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The Kiss of Hate Synopsis

When Count Peter Turgeneff, his daughter Nadia, and his generous-hearted son Paul came to live in the Governor's palace in the Russian province of Valogda, there was rejoicing among the oppressed race whose home was in the Ghetto. Turgeneff was known as a just and merciful man who had done much to make the hard lot of the Jews bearable in the districts under his charge. Hence his coming was hailed with joy by Isaac, prophet of Israel, and his people. Quite other feelings did his arrival create in the breast of Michael Orzoff, the grim Prefect of Police of Valogda, who sat in his office in the fortress and received the reports of the secret agents of the Czar. It was known that Orzoff was the secret power behind the dreaded "Yellow Jackets," the dire organization whose avowed object was the extermination of the people of Israel. There seemed no help. The Prefect's influence reached far, even into the high places in far-off Petrograd. Even women, provided they were fair to look upon, found their sex no protection from his infamy. For all these reasons the coming of Count Turgeneff to Valogda was not at all to Orzoff's liking. Soon after his coming Orzoff learned two things: one was that the new governor had pledged his help to the Jews, and the other that his daughter Nadia was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen and quite as ardent as her father in her support of the oppressed race. To think was to act with Orzoff. The governor was strong, but not more strong than he. In the high places in Petrograd, whence both received authority, the Prefect held the more power. In Russia the police are all powerful. The Count menaced Orzoff, for already word had been brought to the Governor, as Orzoff well knew, that the Prefect was the secret driving force behind the evil "Yellow Jackets." So Orzoff laid his plan. With his countless agents provocateurs and secret minions in the "Yellow Jackets," daring as that plan was, he felt it could not fail. On the night of the grand ball at the Governor's palace, the plan was consummated. Thither had come, at Nadia's urging. Isaac, chief of the Jews of the Ghetto, and Leah, the lovely daughter of old Samuels the cobbler, whose honor had been stained by the rude lust of Orzoff, with many others, there to accuse the Prefect face to face of the wrongs with which he had burdened them. But they did not reckon with the Prefect's plan. Suddenly there had been a cry without a rush of many feet and a frenzied mob had burst in among the guests of the Governor. "Death to the Jews," was their rallying cry. Then came Orzoff's own uniformed men and dispersed the rioters, but not before an assassin's bullet had found a resting place in the heart of Count Turgeneff. Nor did Orzoff stop there. Secure in his influence at Petrograd, he directed his men to seize the weeping Nadia, her brother Paul, and Isaac the Jew, and imprison them in the fortress under a charge of treason. And there on the day following he found a way to wreak his evil will upon the girl. The Prefect came to her in the cell, where she passed the night. He bent over her menacingly as she sat on the stone seat that had formed her couch. "You will give yourself to me," he said abruptly, "or your brother shall suffer the torture by fire ere he goes to Siberia." The as Nadia, in contempt and loathing, struck at him in the half-darkness he added, "Listen, and you shall hear for yourself; only your promised work can stop this pain."

Her Debt of Honor Synopsis

Marian Delmar's architect father has died without an estate, though she thinks he has left her a settlement of some sort. From the time of his death, a member of his profession, Varcoe, has sent her a monthly remittance with enables her to live decently and study painting. Then Varcoe dies, leaving no instructions regarding the remittance and no reason why his son Olin should continue it. John Hartfield, whose father has been a lawyer of doubtful integrity but unquestionable shrewdness, is now the one Marian turns to when her remittance fails to arrive. He subsequently informs her that the remittance seems to have been a matter of charity on the late Varcoe's part; incidentally, his son Olin is dying from his wild dissipation and morbid excesses. Marian's independent nature revolts at having been an object of charity, and against John's pleading she decides to pay the debt by nursing Olin back to health. She offers her services as nurse, and Olin exhibits a wicked joy at engaging her. All repair to the old Varcoe home on the St. Lawrence, where lives Mrs. Varcoe, whom her supposed son has never seen; she has been an invalid for 40 years, faithfully attended by the old family physician in a house with Indian servants, and strange furnishings that must have been the expression of a morbid brain. When Olin meets Mrs. Varcoe, whose son he is supposed to be, he seems to inspire her with fear and misgiving. She is immediately impressed with Marian, whose attentions are now directed to the old lady's health. The aged doctor's jealousy of Marian in her efforts to relieve Mrs. Varcoe creates frequent friction. Through the finding of certain plans in a secret compartment, John finds that Marian's father was the real brains behind the elder Varcoe's success; hence, the remittance by agreement. Olin's morbid nature drives him to take advantage of an Indian girl in his household, and the consequence is the exposure of the secret that he himself is the offspring of such an affair on his father's part. Meanwhile, John constantly tries to dissuade Marian from continuing in this atmosphere, but a strong affection has developed between Marian and the kind old lady that furnishes the incentive for her to remain. Olin is determined to have one more big fling before he passes away, and invites a number of his dissipated city friends to spend the weekend. Olin traps Marian in a secret passage, but another Indian and John rescue her and wound Olin. Olin crawls to the Indian huts on the estate where the remainder of his mother's tribe dwelt, and dies in the arms of his Indian grandfather. Marian and John determine to travel the road of life together, while the old doctor gives evidence that his devotion to his equally-venerable patient was not purely professional interest.