Summary
Rupert Hughes, mining the bedrock of American aspiration, chisels a miniature epic in which a suffragette-blooded heiress, Philena, spurns a dynastic betrothal to the oleaginous Carswell—thereby detonating her father’s solvency and unleashing a domino-fall of fiduciary ruin. Amid the din of steam shovels gnawing Manhattan schist, she barters a crumpled dollar for the soulful harmonica of Terence Giluley, a trench-digger whose brow is already burnished with Gatsby-grade yearning. The single bill becomes a talisman: Terence climbs from hod-carrying anonymity to blueprint-wielding contractor, while Philena—saddle-sore, horseless after a last, fatal gallop—trades silk for steno pads and night-school ink. Their trajectories intersect under gaslight chalkboards and office-wanted ads until, ledger lines and class lines both erased, he offers her a future notarized by love rather than collateral.
Synopsis
Refusing her father's request to marry young Carswell, daughter Philena can't stand him, but in order to insure a loan Mr. Mortimer needs to complete construction of an office building. As a result, her father is ruined financially. While the building site is being excavated, Philena is attracted to Terence Giluley, a pick-and-shovel man who is forced to exchange with her his harmonica for a dollar bill. The act inspires him to work harder and rise to her social level, and soon he is promoted to contractor. Philena decides to sell her horse to aid her parents, and Terence offers her $500 for it, but on a last ride the horse is injured and has to be killed. Philena and Terence meet again while attending night school; she appears among applicants when he advertises for a stenographer; Terence proposes marriage to her and is accepted.
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