Running three reels, Vitagraph's 413 makes good use of the studio's versatile stock company. Intercepting a coded message indicating that Baron Barcellos (Harry Northrup) is trafficking stolen diamonds, the Secret Service set about to break up his racket. Warned of this, the Baron entrusts the records of his operation, and a fountain pen, to a jeweler named Hall (Anders Randolph). Unbeknownst to Hall, the pen contains a fortune in tiny diamonds. Meanwhile, Hall's daughter, Elaine (Anita Stewart), unaware of the Baron's perfidy, conducts a romance with handsome Raymond Davis (Harry T. Morey). the Baron's confederate, Tina (Julia Swayne Gordon), frames Davis for the theft of the diamonds. Little does she know that Davis is actually "413," the Secret Service operative who has been dispatched to round up the Baron's gang. The whole affair winds up with a wild cross-country chase, with a fast roadster and a faster locomotive brought into play.
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
