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The Mysterious Client Synopsis

Harry Nelson, a struggling young lawyer, is approached by the shady-looking Boris Norjunov, who asks him to perform an unethical service. Harry indignantly refuses, and immediately after Boris' departure, a beautiful woman named Jeanne Darcy rushes in, begging Harry to protect her until she has placed a certain envelope in a safe deposit vault. Harry assents and accompanies her outside, where they are attacked and the envelope is stolen. Later that evening, Boris assaults Harry and locks him in a room. Jeanne releases him, but not until Harry has caught a mirrored reflection of her and Boris in an embrace. Several weeks pass before Harry receives a summons from Jeanne, and as he approaches their meeting place, he witnesses Boris threatening to kill her unless she shoots a kidnapped heiress, Miss Lonsdale. Harry is horrified when she fires the gun, but just then, Jeanne and Boris, actually her father, laughingly admit that the entire affair was staged so that she might find a truly chivalrous potential husband.

The Kill-Joy Synopsis

Billie and her father are crossing the plains to the frontier town of "Contentment," an "Eyeless Eden," when he becomes lost in a search for water, falls from a cliff and is killed. Little Billie is picked up by Bob, driver of a merchandise wagon, and is taken to "Contentment" and secreted in his cabin. Bob's suspicious actions arouse the curiosity of his fellow townsmen, who believe he has brought a woman to his cabin. They see him stroking the child's hair as she sleeps, only the back of her head is turned to the eavesdroppers, and, believing their suspicions confirmed, they organize a vigilance committee and procure a rope. Their consternation is overwhelming when they find Billie, but still they are annoyed by her presence. "The Crab" arranges to have her kidnapped by Indians, but in the day intervening the abduction, Billie, with her smile and childish confidence has won over the majority of the "Eveless Eden," including "Sure Shot Mike," "The Denver Kid," "Rattlesnake Pete," and "Death Valley Joe." The abduction is carried out while Bob and his companions are celebrating the adoption of Billie as "The Darter of the Camp." "The Crab" sees the mistake in his plot, and goes to the Indian camp to bring her back, but in the meantime the town has learned that she is missing, and vows death to her abductor. "The Crab" is overtaken as he is bringing her back to "Contentment," but Billie's smiles also have won his heart, and his pleas to her when the noose is tightened about his neck are answered by her interference and the challenge that "she loves her Crab." The crowd desists, and "Contentment" is made a real place of contentment, with "The Crab" included in the list of her "fathers."