Summary
Amidst the rustic tedium of hay-pitching, two unassuming laborers, Mike and Louie, stumble upon a life-altering revelation within the folds of a Chicago newspaper. Louie, deciphering the text for the illiterate Mike, unearths a want ad proclaiming Mike Schultz as the rightful heir to a substantial fortune. This serendipitous discovery propels them from their agrarian existence to the bustling metropolis, where a meeting with the ostensibly reputable attorney, Philo Markham, culminates in the acquisition of a $10,000 inheritance. Markham, however, a master of dissimulation, swiftly re-routes their newfound wealth, conning them into purchasing a virtually worthless Western ranch, 'El Reposo,' for an inflated price, leaving them with a mere pittance for travel. Unbeknownst to them, Markham's estranged daughter, May, elopes on the very same westbound train, only to find her husband, Chester, a dissolute gambler. Abandoning her ill-fated marriage, May disembarks near Crowntown, unwittingly on a collision course with Mike and Louie. Upon their arrival at the desolate El Reposo, the pals confront the stark reality of their swindle, their last vestiges of hope—return tickets and life insurance policies—succumbing to the voracious appetite of a rogue goat. Their despair is momentarily eclipsed by May's desperate cries, leading them to rescue her from the clutches of Chester and his accomplice, Pedro. Recognizing May's vulnerability and her renunciation of her deceitful father, Mike and Louie assume the mantle of her self-appointed guardians. Their protective instincts are further tested when May, securing employment as a piano player in a local dance hall, falls prey to the machinations of the gambler Steve Barton and French Bessie. Again, the pals intervene, extricating a repentant May from moral peril. In a bizarre act of self-sacrificing devotion, they conspire to stage a fatal duel, altering their insurance policies to name May as the sole beneficiary, believing their demise the only path to her financial security. Their ludicrous exchange of gunfire, miraculously harmless, is interrupted by Chester and Pedro, who force a clothing swap just as a posse, pursuing the villains for bank robbery, arrives. Chester and Pedro, mistaken for Mike and Louie, are chased off a cliff to their doom. The pals, now donning the crooks' attire and presumed dead, embark on a circuitous journey back to Chicago. Simultaneously, May, having secured the insurance payout, also makes her way to the city. A twist of fate places Mike and Louie as hotel staff, where Markham, now reconciled with May, celebrates their reunion with a grand dinner. The emotional reunion between May and her devoted guardians at the hotel exposes Markham's past perfidy, compelling him to offer a substantial restitution, thus orchestrating a harmonious, if improbable, conclusion for all involved.
Synopsis
Mike and Louie are at work pitching hay. In an idle moment they get hold of a Chicago newspaper, and Mike, who cannot read, sits absorbing the dope while Louie spells it out of the paper. Suddenly Louie comes to a want ad seeking Mike Schultz, who is heir to a fortune. They go to Chicago, see the attorney. Philo Markham. And receive the fortune of $10,000. Markham interests them in a western ranch which comes into his hands in lieu of cash for legal fees of $238.00, and changing the amount to $23,800, sells it to them for $9,500.00, permitting them to retain $500 of their legacy for traveling expenses. It happens that Markham's daughter, May, elopes on the same train west with Mike and Louie. Her husband is a disappointment. He gambles away all his own money. To avoid him she gets off at a small way station near Crowntown, the point to which Mike and Louie are bound. Mike and Louie arrived at El Reposo, the name of the ranch, on foot and discover that they have been buncoed out of their wealth. Aside from their return tickets and their livestock, they have nothing in the world left. While they are bemoaning their sad fate the goat eats the tickets. He is starting on their life insurance policies when he is discovered and runs away to the hills. May meanwhile is overpowered by her husband and Pedro. Hee screams bring Mike and Louie to her rescue. The crooks are routed. May, remembering that her father had renounced her marriage to Chester, tells them she has no father. All go to the home of a farmer named Woods. Woods finds a job for May later as a piano player in a dance hall, but Mike and Louie, who have become her self-constituted guardians, determine to go there also and watch over her. Steve Barton, a gambler, with the aid of French Bessie, succeeds in getting May into his power. Mike and Louie, however, again come to her aid and escort the weeping and repentant May home. Mike and Louie realize that the quickest way to save May from total perdition is to immolate themselves on the altar of self-sacrifice, and thus permit her to gather in the coin on their insurance policies. They, therefore, change the names on their policies, making her the sole beneficiary. They decide that the best way to to fight each other to the death and the survivor then kill himself. They fire volley after volley at each other. Both fall, but neither is hurt. Then they embrace, but are confronted by Chester and Pedro, who force them to exchange clothes with them. A posse comes in pursuit of Chester and Pedro for bank robbery, and they are chased off a cliff and fall to oblivion. The posse naturally believes that Mike and Louie have been killed, so with the clothes of Chester and Pedro on them, Mike and Louie decide to hoof it to Chicago. May secures the insurance and leaves for Chicago. At a small mining town Mike and Louie give away the goat and sell the burro for an extravagant sum, securing enough to return by rail to Chicago. Reaching Chicago, they secure positions in a big hotel as waiter and bus boy. Markham discovers May in Chicago, recognizes her, and they become reconciled. They celebrate the event by a big dinner at the hotel, where May is seen by Mike and Louie, and to the consternation of everybody she embraces them both. Markham rushes up to find out who May is embracing. He is recognized by Mike and Louie and charged with fraud. Markham offers restitution by presenting them with a check for $20,000, and everyone is happy.
