Human Driftwood

Summary

In a narrative steeped in the inexorable currents of fate and the lingering shadows of past transgressions, “Human Driftwood” charts the tumultuous odyssey of Robert Hendricks, a scion of wealth ensnared by the siren call of Myra, a captivating yet morally compromised New York dancer. Their initial liaison, fraught with illicit desire, takes a perilous turn when Myra, an opportunistic eavesdropper, uncovers the existence of a substantial inheritance. Her subsequent orchestration of a heist, intended to pilfer Hendricks’s newly acquired securities, culminates in a tragic struggle where her own lover falls by her hand. In a moment of profound, almost bewildering magnanimity, Hendricks, rather than consigning her to justice, facilitates her escape, an act that irrevocably binds their destinies. Years later, having shed his dissolute past to emerge as a formidable social reformer, Hendricks finds himself dispatched to an Alaskan mining camp, a crucible of depravity he is tasked with cleansing. Unbeknownst to him, this very camp is presided over by Myra, now a hardened dance hall proprietor, whose sinister influence permeates the remote settlement. Amidst this moral wasteland, an anomaly blossoms: Velma, a young woman of unblemished innocence, whom Myra presents as her niece. Hendricks, drawn to Velma’s purity, falls deeply in love, only to discover Myra has pledged her to a brutish, newly rich prospector. The tangled skein of their lives unravels further when Myra, in a cruel twist of vengeance and manipulation, reveals a devastating lie: that Velma is not her niece, but Hendricks’s own daughter, born of their long-forgotten affair. Driven to the brink of madness by this hideous fabrication, Hendricks embarks on a desperate pursuit of the ruffian who has abducted Velma following a violent confrontation in Myra’s establishment, one that leaves the manipulative woman mortally wounded. The climactic clash in the unforgiving wilderness sees the bully meet a grim end, while Myra, in her dying breaths, at last confesses the truth, untangling the agonizing lie and allowing fate to finally unite Hendricks with the woman he loves, now revealed to be untainted by the specter of incestuous love.

Synopsis

Robert Hendricks, who is a rich young bachelor, becomes infatuated with Myra, a beautiful, but evil, dancer of a New York dancing resort. He invites her to his apartment, where his attorney calls unexpectedly. Hendricks sends Myra in an adjoining room and receives the lawyer, who comes to tell him that he is leaving for Europe and wishes to turn over $20,000 in unregistered securities, as the balance of the estate of Hendricks' father, of which he was trustee. Myra pricked her ears at this, and peeking through the portieres, saw Hendricks place the securities in a concealed wall-safe. After the departure of the lawyer, Myra comes out of seclusion and Hendricks tells her to remain in his rooms until his return, as he wishes to speak to his broker at once regarding the bonds. The moment Hendricks leaves the apartment, Myra phoned to her pals a band of crooks, telling them to hurry there for a rich haul. They were just taking the bonds out of the safe as Hendricks returned. In the fight that ensued, one of the crooks, Myra's lover, was accidentally killed by Myra's own hand. When Hendricks realized the full significance of the situation, rather than turn the girl over to the police, magnanimously allows the girl to escape. The years pass and Hendricks becomes a serious reformer, forceful and effective. He is sent for as the head of his society to clean up the fearfully immoral conditions prevailing in an Alaskan mining camp. Unknown to Hendricks, Myra is the sinister influence of the camp, where she conducts a dance hall. The mystery of the place is the presence there of a beautiful unsullied young girl known as Velma. She is supposed to be Myra's niece. Despite the vicious conditions surrounding her, Velma is innocent of evil, with the pure heart of a young girl. Hendricks falls in love with her, but Myra has already promised the girl to the bully of the camp, a huge, uncouth ruffian, who has "struck it rich" and who can pay Myra's price for Velma. Father Harrigan comes to the assistance of the good little girl and is pleased to learn of her true love for Hendricks. However, to prevent Hendricks marrying the girl, Myra reveals her identity to him, who hitherto had not suspected it, and declares that Velma is his own daughter, the offspring of their illicit relationship years before. Driven half mad by the hideous lie, Hendricks sets out in pursuit of the bully who has carried off Velma after a desperate fight in Myra's dance hall in which the woman is fatally wounded. Eventually he comes to grips with the ruffian. The bully goes to a fearful death, while fate unravels Hendricks' tangled love and he gathers Velma in his arms after her true identity was revealed by the dying Myra.