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Vitagraph's The Chalice of Courage was based on a novel by Reverend Cyrus Townsend. Upset when her roughneck fiance James (George Holt) begins lavishing attention upon another woman, Louise (Natalie DeLoran) breaks off the engagement, marrying William (William Duncan) on the rebound. Worried about James' nasty temper, Louise accompanies William on a gold-prospecting excursion, during which she is fatally injured. Overcome with grief, William shuts himself off from the world and becomes a hermit. Years later, William rescues Enid (Myrtle Gonzales), an Eastern girl, from a marauding bear. The winter snows arrive prematurely, forcing the injured Enid to shack up with William. Though they try to keep their relationship on a platonic level, William and Enid eventually fall in love. Alas, Enid is the current girlfriend of the ubiquitous James, who is even nastier than he was when engaged to the late Louise. A violent last-reel confrontation between William and James is as inevitable as the Spring thaw.