This melodrama was first a novel, and then a play by Steele Mackaye before winding up on the "silver sheet" (as they called motion pictures in those days). When Dunstan Kirke (William Riley) is on the verge of losing his mill, squire Rodney (Bruce McRae) bails him out. His one condition: to send the Kirke daughter, Hazel (serial star Pearl White), to be educated, then marry her. But while Hazel is at school, she meets Arthur Carringford (Creighton Hale), the son of a wealthy, socially prominent family. They fall in love, and Kirke, believing that Hazel has betrayed Rodney's trust, tosses her out of the house. So she and Carringford are married -- except that Carringford's servant gets a fake preacher for the ceremony because he knows that the Carringford family will not approve of the union. Sure enough, Arthur's mother tells Hazel to get lost and reveals that the wedding was a sham. The dejected Hazel heads back to her parents' home, and Rodney offers once again to marry her. But Carringford comes around, determined to right the wrong he believes was done. However, it turns out that the minister was not really phony at all, but just pretended to be because he wanted to prevent the wedding from being faked. So Hazel and Carringford are happily married after all.
by Janiss Garza
synopsis
