The story
“On a ship coming to America from Holland recently was Mrs. Hollinsworth, a wealthy widow of New York. One evening, in her stateroom, she accidentally dropped a candle. Before she could extinguish it, a hand reached from under the berth and snuffed out the flame. Terrified, Mrs. Hollinsworth dared not attempt any ordinary means of escape. But, writing a note, begging someone to come to her rescue, she dropped it through the open porthole. It was found by a French nobleman. He called upon the first person he met for assistance, who happened to be a titled German. But, agreeing to make common cause against any unknown enemy, they hastened together to the widow’s stateroom. The ‘burglar’ under the bed was hauled into the light. He was an eight-year-old boy refugee from Belgium. Though both the German and the Frenchman insisted upon taking the boy under their protection, the American woman soon had them convinced that this was a case in which the United States had every right to intervene. So the cool-headed little stowaway, who had put out the candle flame, found a home with Mrs. Hollinsworth.”
Summary from Reel Life · 15 May 1915
