The story
“Riley, the old gardener, had watched Eulalie grow up, and now he took a serious interest in her lovers. Soon he made up his mind that Tom Bridge, the rich young suitor, under his attractive manners was only ‘a weed.’ But Joe Rawson, a youthful lawyer, plucky and hard-working, he decided was ‘the choice blossom’ who must be given a chance. Thus, like the experienced old horticulturist that he was, Riley began to put ‘the weed’ to test. Bridge met with one tribulation after another. When he led Eulalie to a hammock, it invariably broke down. Once he sat on a freshly painted bench—which mishap revealed that young man’s unsuspected reserve vocabulary. He took the girl for a boat ride, and failed to perceive that the plug was out until they were in deep water. It was a matter of swim or sink—and the young millionaire did not cut an altogether heroic figure. These various misfortunes conspired to display Bridge at his worst—and Eulalie promptly gave him his dismissal. Then she married Joe Rawson. Riley is happy. Why shouldn’t such a successful gardener be happy?”
Summary from Reel Life · 24 July 1915
