The story
“Mr. Jenks and his family are spending the summer in a fashionable summer hotel, and Mr. Jenks is kept bored and busy performing the many services demanded by his wife. He hits upon the bright idea of sending himself a business telegram which would necessitate his immediate presence in the city, then starts out on a little vacation on his own account. Walking on the beach he discovers a secluded spot, and leaving his clothes on the beach he takes a swim. In the meantime, a convict, who has escaped from a nearby penitentiary, has entered a house nearby in search of a change of clothes, his stripes being too conspicuous. The convict locks a woman of the house up and ransacks the house, but the only garments he can find are women’s clothes, and, deciding that they are better than stripes, he dons them. As the convict in his new disguise is walking along the beach he sees Jenks’ clothes lying there and promptly makes another change.
“There is nothing for Jenks to do when he comes out except to array himself as a woman. On his way back to the hotel he passes the house that has been robbed and is unlucky enough to hear the woman’s cry for help. When she gets out of the closet, through his aid, she naturally believes that he is the convict, and screams for help. Jenks, frightened, runs away, but is captured after a chase in which the entire village takes part. His wife and daughter witness humiliation, and it’s almost impossible for them to ‘square things.’”
Summary from The Moving Picture World · 6 August 1910
