Summary
In the chiaroscuro of a city that never quite wakes, Jane Lee—once cushioned by brokerage ledgers and paternal promises—becomes the bruised muse of John Brock, a financier whose appetite for ruin is as meticulous as a ledger’s last line. Brock shorts her father’s future, watches the old man sink into the abyss of ink and guilt, and then drapes himself in the garb of patron saint when the widow’s walk is empty. Alone, Jane is installed in a neon-drenched office where the clock hands crawl like guilty verdicts; late one night the wolf in worsted wool lunges, she unsheathes a scream sharp enough to cut glass, and the arriving watchmen reverse the tableau: accuser becomes accused, the safe’s yawning mouth becomes her iron mask. Prison stripes brand her silhouette; Governor Barnes, philanthropist of second acts, dispatches Mrs. Carrington to harvest fallen souls. Upon release, Jane is ushered into a parlor of do-gooders who flinch at the sulfur of scandal; once her record glints in the drawing-room candelabra, she is exiled again. Enter Richard White, another Brock casualty, his eyes twin furnaces of vengeance; together they forge a pact as brittle as frost. White, however, is a wolf in worse wool: he lures Bess Murphy—Jane’s only candle—into a trap baited with lies of illness. Jane bursts in, scissors of desperation in hand; scarlet blooms on white shirtfront, the pendulum of fate swings, and the gurney replaces the altar. Condemned, she waits in the shadow of the chair. Far away, George Barnes—gubernatorial prodigy turned reformed drifter—hears her name on the wind, rides the rails home, and barges into the mansion he once fled. Father and son embrace beneath a portrait of clemency; the signature dries, the gates yawn, and Jane steps into dawn wearing a veil of forgiveness, her hand in the hand of the man who once slept in mission cots.
Synopsis
Jane Lee, the daughter of a stockbroker, comes under the attention of John Brock, a villain, who covets the girl, and starts to ruin her father. In the end Lee finds himself penniless, and commits suicide. Brock assuming the role of Jane's protector, gives her work in his office. He arranged for her to remain late one night and then attacks her. She defends herself, and her outcries bring assistance. Brock accuses the girl of attempting to rob his safe and she is sent to prison. Governor Barnes, interested in welfare work, employs Mrs. Carrington in uplifting unfortunate girls. The Governor's son has gained his father's displeasure and is turned away from home. Mrs. Carrington has become interested in Jane Lee and when the girl's prison term expires takes her into her home. Jane later loses her position, because her prison record becomes known to Mrs. Carrington's friends and they compel her dismissal. She meets Richard White who has met financial reverses through John Brock. With mutual impulses for revenge, White and Jane combine to work against Brock. The girl has found a friend in Bess Murphy. White covets Bess and tricks her into coming to his apartment, telling her Jane is ill. White attacks her and her cries attract Jane, who lives in the same apartment house. In protecting Bess Jane stabs White to death. Her trial results in sentence of death. George Barnes, the Governor's son, has been an attendant at Mrs. Carrington's mission and has met Jane and Bess. Meanwhile he has reformed and becomes a lawyer. He is in the west when he hears of Jane's misfortune and hurries home, to urge his father to pardon Jane. There is great rejoicing when the prodigal returns, the Governor consents to the pardon and Jane marries the Governor's son.
