunning. One of the most tragic scenes is that in which Holmes, forced against his will into a marriage with Stephen’s mother, returns to his home and finding the two there in a blinding passion declares that just because they went through a marriage ceremony is no reason why his wife and son should live in his home, and ordering the servants to pack their bags drives them from the house. There is rapid action for Holmes all through this chapter. What he does must be done quickly, and he is in most cases the pursued instead of the pursuer. He does not allow' his hand to be openly displayed, however, and inviegles someone else to carry out his plans for him. What he cannot get his gang to accomplish he tries to make the law do for him by swearing out a warrant for the arrest of the people who are holding property to which they have no just claim. Two of the most sensational episodes in the whole drama follow in the efforts of Dawson and Helen to secure the warrant from Holmes, and there is not a moment from this time until the end of the story that the tense, breathless ex¬ citement is allowed to abate. The whole photo-novel has been a series of thrilling incidents, and it keeps up its record to the end. The excitement starts with the ultimatum of the sheriff to Dawson that unless he can present the warrant within an hour he will have to clear off the land. Then Helen’s womanly intuition comes to the rescue and at this psycho¬ logical moment she catches sight of Holmes stepping into his limousine and points him out as the man who has the warrant they desire. Then they are off. It takes about one-half second for the sheriff and his deputies to jump into their machines after Helen and Dawson and the chase is on. Up hill and down they spin through beautiful mountain Helen Holmes, heroine of “A Lass of the Lumberlands.” scenery with bullets flying in all directions. Just as the chase is at its height the chauffeur, as the result of a wellaimed shot, slumps down in his seat, the machine swerves and headed straight for the edge of a precipice dashes over the side bounding from crag to crag to the valley below. The story ends quickly with Helen and Dawson happy in their possession of the warrant, and their possession of each other, with Stephen and his mother smiling happily down upon them. REEL LIFE — Page Four