The story
“Professor Leander, well-known character in his small city, is an inveterate curio collector. He keeps his treasures in a vault under one of his rooms. The papers announce that Leander has fallen heir to a gem of great price, which he is expecting daily from the West. When the ‘gem’ actually arrives it turns out to be a prize cow. The professor is overcome with disappointment. He tries his best to rid himself of the animal, but in vain, and hoping to drown his sorrows, he takes several drinks. The cow, meanwhile, has been tethered to the front porch. A storm comes up. The professor, his disposition more mellow now, brings ‘the poor, damp cow’ in out of the rain. While he sleeps on the couch and the cow browses around the handsomely furnished room, two gentlemen burglars, Murillo and Don Claudio, enter the house and sneak into the treasure vault. Suddenly, the door in the floor of the room above is slammed on them. They struggle in vain to open it. The fact is, the cow has stumbled against the door, jarring it. She settles herself for a comfortable snooze on top. The snoring of his new treasure and the frenzied efforts of the men below, rouse the professor. He summons the police. A reward of $5,000 is out for each of the thieves. So the cow proves a valuable investment for Leander after all.”
Summary from Reel Life · 21 August 1915
