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- Episodes from the life of Elizabeth I, Queen of England (1533-1603), focusing on her ill-fated love affair with Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.
- A wealthy young man's marriage to a mountain girl he meets while hunting is disastrous until she abandons him and later reappears incognito as a tutored and sophisticated woman.
- A Roman gladiator marries a shepherdess, who is horrified by his brutality in the arena, until he is moved by the Christian evangelism of Paul.
- Eminent romantic actor Cyril Scott, who won such sensational success in the stellar roles of "The Prince Chap," "The Lottery Man," and other dramatic triumphs, is ideally cast in "The Day of Days" as young bookkeeper Percival, who has led an uneventful life until fate chooses him as the central figure in one of the strangest plots ever woven about the life of the metropolis. Percival finds himself in a series of thrilling episodes that take him from the lowly earth to the high peaks of romance. Louis Joseph Vance based his exciting novel on Oriental fatalism, which assigns to every man his "day of days," wherein he shall range the skies and plumb the abyss of his destiny, alternately its lord and slave. In the course of the story, Percival becomes the hero of a chain of fantastic and fascinating adventures, aids an heiress to escape a villain, finds a card in the villain's hat that sends him to a notorious gambling house, where he breaks the bank, and where, later, an attempt to rob him is frustrated by a timely raid. He effects his escape from the gambling house in the clothes of one of the officers, finds himself in a woman's bedroom, explains his presence by telling her he is after a burglar, his uniform corroborating the story, breaks away and turns up again in a secret dive of the underworld, re-escapes in time to discover the villain's plot to abduct the heiress, confronts the villain in disguise at a fancy ball, rescues the heiress a second time, becomes involved in a fight with the villain's hired gunmen, forces his way into a garage, dashes through the garage doors with the heroine in his arms, makes his way to an automobile and liberty, and in the final chapter thwarts the villain's schemes by marrying the heiress, just as the clock denotes the end of his "Day of Days." The story gets down to the heart of New York, and feels the pulse of the metropolis throughout.
- A man and a woman are shipwrecked on a desert island. It doesn't take long before they fall in love and, figuring that they would never see civilization again, declare themselves married and eventually have a child. One day, however, the man's wife--who had been looking for him--finally finds him. Complications ensue.
- Robert Brewster, scion of a well-to-do family, elopes with Louise Sedgewick. Peter Brewster disinherits Robert and refuses to be reconciled to the marriage, and later drives the young couple from their home. A little son, "Monty," blesses the union. When Monty is a full-grown man, Peter Brewster dies and bequeaths a million dollars to him. The newly-acquired wealth staggers young Monty Brewster, and he is about to launch into the new life as one of the predatory rich when he receives a communication from an attorney in the West, advising him that his uncle, George Brewster, has left him $7 million, contingent upon his getting ride of the million dollars left him by Peter Brewster. "Peter Brewster mistreated your mother and father and I do not want you to touch a dollar of his money. If you spend the million left to you by him and can, at the end of a year, show by receipts that you have judiciously spent, not squandered this million dollars, my attorneys will turn over to you my worldly possessions, aggregating seven millions. You must own nothing of value at the end of the year," said George Brewster, and Monty, learning for the first time that Peter Brewster had mistreated his parents, begins to spend the million. He invests the money in a sure losing proposition in Wall Street in an effort to dispose of some of his unwelcome money, and the proposition turns out a winner. He backs a flabby fat pugilist, hoping to lose, and wins. There is a clause in the will of George Brewster which says that Monty must not tell anyone of his desire to spend the million and his friends think he has suddenly lost his mind. Everything Monty touches with the hope of losing some of his money, turns out just the reverse, and he wins. He has a most terrible time disposing of the undesired millions. Finally, in a desperate attempt at magnificent spending, Monty hires a palatial yacht, invites several dozen friends to accompany him and goes on a long cruise. The friends mutiny in mid-ocean, thinking him suddenly insane the way he is squandering his wealth, and threaten to lock Monty up, but Monty, to frustrate them, runs up a signal of distress. It costs him two hundred thousand dollars to be salvaged by a passing steamer, and the end of the year rolls around with Monty flat broke. He has squandered the entire million dollars, possesses a room full of receipts to show for every dollar spent, and his sweetheart, Peggy, believing him to be a pauper, consents to marry him. His friends, believing him broke, endeavor to press money and jewelry upon him, all of which he must not have in his possession or he loses the seven million. He dodges his friends, is met by the attorney and presented with seven million dollars, and everything turns out happily.
- The defense attorney who was unable to obtain the acquittal of an innocent young man concocts a complicated and diabolical scheme to get revenge on the prosecutor.
- Bruce Morson, a young American, returning from travels in Egypt, is robbed of some valuable jewels in a London hotel, and chases the thieves to the yacht, "Spitfire," at Calais, which the crooks have boarded and taken command of under forged orders from its owner, Marcus Girard, who is in London. The yacht is just about to sail out of port, but by a ruse, Morson manages to get aboard, and promptly falls in love with Girard's pretty daughter Valda, who is also a "spitfire." The crooks tell Valda her father is a smuggler, show her the jewels they have stolen, and convince her they are guarding them for her father, and that Morson is a custom officer, spying upon her in order to trap Girard. Valda indignantly turns upon the helpless Morson, orders him into seaman's costume, and compels him to work his passage to New York, On the homeward voyage, Morson undergoes many ordeals, both humorous and dramatic, and is even finally accused of the theft of his own property, before the final denouement, which shows the burning of the yacht and the heroic rescue of Valda by Morson, who is at last able to right himself, baffle the thieves, and win the woman he loves.
- A young girl, Anemone (Mary Pickford), who lives with her Aunt (Ida Waterman) is abducted by a crude family of Virginia mountain moonshiners. A fight between two of the young male relatives decides who will marry the girl. Lancer (James Kirkwood) is the winner and marries Anemone against her will. She is reunited some time later with her Aunt, but when she learns Lancer is in dire trouble she returns and stays by his side, realizing she had always been in love with him.
- Ojo and Unc Nunkie are out of food, so they decide to journey to the Emerald City where they will never starve.
- The superintendent of the Knowlton Iron Works is in love with his employer's daughter, who has been reared in luxury, and is the idol of her father. To save this woman from the knowledge that her father is a thief, the loyal superintendent takes upon his own shoulders the guilt of her father's crime. After all the stress which the story develops, his sacrifice is learned and rewarded by the woman he loves, who decides to stand with him on the side of the oppressed workmen, to whose cause the superintendent has devoted his life's labor.
- To Cal Galbraith's cabin in the Klondike, one winter night, comes a starving, frost-bitten figure. Cal recognizes it as Naass, an Esquimau dog-driver, to whom he had lent sixty ounces of gold dust that he might buy release from the service, and who thereupon had left for a prospecting trip with Axel Gunderson and his wife many weeks before. Crouching by the fire, Naass tells his story. We see the feud in the Esquimau village between the descendants of two shipwrecked sailors, which terminates at the wedding plotlach of the last of the two lines, Naass and Unga. We see Axel carry Unga off to his ship, where he later wins her love and marries her. Knowing nothing of this, but always remembering the last appeal in Unga's eyes. Naass follows as best he can. From city to city he journeys, till a clue carries him to the sealing grounds. With Axel's ship in sight. Naass' ship is captured by Russians in waters forbidden to sealers, and he is sent to Siberia. Not even the horrors of the salt mines and the knout daunt him and he escapes, to make his way hack through Alaska to San Francisco. There he learns that Axel and Unga had left the day before for the Klondike, but at least he has a definite clue and a bait to trap Axel with in the shape of a map leading to a wonderful mine in the unknown mountains of interior Alaska, given him by a dying prospector, so with renewed courage he starts out again. At Dawson the long search is ended, but they do not remember one who had paid for Unga's love an untold price, and he easily persuades them to go with him in search of the mine in the mountains. The odyssey is over, the never-forgotten appeal in Unga's eyes will now be answered, and Axel is in his power. He destroys the caches for the return trip, kills the dogs, and watches with the exultation of the just avenger Axel's slow death from starvation and frost. Then when death has come to Axel and is very near himself and Unga, he reveals his identity, "I am Naass, the last of the blood, as you are the last of the blood." To his bewilderment, Unga laughs wildly, then denouncing him in a passionate outburst, throws herself beside the dead body of her husband and refuses to leave him. "But upon me there lay your debt, which would not let me rest. I repay." And giving Cal a bag of gold, taken from the far mountains, Naass turns again to the fire.
- A good-natured but chivalrous cowboy romances the local schoolmarm and leads the posse that brings a gang of rustlers, which includes his best friend, to justice.
- A wealthy girl's banished mother returns as the seamstress at her daughter's wedding.
- Elam Harnish, known as "Burning Daylight," is a leader among the men of Circle City, Alaska in the days before the gold rush.
- An adventurer, who goes by the nickname "Burning Daylight", strikes it rich during the Alaskan Gold Rush. After he achieves wealth and success in the Klondike, he sets out towards 'the lower 48' (the continental U.S.) to find new challenges, but his money making abilities do not prepare him for the vicious cons and manipulation of Wall Street. He is soon cheated out of his entire fortune, but the 'hero' now has learned the lessons 'of the street', and fights to become a success again, with the knowledge that it takes a scoundrel to beat a scoundrel.
- Gullible young Bobby Burnit,, inherits $300,000 from his hard-working entrepreneur father. Because the will specifies that the money must be invested, Agnes Elliston, Bobby's sweetheart, suggests that he take over his father's chain of stores. Soon Bobby becomes the dupe of various swindlers and charlatans, among them Sam Stone and Bobby's shady lawyer. With the help of Bobby's friend Biff Bates and Daniel Johnson, a loyal employee of Bobby's father, the swindlers are exposed in the newspaper and Bobby's inheritance is saved. Finally, after rescuing Agnes from Stone's advances, Bobby proposes to her, thus respecting all of his late father's wishes.
- Robert Trainor, an American, aids in the romance of the Queen of Herzegovina and the King of Bosnia.
- Fairies weave a magic cloak that grants one wish. They give it to an unhappy girl who has just lost her father and been forced to move into town with her brother, who becomes king, and her donkey, who becomes a hero.
- Artist Richard Alden goes to Laguna, California to paint the beautiful cliffs and shore which make this village one of the most talked-of places in Southern California. There he meets a young lady from the city, and their acquaintance soon ripens into love. For a while all goes well, and the little elfin sprite, a waif of the beach, who unknown to them watches them every day and weaves the dreams of romance and fairyland around them, sees only happiness. Soon, however, comes a young millionaire, and choosing between love and worldly ambition the young lady sails away with the millionaire, both questing for happiness along the paths of wealth and power. Brokenhearted, the artist feels that his pursuit of happiness has been in vain. How the little waif of the beach, budding into womanhood, shows him the true path, and how in later years the son of the rich man and the daughter of the artist bring the two men together again in a stirring revelation of what life has meant to each of them, is told in the latter part of this play.
- Marta is a beggar child, who is adopted by Sebastien, the wealthy landowner. Sebastien makes Marta his victim. He wishes to marry a wealthy woman, but at the same time retain his influence over Marta. He therefore arranges through Tomas, the hermit, to marry her to Manelich, a simple, untutored shepherd living in the mountains, a rough child of nature who kills wolves with his bare hands and knows naught of guile and deceit. The wedding is performed, Manelich being under the impression that Marta loves him, and being truly in love with her. Later he learns he has been tricked, while Marta, who had at first believed that Manelich had been bought with the master's gold to become her husband, finds her conclusion wrong, the honesty of his love compelling her own. Then come developments which make the drama one of the most passionate, intense, trenchant character studies ever created. Marta is a patient sufferer, a tragic figure indeed, as she bravely endures all the cruelty and indignities that are thrust upon her by the ruthless "master." We witness the poignancy of her grief, the restraint and the anguish of the oppressed woman, and her movements among the treacherous characters of her environment.
- Japanese diplomat Tokoramo ( Sessue Hayakawa ), on a mission to Paris, begins a love affair with chorus girl, Helene ( Gladys Brockwell ), who subsequently rejects her American fiance, Richard Bernisky. When the Japanese discover the affair, they try to force Tokoramo to end it, but Helene refuses to stop visiting him. One night, during one of her visits, Bernisky comes to Tokoramo's apartment and, while Helene hides, rebukes her to her lover. After Bernisky leaves, Tokoramo orders Helene out, but when he realizes his love for her, he calls her back. Suddenly, she rejects and insults him to the point that he strangles her. Tokoramo wants to confess his crime, but he must complete his work, and so his countrymen sacrifice a boy, Hironari, who pleads guilty to the murder and eventually is executed. In the end, Tokoramo also dies and his colleagues burn his valuable papers in order to protect Japan.
- Little "How," an Indian boy, following the uprising of the Indians, is adopted by Col. Lander and taken to Col. Lander's home. Little Bessie Rowland, about the same age, is also adopted by Col. Lander, Bessie's parents having been killed in the uprising. Bessie and "How" grow up together and at the age of fifteen "How" is sent to school and makes rapid headway in the white man's mode of civilization and education. Graduation time comes and Col. Lander and Bess visit "How" and are met there by Craig, Col. Lander's nephew. Craig showers so much attention on Bess that "How" becomes jealous. At the graduation dance, Craig proposes to Bess and is refused, while "How" proposes and is accepted. They all start for Buffalo Butte Ranch at Cayote City. "How" displays his courage by cowing a bully. Later Craig, who has learned of the engagement of Bess and "How," attacks "How" but gets the worst of it. Arriving at the ranch Craig brings on a violent scene with Col. Lander with the result that the Colonel has an attack of heart failure and dies. Col. Lander wills all to Craig and Bess. Craig orders "How" from the ranch. "How" buys a cabin and land and he and Bess are married. "How" then goes on a long trip and, returning unexpectedly, discovers Bess and Craig in each other's embrace. "How" says, "I give you your freedom," and rushes out into the hills to fight it out alone. He leaves a note for Bess telling her she can have the house and acres. A year later, Craig and Bess are married. In the meantime "How" has discovered oil on the property he gave Bess and follows the Craigs to New York. Bess discovers that Craig is unfaithful and witnesses his being humiliated by "How." After many difficulties "How" convinces Bess that her property is worth a fortune and prevails upon her to return west, meantime keeping Craig a prisoner all night to give Bess a long start. A few weeks elapse and "How" receives a telegram from Bess asking him to come west immediately. He does. Craig follows them west and attacks Bess and endeavors to steal the deed to the property. "How" arrives just in the nick of time and disposes of Craig, and shortly thereafter Bess and "How" are married again.
- Known as "Wildflower," Letty Roberts meets Arnold Boyd, a wealthy man who is weary of life in the city. Arnold thinks that Letty is merely a charming child, however, his playboy brother Gerald is attracted to her and charms her into eloping with him. Arnold catches up with the couple just after their wedding, and after a fight with Gerald, takes Letty away to the Boyd family home in New York. He introduces her as his own wife because, he says, he wants to save her reputation. Even Letty's parents do not know to which brother she is married. Letty's stay in the mansion opens her eyes to the world outside of her rural environment and eventually she realizes that while Arnold appears to be hard and uncaring, it is really he, not Gerald, whose feelings for her are the deepest. When she realizes Gerald's true character, Letty decides that she will be happier with Arnold.
- Jim Hackler is the political boss of a small town. When local lawyer Elias Rigby decides to run for Distrct Attorney, Hackler sees a chance to get revenge on Rigby--years ago both men were in the Army and best friends, but Rigby had intercepted letters to Hackler from his sweetheart, and wound up marrying the girl himself. Hackler persuades Rigby's daughter's fiance' to run against him, but things don't quite work out the way he wanted.
- Soda jerk Harvey is the most popular man in Blakeville, New York, and deliriously happy through three years of poverty-stricken marriage to Nellie. When a musical-comedy comes through town, Nellie becomes and actress and tag-along Harvey becomes "What's His Name." When Nellie falls for a millionaire and goes to Reno for a divorce, Harvey takes their child Phoebe home, where her later illness brings her parents back together.
- Young Dolly Lane has committed herself to becoming a star on the stage, but when she meets handsome and wealthy farmer Steve Hunter, she falls in love and marries him. Unfortunately, Steve soon loses his fortune and the couple is forced to move in with a friend, Teddy Harrington. Not long afterwards Steve's rich uncle dies, leaving him wealthy, but on that same day Dolly is asked to take the place of a stage star who has taken ill. She does and becomes the toast of Broadway, but now Steve wants her to return with him to the West and become a farmer's wife. She relents, but soon becomes bored with that role and longs to return to the stage.
- Former newsboy and jockey Joe Braxton, becomes a millionaire rancher and decides to visit New York. He soon becomes the prey of swindler Tom Linson and socialite Viola Grayson. Linson defrauds Braxton's old employer, Colonel Downs, and attempts to corrupt Eleanor, the colonel's daughter. When Eleanor learns that Linson intends to destroy Joe on the stock exchange, she warns him, disregarding Linson's threat to ruin her reputation. Eleanor is too late, but Joe recovers his losses by riding Mongrel to victory in the Kentucky Futurity, after having stacked his last dollar on the horse's success.
- A young man gets arrested after a drunken night. Sentenced to 30 days in jail, he tells his wife he has to go to Mexico for a month.
- Steve Baird travels West, and with miner Mike Reardon, buys an abandoned mine called The Skyrocket. Hoping to raise money to cover his notes, Steve goes to New York where he meets forger Jackson Ives. Ives gives Steve $50,000 in counterfeit money for stock in the mine just before the notes are due. When Grace Tyler and other wealthy friends see the money they also buy stock, believing that Steve is a success. Meanwhile, neighboring mine owner James Morgan discovers that The Skyrocket contains gold, and he sets off an explosion, hoping to kill Mike before he discovers it. Instead of killing Mike, the explosion uncovers the gold and everyone becomes wealthy, including Ives who now has the money to make his forgeries good. At the end, Steve and Grace are married with Ives as best man.
- Horace and Ethel Simpson, wealthy siblings touring Europe, fall prey to Russian conmen, one of who plans a marriage with Ethel. The executor of their fortune Daniel Pike, assisted by Grand Duke Vasill, exposes the Russians for what they are.
- Moll O'Hara, a child of the gutter, grows up with the horrible example of her drunken mother before her, and when, reaching womanhood, the girl loses her mother she keeps as a terrible souvenir the mother's craving for liquor, thrust upon the child when helpless to defend itself. But, save for the love of drinking and of fighting, Moll keeps to "the straight road" and the other temptations of her squalid life leave her unscathed. One day Moll is attacked by Liz, a disreputable woman in Bill Hubbell's saloon; the two women fight and are arrested. On their way past the settlement, Ruth Thompson a wealthy young settlement worker and her fiancé, Douglas Ames, see the pitiful procession, but Ruth insists that Moll and the others be brought into the settlement until she has the affair investigated. They come in and with them Bill Hubbell, the handsome and athletic saloon-keeper, and when he tells the true story of Moll's being first attacked by Liz. Moll is released, at the solicitation of Ruth Thompson. When the others have gone, Ruth pleads with Moll to quit drinking, and aided by the pleading of Mike Finnerty, a little crippled boy, Moll at last gives in, the callous indifference of her nature vanishes, and she becomes a different creature. Mrs. Finnerty, made kindly by Moll's love for little Mike, takes her home with her and a new life begins for Moll. Bill Hubbell, the saloon-keeper, instead of being offended by Moll's abstaining from his wares, encourages her, and a friendship springs up between the two that soon ripens into romance. But Douglas Ames, though engaged to Ruth, with the day set for their wedding, has determined to make a conquest of Moll, and one day, just as she is leaving Ruth, having told of her engagement to Bill, Ames follows and catches her in his arms. Ruth comes upon them, and Ames treacherously throws the fault on Moll, pretending that she had made advances to him, which he was repelling. Naturally, Ruth believes the man she loves in preference to the girl from the gutter, but at last promises the frantic Moll that she will come to her rooms at Finnerty's at 6 o'clock the following evening. After Moll leaves, Ames follows, as Moll knew he would, and begs that he be allowed to visit her. She coquettes with him and promises to be at home to him at six next evening, determined that Ruth shall find him and realize his vileness and the truth of Moll's story. But Bill Hubbell sees and overhears the appointment, and the next night when Ames calls, Bill, instead of Ruth, bursts into the room and sees Ames in the act of embracing Moll. In vain Moll tries to tell Bill the trap she had set for Ames. He laughs scornfully, and when Ruth enters tells her what he saw. Ames sneaks away, and both Ruth and Bill leave, believing Moll guilty. The frenzied and desperate Moll seizes the whiskey Ames had brought her and starts to drink, determined to go back to the gutter, when her despairing eyes fall on the sweet pictured face of the Madonna, a gift from Ruth. Throwing away the liquor, Moll falls on her knees and prays for succor and vindication. How her prayer is answered, her enemy crushed, her innocence established and her love and faith restored is developed in the climax of this drama.
- Esra Kincaid takes land by force, and having taken the Espinoza land, he sets his sight on the Castro rancho U.S. Government Agent Kearney holds him off until the cavalry shows up and he can declare his love for Juanita--"The Rose of the Rancho."
- David Jenison, accused of a crime which he did not commit, escapes his guards and joins a traveling circus. Mrs. Braddock, wife of the circus owner, takes an instant liking to David and prevails upon her husband to give him a job as clown. Mrs. Braddock's daughter Christine, falls in love with David. All the performers become friends of the new clown except Ernie Cronk, a hunch-back who, himself admires Christine, takes a violent dislike to David and tries to kill him. David later saves Ernie from a bad beating at the hands of a gang of rowdies and Ernie thanking David, promises to help him clear his name of the crime charge. Ernie's friendly feeling, however, is short-lived, for in a jealous rage, he writes a note to the detectives informing them that David disguised as a clown, will take part in the afternoon performance, but Dick Cronk, Ernie's brother, learning of the latter's treachery toward David, takes David's place as a clown, while David escapes. Dick Cronk, who has learned to love Dave like a brother, goes to Jenison Hall. David's former home, and there confronts David's Uncle Frank, who he feels quite certain is the man who committed the crime David is charged with. Dick returns to the circus and tells David of his experiences at Jenison Hall. A few days later they learn that David's uncle and a notorious colored attorney have quarreled, dueled and killed each other, and in his dying confession, the uncle had completely exonerated David. David, before leaving the circus, confesses his love for Christine and asks Mrs. Braddock's permission to marry her, but Mrs. Braddock, fearing them too young, promises David that in five years, he may marry Christine if he still loves her, so David leaves, pledged to return. Col. Grand, infatuated with Mrs. Braddock and who has been following the circus about, finally through his clever scheming and the lending of money to Braddock, secures control of the circus and places Mrs. Braddock and Christine in his power. Col. Grand becomes abusive when his treatment is no longer tolerant to Mrs. Braddock and Christine. They leave the circus and return to their home in New York. Later, in New York, Braddock and Col. Grand meet and in a street fight, Braddock is arrested, accused of attempting to kill Col. Grand, and is railroaded to the penitentiary for five years. Five years have now passed and David comes to New York to claim Christine. Arriving at Christine's home, he learns that she will arrive later, from a trip to the country, and goes to the railroad station to greet her, but seeing her in the company of another young man, postpones his errand. He later meets Mrs. Braddock at a telegraph office and she gives him a wire she was just about to send him in which she tells him it is time for him to redeem his promise and he agrees to call that evening. Braddock released from prison, has sworn to kill Col. Grand on sight, and takes up a position outside the Braddock residence, and is about to enter, when Dick Cronk interferes and together, they go to a low resort where they can talk in safety. Col. Grand and Braddock meet face to face and Mrs. Braddock pleads with her husband to spare Col. Grand. Braddock does so and walks out of the house, telling them he is going to the river to end it all. During an altercation between Col. Grand, Dick and Ernie, Ernie shoots Col. Grand and when the police arrive blames it on his brother Dick, who at the trial is sentenced to death. Ernie later confesses his guilt and Dick is saved from the death chair. Braddock, instead of suiciding reforms and returns a better man. while Dave and Christine, learning of the re-union of father and mother, once again don their circus attire and together in the sawdust ring, live over in memories the days of their early love.
- When Billy Balderson and his two cronies, Charlie and Ed, get together on Bill's porch to discuss the high-handed ways in which the railroad is putting it over on the farmers, cross-roads politics develop a latent spring of eloquence, and poor, dowdy little Addie, Billy's wife, thinks that her husband is the most wonderful orator she ever heard. A few days later they dress-up in their second best and go to a meeting on the Common, where George Marshall, suave, well-dressed and condescending, explains to the voters that the railroad is their only hope of salvation and that in the approaching election they should vote for representatives who will support that institution. Billy questions Marshall. The crowd is with Billy, and almost before he knows it he is on the platform, annihilating Marshall's argument in a rousing speech. Between excitement and pride Addie is reduced almost to hysterics, and when Charlie, seizing the psychological moment, nominates Billy for the Legislature, she is nearly overcome. The most exciting days of her hard-working, colorless life follow, culminating in the fete day when Billy entertains all the townsmen at their farm to celebrate his election. With their arrival at the State Capitol a new era begins, and Addie soon learns that the years of drudgery and plain living on the farm are poor preparation for coping with the political circle of the State Capitol. Shy and bewildered, and lacking the poise that a sense of his position gives Billy, she quickly finds herself outstripped by him in adapting themselves to the changed conditions of their lives. Addie can only look nervously about and wish she was at home; as she and Billy attend their first reception and she notices the covert laughter of the people about them. Two persons notice them particularly, George Marshall, the speaker Billy answered during the campaign, and his wife, Myrtle. As Billy is recognized as a coming man, and his vote will be needed on an impending railroad bill, Marshall quietly gives his instructions to Myrtle, then recalls himself to Billy, and tries to put him and the embarrassed Addie at their ease. Taken up by the Marshalls, Billy makes rapid progress in the social life of the capitol, but only until Addie learns that Mrs. Marshall is monopolizing her Billy's time, and that she herself is looked upon by the women of the political circle as a poor little frump with no spirit. With a blank signed check from Billy, she calls in the services of Mme. Pauline, proprietor of a beauty parlor, and the result is so astoundingly transforming that she can hardly believe her eyes. She passes Billy on the street and he does not know her, though the thought flashes through his mind that his little country mouse of a wife might have looked like that. When he reaches home, there is Addle, still the little, dowdy country mouse, who seems to shrink from the very thought of the reception and ball to which they are invited, and who later sees him off to it with an air of relief. The relief at least is not feigned, for it has been hard work to keep Mme. Pauline and her maid quiet in the kitchen, while she gets Billy out of the way. The transformation takes place quickly, and the country mouse appears at the ball as a wonderfully charming and brilliant woman. Marshall is distinctly impressed, and so ardently seized the opportunity of persuading Addie to influence Billy's vote on the railroad bill, that Billy is furiously jealous. The denouement is cleverly turned to a comedy finish and the play closes happily as Addie begins to teach her husband the tango.
- Virginia Stockton, daughter of railroad magnate Jefferson Stockton of San Francisco, gets engaged to Stuyvesant Lawrence, scion of an "old-money" New York family. The Lawrence family patriarch journeys west to put a halt to the wedding, as he believes his son is marrying beneath his station. Virginia's father persuades her to accompany him and his new wife to England, where they have rented an estate. Although Virginia and Stuyvesant write each other often, his mother intercepts her letters. Believing that Stuyvesant has become engaged to another woman, Virginia marries a shady fortune-hunting nobleman, Prince Emil von Haldenwald. Complications ensue.
- Mrs. Black, formerly a plump, good-natured widow, tells Professor Black, her new husband whom she adores and fears, that she is 29 instead of 36, neatly knocking off 7 years. To further convince him of her youth, she also tells him that her son "Little Johnny," whom he has never met, is 10--in reality, John is a husky 17-year-old fellow in school in England, fully 6 feet tall, broad-shouldered, and quite up-to-date, even to his Irish valet Larry McManus. Not being able to tell the Professor this, Mrs. Black invents a mythical "Aunt Prue," living in New England, with whom Johnny is supposed to be staying. The professor must curb his impatience to see his new son, for whom he has, with great care, been buying toys. So does the Professor's class of gushing young girls, who look forward with equal eagerness to seeing "Professor's Little Johnny." To regain the slimness of her youth, Mrs. Black takes reducing exercises from physical-culture teacher Tom Larkey, but loses more money and patience than flesh. As John writes that he needs money and wants to come home, she takes the $400 due Larkey and sends it to her beloved offspring, telling him he must stay in England and finish his college course. His professor decides that he needs building-up and sends for an instructor to teach him the proper exercises. The instructor proves to be Larkey, who adds to Mrs. Black's troubles by hounding her for the debt due him. Meanwhile her son has promptly lost the money sent him in poker, and gives a Spaniard an I.O.U. for $400 on the back of an envelope addressed to his mother, Mrs. Black. Pedro, the Spaniard, is going to America and decides to look up Mrs. Black; finding her, he demands the $400 her son owes him, so all her ingenuity is taxed to dodge the two creditors and keep her husband away from them until she shall find some means of obtaining the money due. John falls in love with a pretty girl in England and follows her to America, telegraphing his mother on his arrival in New York that he will soon be with her. And Mrs. Black has just learned from her dignified husband that he never forgives a liar. Then things begin to happen, with Mrs. Black as the prime factor. Jack and his valet arrive; the valet is presented as "Aunt Prue's" husband; and Jack masquerades first as the gas man and finally as Lizzie, the new cook. Of course the fatal truth at last comes out, and the penitent Mrs. Black leaps into an auto, about which she understands nothing, and runs away. Her frantic husband sees the machine smash, and when, after believing her gone from him forever, he learns that she escaped injury, he is so glad to find "Mrs. Black is Back," that he readily forgives her deception and welcomes son John.
- The bandit Jim Stokes, wanting to go straight and settle down with his new bride, strikes a bargain with the sheriff for his freedom.
- The treasure of the Aragon family has never been found or any trace of it, until one day, while Princess Maria Theresa is looking over her jewels, she drops the casket and a secret compartment flies open, disclosing an old parchment which tells of a locket that contains the diagram describing the location. The Princess goes for the locket and finds it has been stolen. Carmencita, her maid, has stolen it and, being jealous of her rival, Juanita, for Jose's affections, has sold it to Gaines, an American art collector. Juanita, during a fit of jealousy, stabs Carmencita, and Carmencita, on her death bed, tells the Princess and her brother she sold the locket. The Duke D'Alva overhears the conversation and starts in search of it, as does the Princess and her brother. In a southern town a feud has existed between the Jarvis and Markam families, and Markam kills Judge Jarvis. Warren Jarvis, his son, follows Markam to New York. Markam goes along the street and sees the locket brought from Spain by Gaines, the collector, and buys it. The Princess enters and finds the locket has been sold. She starts to find Markam. The Duke enters the store and asks about the locket, and he also starts to find Markam. The Princess gets the locket from Markam, who is at the same hotel that she is staying at. Jarvis, in search of Markam, finds him and kills him. While trying to escape he enters the Princess' room and tells her the story. Her trunk is nearly packed to go on the boat for her return to Spain. She hides Jarvis in trunk and he is taken on board the boat. In the meantime, Jarvis has telephoned to Rusty, his colored servant, to procure tickets. Two detectives enter and search for Jarvis, but fail to find him. He goes to Spain to help the Princess recover her treasure. Before the Princess goes to America, her father, who enters the castle which is supposed to be haunted, but in reality the ghosts are only the tools of the Duke dressed in armor and as ghosts, is killed by the Duke's men who also capture her brother and hold him prisoner. Jarvis, upon his arrival in Spain, starts with Rusty, his servant, to explore the castle. While at the inn near the old castle, the Duke steals the locket from the Princess' bag and tells Robledo, his tool, to keep Jarvis away from the castle. The Princess learns that the locket has been stolen and tells Jarvis. Jarvis starts to go out, when Robledo appears with drawn gun. He and Jarvis both fire. Jarvis seriously wounds Robledo who, on his death bed, tells the Princess about the castle and also about her brother. The brother, who has escaped by diving into the same place where the Duke's tools killed the Princess' father, swims the moat and escapes on the horse Jarvis rode to the castle. He notifies the police, who come to the castle. They are about to seize the Duke when he jumps down the trap and is killed. Jarvis and the Princess then each discover a mutual desire to possess the other and the story ends with the pair pledging their troth.
- Winthrop Clavering a mystery writer, is continually ridiculed for the fiction of the crimes he depicts, so he decides to solve a case himself. To that end, he determines to find the slayer of Pedro Alvarez, who whispered before dying that his assailant was a woman. At the City Refuge for Homeless Girls, Clavering obtains the assistance of Margaret Holt, the sister of Victor Holt, the district attorney. Margaret, it is revealed, was abducted by Juanita, a member of a gang of white slavers led by Alvarez. After escaping from a brothel, Margaret became Alvarez' stenographer, hoping to gather secret information on his gang. While searching for evidence, Margaret was surprised by Alvarez, whom she killed. Finally, Clavering captures the gang, clears Margaret, and encourages her romance with cub reporter Jack Howell.
- Jean finds the boyish manner in which her late father raised her, is now causing quite a lot of trouble for her, and she ends up in a reformatory. After escaping this prison she meets Craig Atwood, a handsome artist, and now Jean must prove through a series of trials, that she is worthy of his love.
- In 1895, noted actor Lloyd Phillips leaves the stage after his wife dies in childbirth. Blaming his infant daughter Dixie for his wife's death, Phillips leaves her with Mrs. Hughes, his housekeeper. Meanwhile, Mrs. Moore, a wardrobe mistress who has kept a scrapbook on Phillips, must raise her infant daughter Florence alone when her husband dies. Eighteen years later, Mrs. Hughes has squandered all of Phillips' money on her ne'er-do-well son Bert. Dixie then leaves and goes to New York where she receives a part in a Broadway play from Marc Herbert, her father's friend. When Phillips returns looking for Dixie, Mrs. Hughes and Bert convince Florence, Bert's new wife, to pose as Dixie. She soon is disgusted by the plot, however, and returns to her mother, with whom Dixie now lives. Meanwhile, Herbert innocently sends Phillips word of Dixie's success, but when he goes to see her, she bitterly rebukes him. Phillips again leaves, but eventually he and Florence realize their feelings for each other and are able to marry after Bert dies in a burglary attempt. After Mrs. Moore's death, Dixie is reconciled to her father.
- Through the machinations of the Empress Poppaea and other women at court, Tigellinus, Nero's agent in the war against the Christians, convinces Nero to have Mercia arrested.
- "Cameo" Kirby, so called because of his fondness for cameos, is the son of a New Orleans plantation owner who dies insolvent. When the plantation and slaves are sold at auction, Cameo's favorite body-servant is bought at auction by one of his father's friends, John Randall. John and Kirby head north on a Mississippi river boat where Randall meets Colonel Moreau. There he loses heavily on a wager and consents to a game of poker hoping to get back his losses. Kirby, through his friendship with another gambler, is adept at the manipulation of cards and suspects that Moreau is not an honest player. He joins the game and soon Randall, having lost all of his money, wagers the old homestead. Kirby wins the hand and Moreau accuses him of cheating while Randall, unappreciative of the fact that Kirby won the hand to keep Randall's estate falling into Moreau's hands, shoots himself. When his body is taken ashore, Kirby meets Randall's daughter, Adele, and instantly falls in love with her. But Kirby is on very shaky ground as he is known as the man who caused Adele's father to commit suicide, and she treats him to some southern disdain. Her brother, Tom, vows to take revenge on Kirby. He and Moreau have an un-witnessed duel and Colonel is shot dead by Kirby, who is somewhat of a dead shot among his many other talents. But Tom takes the gun from Moreau's hand so it will appear he was unarmed. Kirby, slave-owner becomes a fugitive from justice. This also deals a blow to his courtship of Adele. But, a true-blue southern gentleman such as Kirby should be able to win the day, sooner or later.
- Though mistreated by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters, Cinderella is able to attend the royal ball through the help of a fairy godmother.
- Road agent Ramerrez hides out in his girlfriend's store where the Sheriff knows him to be. The Sheriff plays The Girl a game of cards to decide Ramerrez's future. She wins. She later saves him from a hanging. She rides off with him.