Summary
A vibrant tapestry woven from filial defiance and audacious masquerade, "His Father's Son" chronicles the transformative odyssey of J. Dabney Barron, a scion of privilege whose collegiate indolence draws his paterfamilias's ire. Stripped of his allowance, Dabney is cast into the crucible of self-sufficiency, bound by a paternal wager of $6,000 that he cannot sustain a modest $60-a-month livelihood. Accompanied by his steadfast valet, Perkins, Dabney embarks upon a quixotic quest for employment, an endeavor punctuated by an auspicious roadside encounter with the beguiling heiress, Betty Arden, whose stalled conveyance offers an immediate, albeit fleeting, canvas for Dabney's nascent chivalry.
His initial forays into the labor market prove farcical; a protracted queue for a bookkeeper's post yields the position not to him, but, ironically, to his valet. Fortuitously, an entrée into the clandestine world of private investigation, facilitated by his friend Jim Foley, propels Dabney into the Arden household. His mission: to assume the guise of a butler and safeguard the millionaire John Arden's invaluable emerald, "The Lady of the Sea," from the predations of the aristocratic guest, Lord Lawrence—a figure known to Scotland Yard as "London Larry."
The domestic espionage takes an unanticipated turn when Dabney discovers his employer's daughter is none other than the captivating Betty Arden. To salvage his dignity and craft an air of romantic intrigue, he improvises an elaborate, preposterous fable: a vast inheritance usurped by a villainous secretary named Slime, a will incinerated by an exploding uncle (who, having imbibed nitroglycerin, inconveniently combusted upon falling), and a ceaseless search for his abducted sister. Betty, with a knowing wink to the audience, feigns credulity, her awareness of Dabney's true identity adding layers of delicious irony to their burgeoning flirtation.
As the month culminates, Dabney, triumphant in his wager and emboldened by love, confesses his affections to Betty, only for their tender embrace to be discovered by John Arden, leading to Dabney's immediate dismissal. Yet, fate intervenes; on the cusp of his departure, Dabney apprehends "London Larry" in flagrante delicto, attempting to pilfer the emerald from the library safe. A swift struggle ensues, culminating in the thief's ignominious incarceration within the very safe he sought to plunder. Arden, roused by the commotion, unwittingly frees Larry, who, with cunning malice, implicates Dabney as the true culprit. The tables momentarily turn, with Dabney bound and accused, until Foley's timely arrival unravels the deceit, securing Larry's arrest and Dabney's vindication. With Betty's hand promised in marriage and the $6,000 bet secured, Dabney triumphantly returns home, having unequivocally proven himself worthy of his paternal appellation.
Synopsis
College youth J. Dabney Barron regularly fails in his examinations; in disgust, his father deprives him of money and tells him to go to work, betting him $6,000 that he cannot hold a $60-a-month position for that time period. J. Dabney agrees, and with his valet Perkins he goes to look for a job. In a park he meets heiress Betty Arden, whose car has broken down. Her guest, Lord Lawrence, is incapable of helping her, and Dabney hastens to her assistance. She hurries away as soon as her car is repaired. Installing himself and his valet in a room in a lodging house, Dabney reads the want ads. Answering an advertisement for a bookkeeper, he stands in a long line of applicants until he grows tired; his valet, who has taken his place, gets the job. Finally Dabney obtains work through his friend Jim Foley of a detective agency. John Arden, millionaire gem collector, has a priceless emerald called "The Lady of the Sea." He fears it may be stolen and as a matter of fact his guest Lord Lawrence, better known to the English police as "London Larry," is planning to steal the emerald. Foley tells Dabney that to guard the emerald he must pose as butler in the Arden home. No sooner does Dabney enter upon his new work than he discovers Betty Arden, his employer's daughter, to be the girl he helped in the park. In an attempt to retain his dignity in her eyes he tells her he and his sister inherited an enormous fortune from an uncle; that the uncle had a secretary a villainous chap named Slime who forced him to make a will disinheriting Dabney and his sister; that Slime and his accomplices made the old man drink nitroglycerin but unfortunately for them permitted him to fall down when he exploded burning up the will; that the villainous secretary had then overpowered Dabney and run away with the girl, whom Dabney had ever since been seeking, hence his presence in the Arden household as butler. Betty pretends to believe the story, although she has been aware of Dabney's identity all along. Dabney continues to attend to his duties as butler and to guard the jewel from "London Larry." Finally the month is up, and Dabney, in great glee at having won the bet from his father, dares to make known his love to Betty. She returns his affection, and they are discovered in a fond embrace by John Arden, who instantly discharges Dabney. That night he is about to take his departure when he surprises "London Larry" opening the safe in Arden's library. He overpowers the would-be jewel thief, and throws him into the safe. Arden, coming downstairs, liberates Lord Lawrence, who tells him Dabney is the real culprit, and together they overpower him and tie him to a chair. Dabney urges them to send for Foley, to identify him, and the detective, arriving, makes haste to free Dabney and arrest "London Larry." Dabney, cheered by Betty's promise to marry him, goes home to collect his $6,000, having proved himself his father's son.
