The story
“Studying together the painting, The Man with the Hoe, Richard West and his fiancée, Marion Gale, get into a dispute about the worth of the common laborer. Marion tells West that his attitude is snobbish. He tells her that she is entirely too ‘highbrow’—and a coolness develops between the lovers which is not helped any by Marion’s becoming friendly with the gardener on her father’s place. Several days later she receives a note from the gardener telling her that his wife is very ill. Hurrying to their cottage, she is seen by West, who is ignorant of the fact that the gardener is married. On her return he waylays her, upbraiding her in a fashion which really is insulting. The girl indignantly gives him back his engagement ring and leaves him. Not long after, West disposes of a farm which is badly run down, and the gardener buys it. Soon the land is in a fine state of cultivation again, and Marion becomes a guest there. West, broken in health, boards with the gardener and his wife. Believing that exercise will help him, he works with a hoe in the field. Here Marion sees him; and when, soon after, they meet, she finds that her lover has learned his lesson.”
Summary from Reel Life · 7 November 1914
