For the first film under his independent contract with First National, director Marshall Neilan strayed from his usual homey light comedies (like the ones he did with Mary Pickford) and went in for melodrama. He played it safe, however, by basing the scenario on a book by popular author James Oliver Curwood. Mountie Derwent Conniston (Lewis Stone) has been assigned the task of tracking down accused murderer John Keith (also played by Stone). After a long hunt, he locates his man but falls ill and dies of a hemorrhage. Before he dies, however, Conniston becomes friendly with Keith, and he decides that the hunted man is innocent. He invites Keith to assume his identity (after all, the two look very much alike), then kicks off. Keith, as Conniston, returns to headquarters and uncovers much intrigue; the commanding officer is in love with the daughter of the murdered man, and she is being tricked by a Chinaman, Shan Tung (Yami Mata). Keith foils the Chinaman's scheme. Meanwhile, Conniston's sister Mary Josephine (Marjorie Daw) comes West to find her brother and winds up falling in love with the impostor. Keith decides to go away and lead a peaceful life at the end of the Saskatchewan River. When he arrives, he finds that Mary is already there, waiting for him.
by Janiss Garza
synopsis
