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Captain Swift Synopsis

In order to avoid exposure attendant upon the birth of Harold Gage, the fatherless son of Constance, he, through arrangements made by Lady Staunton, the haughty sister of Constance, is placed under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, who are paid to rear the boy as their own, cautioned against revealing to him or the outside world his true identity. Mrs. Marshall's real son, in the early years of his life, acquainted with the doubtful parentage of Harold, taunts him. The two engage in a boys' fight, Harold being severely cut on his left arm by a scythe in the hands of his young foster brother, the wound leaving an ugly scar. The lad, sensitive of the treatment of his foster brother, finally migrates to Australia as a stowaway, where, by reason of forced circumstances and his near starvation to death, become a bush-ranger. Because of the rapidity of his operations, and his ability to escape detection and arrest, he, as the unknown bushranger, received the sobriquet of "Capt. Swift." He attempts to hold up a traveler, George Gardner, who is willing to suffer death rather than part with his gold. "Capt. Swift," hesitating to take a human life, compels him to alight and rides away with the wayfarer's mount. Swift, after having robbed the Queensland bank, suffers remorse, and determines to reform. Under the name of William Wilding, being the name of his companion in Australia, who died of starvation and thirst on the desert, he returns to London, where, at an opportune moment, he saves James Seabrook. whose life is in jeopardy by reason of a runaway horse. "Capt. Swift," invited by Seabrook to his home, there meets Mrs. Seabrook, their daughter Mabel and their niece Stella Darbisher. Harry Seabrook. brother of Mabel, a whole-hearted but impetuous young man, takes immediate dislike to Swift, whereas Stella Darbisher, a girl of romantic disposition, admiring the brave spirit inherent in Swift, becomes strongly attached to him. Marshall, the foster brother of Swift, is now employed as butler in the home of the Seabrooks. At a gathering the conversation is directed toward the escapades of one, "Capt. Swift," in Australia, whose name had become almost a household word throughout England. In the course of conversation, George Gardner, who is a friend of the Seabrooks, having returned from Australia, calls at their home, and there identifies Wilding as the notorious "Capt. Swift," and is in turn recognized by Swift, but his identity is not revealed to the others. Mrs. Seabrook recognizes a strong similarity between the man Swift and her boy, given away in adoption to the Marshalls. Her fears are later justified, when, at a dramatic and tense moment, she proves the fact to him. Swift, however, in order not to stigmatize his mother, determines to leave the household of the Seabrooks. Stella Darbisher's infatuation for Swift has progressed to such a point as to cause a strong reciprocal feeling on his part for the girl. The rivalry of Harry Seabrook for the hand of Stella causes a violent quarrel between him and Swift, the consequences of which are avoided by the timely intervention of Gardner. Marshall, eavesdropping during a conversation between Swift and his mother, Mrs. Seabrook, learns of the identity of Swift, and further proves it by a scar on Swift's arm, the result of the wound inflicted by Marshall when the two were boys. With this knowledge Marshall attempts to blackmail Swift, and being repulsed, acquaints the police with his whereabouts. A detective from Australia has arrived in London to apprehend Swift, having traced his movements to that place. Gardner, strongly admiring the manhood of Swift, determining if possible to save him, warns him. Swift, cornered in the home of his mother, rather than suffer arrest, together with the attendant exposure, and the possible revelation of his real identity, and to save the girl he loves and his mother the disgrace that would necessarily follow, jumps out of a window, knowing that the possibility of escape is meager. Marshall, working in league with the detective, is hidden in the shrubbery, and seeing Swift, fires, mortally wounding him, at the same moment that the detective from a window above shoots, the cross shot which strikes Marshall, puts an end to him. The denouement ends without the identity of "Capt. Swift" being revealed to the others.

The Toilers Synopsis

The scene is set in the Pennsylvania petroleum region. Oil worker William Brett has used his scanty hoard of savings to send his daughter Jane to the city to secure a higher education. Completing her course as a trained nurse, Jane visits her old home. Amid the settlement's corroding influence, her brother becomes a thief. Jane's sister Annie falls a prey to the blandishments of a tempter from the city. Fired with indignation against the injustice of affairs, Jane devotes herself to the double mission of avenging and of righting the wrongs of which her family and the community in general have been subjected. Her father is seriously hurt in an accident at work, and his pay is stopped. Jane hastens to the city, determined to make an effort to awaken William Jameson, the millionaire owner of the oil field, to a realization of the wrongs imposed upon the workers. She arrives at a time when the millionaire's son John Jameson, who glimpsed the light of uplift, is vainly pleading with his father to listen to his plans for the betterment of the workers' conditions. Jane is compelled to force her way into the Jameson mansion during the progress of a bal masque given in aid of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She accosts William Jameson in his study, and wild with anger and further maddened by the millionaire's gibes, she tries to kill him and is arrested by detectives. Although she and young Jameson have not met, the latter is instrumental in obtaining her release. Jane goes back to the workers and a secret strike is formed, Jane being the ring-leader. They determine to fire the wells to teach Jameson a lesson. It is at this time that John Jameson comes to the oil wells to investigate conditions. His identity is not known by anyone except the superintendent. Morgan, the ringleader of the workers, is in love with Jane, and on the eve of the firing of the wells he learns of Jameson's identity by breaking into his cottage. The same evening, to save the property, young Jameson goes to Jane, confesses his identity, and pleads with her to help him save the property. Jane is in a quandary. She has fallen in love with the man, whom she believed to be a workman, and he with her. Finally, when she goes to the meeting place of the strikers and pleads with them to hold off, Morgan, who has just broken into Jameson's hut, rushes in, and accuses her of being a traitor. There is a fight. They trample over Jane and rush to the wells. Jane, realizing that they will turn to her unsuspecting lover and try to kill him, drags herself to him and just in time throws herself in front of him as the strikers rush to kill him. However, John Jameson bares himself to the strikers, asks them to listen to him, and proves to them that he is there on their behalf. He then goes to his father and forces him to give in to the strikers, and all ends happily.