My Best Girl
Summary
A gilded heir, Dick Vanderfelt, bankrolls the alchemical fever-dreams of a middling chemist whose daughter, Dora, glows with unvarnished ardor; love blooms in ignorance of the transactional roots beneath. On the same ivy campus, Paul Denton—laboratory prodigy, emotional vampire—discards Ann Bludge, igniting her brother’s vendetta. When the chemist’s apocalyptic powder earns governmental appetite, he dispatches a sample through Dick to Denton for verification; Denton, scenting both lucre and leverage, resolves to possess both formula and fiancée. Fate intervenes: the inventor’s heart bursts at the telegram of success, bequeathing to Dora sole dominion over the combustible secret. Ann, frantic to halt fraternal bloodshed, races to Denton’s dorm; he stashes her in Dick’s chamber, where scandalized deans discover her—Dick is summarily banished from academy and bloodline alike. To elude infamy, he swaps identities with a craven deserter named Brown, only to be dragooned to Angel’s Island barracks where he spies Dora seemingly enthralled by Denton. Summoning Ann, Dick unmasks the true architect of her ruin, clearing his name while Ann’s brother corners Denton mid-burglary of the explosive. A savage melee ends in shackles for Denton, vindication for Dick, and a matrimonial horizon radiant enough to rival the chemist’s incandescent powder.
Synopsis
Dick Vanderfelt, scion of a wealthy family, is a student at Stamford University. Deeply in love with Dora, daughter of a chemist, he advances large sums of money to her father in order that he can carry out experiments on a new and highly destructive explosive powder. Dora does not know that Dick is befriending her father; her affection for Dick is inspired by real love. Paul Denton, a student in chemistry, a fellow student at Stamford, a conscienceless chap and woeful flirt, has had a disastrous love affair with Ann Bludge and cast her off. Ann's brother, learning of his sister's plight, vows to kill Denton. Dora's father, when his experiments prove valuable, arranges to show it to the government, and through Dick sends a specimen to Denton to be proved. Denton, discovering the value of the new explosive, plots to marry Dora himself and gain control of the explosive. When Dora's father receives word that the government had accepted his discovery he is overcome and dies. Dora is now sole possessor of the secrets. Ann Bludge, learning of her brother's threat, goes to the college dormitory to warn Denton. Denton, when someone approaches, places Ann in Dick's room, where she is discovered by an official. Dick is expelled from school and disinherited by his father. To escape the disgrace, he arranges with Brown, a no-account, to exchange names for two weeks. Brown is a deserter from the army and Dick, assuming the name, is arrested and sent back to the barracks at Angel's Island. At the barracks he sees Dora and Denton in each other's company. Sending for Ann Bludge, Dick finds Dora and learns that Denton, and not Dick, was the cause of Ann's downfall. Ann's brother later catches Denton trying to steal the explosive from the barrack safe. A terrific fight ensues, with the resultant arrest and conviction of Denton, the exoneration of Dick and the happy consummation of the dream of Dick and Dora's life.
