The story
A dying man confided his little daughter and his fortune to his only relative, a brother. The brother lived in good style, but no one knew that because of reckless speculation he was skating on the edge of financial ruin. He accepted the trust imposed upon him, and really meant to keep it, but a time came when he needed securities to bolster up a stock deal. Fighting his conscience by swearing he would make it good some day he used the gilt edged stocks and bonds of his ward, replacing them with the wildcat securities of his own. Years passed on, and the little girl grew up with the belief that she was penniless and owed everything to the generosity of her uncle. He grew prematurely old and suffered from remorse. Finally when, as he believed the dead appeared and reproached him, he wrote out a full confession, and started to go upstairs, meaning to hand it to the girl, for he did not dare to confess face to face. He was very weak and staggered against the piano in the drawing room as he made his way painfully toward the door. The confession fell into the piano as the writer toppled over to the floor dead.
The widow grudgingly gave a home to her niece, but made her life miserable. One day while the woman was in the drawing room admiring a new piece of jewelry, she was summoned to the telephone in the library. She dropped the jewel on the table, and when she returned her niece was there and the jewel had disappeared. No one but the niece had been in the room, consequently the woman argued, she was the thief, and the gem was on her person or concealed in the apartment. Caring nothing for the disgrace she was bringing upon her own kinswoman the widow summoned the police, and the place was carefully searched. They did not find the jewel, but the confession of her husband’s misdeed came to light, and the drudge received the fortune that was rightfully hers. No human being stole the jewel. That was developed later.
Summary from The Moving Picture World · 11 January 1913
