The story
“Perhaps it was because the prim little lawyer hated children that he became involved in an extraordinary series of mishaps. He was on his way to court, and knowing no one, when a woman suddenly rushed up to him, thrust her baby into his arms, and told him to mind it until she could capture her dog. Then she vanished. The lawyer did not know much about children, and then the unusual occurrence startled him so much that he was unable to say anything in time to head the woman off. Later he found to his sorrow that it was much easier to take care of children than to get rid of them. Everyone to whom he applied for help gruffly rebuffed him. He was an object of mirth on the streets and in the court, where he finally went because of an important engagement; he was both pitied and scorned. Even the orphan asylums refused to take the child, but in the course of time the mother returned and claimed her offspring. She was not one bit grateful; in fact, she dubbed the poor old lawyer ‘a miserable kidnapper.’ Then she went out, and the lawyer was so much interested in noting that she had departed that he forgot to note that she had left her dog behind her. Well, to cut a long story short, the lawyer got rid of the dog, and he never saw the baby or its mother again.”
Summary from The Moving Picture World · 13 December 1913
Another synopsis, from Reel Life · 6 December 19131 min
“The prim, little lawyer, who hated children, was hurrying along to the court one morning, when a woman rushed up to him—and thrust a baby in his arms, crying. ‘Hold him a minute, please, while I go catch Fido.’ Then she disappeared—and the lawyer found himself standing in the middle of the sidewalk clutching a twelve-pound infant. Well, he tried to get rid of that baby—but not a soul would take him—no, not even the orphan asylum! He was laughed at on the street—scorned and pitied at the court. At last, after he had suffered all and more than he deserved—the mother came to claim her child. She snatched him from the ‘miserable kidnapper’—and rushed off—and this time she only left Fido behind her. A dog, however, is more easily disposed of than a baby. And now, every time the lawyer sees a woman with a baby on the horizon, he jumps into a taxicab and gets away before she can come anywhere near him.”
