The story
“Nan Willis is a wealthy young heiress who visits the fashionable seaside resort at which she is unknown. She is accompanied only by her maid, Susan, an envious woman, who bears her mistress no great love. Bored by the even tenor of her life, Nan decides to seek adventure by changing places with her maid, and thus escaping the restrictions of conventionality with which she has constantly been surrounded. She makes the acquaintance of a young lifeguard, Jim Holt, and accepts his offer to teach her to swim. A very real affection springs up between the two young people, and Nan is sure that Jim, unlike her other suitors, loves her for herself alone, as he thinks her only a lady’s maid.
“While visiting an isolated lighthouse, Nan, accompanied only by Sue, is made a prisoner in one of the upper rooms of the structure. The plot is Sue’s who hopes thus to be able to make her escape with Nan’s jewels and other valuables. The rascal, a young keeper of the lighthouse, and his miserly old grandmother are made a party to the plot by accepting an offer to share in the spoils. Through her faithful Newfoundland dog, who braves an angry sea, Nan sends a message to her lifeguard sweetheart, who comes instantly to her aid. After a spirited encounter with the keeper of the light, who is also Nan’s jailer, the young people make their escape in Jim’s boat. They reach the hotel in time to confront Susan, who cringes with fear when caught red-handed with her mistress’ belongings. Nan allows Susan to go unpunished, feeling that the happiness she has found in the proof of Jim’s unselfish love more than compensates her for all the hardships she has endured.”
Summary from The Moving Picture World · 5 November 1910
