The story
The trouble started because the young husband had half an hour to spare and devoted his time to looking over his wife’s bills. More sorrow was caused by the fact that he commented upon them. There was an angry exchange of words, and when the man wrathfully departed he left a very tearful little wife behind him. While she was still plunged in grief, her dearest friend called and added fuel to the flames. According to the ‘dearest friend’ the only womanly thing to do was to go to Reno and get a divorce. The wife consented, and departed after leaving a note, meant to be bitingly cruel, but which was really pitifully weak. The husband came home to prepare for a business trip out of town, read the note, and regarded it as a stupid joke. He did not remain to investigate because it was nearly train time and important consequences hinged upon the trip.
The husband was just comfortably seated in the sleeping car when a strange woman entered with a baby and a valise. She dropped the valise on his toes, the baby in his arms, and muttered, ‘Where is that dratted boy,’ and rushed out of the car. The man was so dumbfounded that he did not even notice his wife, when she entered, and a moment later when the train started, leaving him the unwilling custodian of a child, his cup of misery flowed over. For a time he regarded himself as the most miserable of men, and no matter what he did was unable to get rid of the infant. The child, however, brought him good fortune. For the man’s offended wife forgot her anger in pity and finally sided with the helpless man to care for the child. There were mutual explanations and mutual forgiveness, and when the mother finally joined them explaining that she had lost the baby while trying to locate her elusive small son they were really sorry to see the infant go away, for they realized that it was only the tiny hands of the baby that had turned back the woman who was half way to Reno.
Summary from The Moving Picture World · 22 February 1913
