The story
“The girl lived in a village in the Middle West and had never seen the ocean, or any large-sized body of water. She dreamed of it constantly, and was overjoyed when an invitation came from her married sister to spend the summer with her at the seashore. The girl arrived at the seashore, full of joyous anticipations. One day she went rowing with one of her admirers. Being a simple little inland girl, she did not know that it was wicked and dangerous to rock the boat. As a result of her folly, she and her escort were dumped into the water. A second admirer came along in his sailboat, however, and picked her up, sternly refusing to receive her first admirer, whom he knew was a good swimmer. Ignorance got the girl into trouble again, for she did not know enough to look out for the boom, and admirer No. 2 was too engrossed with her to take heed. Thus, for a second time was she thrown into the water. A swain in a motorboat rescued her this time, but the engine got out of order soon afterward and they were compelled to swim ashore. The girl not knowing how to swim made the trip in a life preserver. When she finally reached land, she decided that home was the place for her.”
Summary from The Moving Picture World · 8 November 1913
Another synopsis, from Reel Life · 1 November 19131 min
“A funnier, prettier play than The Water Cure would be hard to find among the new attractions. All her life, Bella, a girl of the Middle West, has dreamed of the ocean—and when her older sister, who had married and gone East, invites her to spend the summer with her at Cape May, she is enraptured. The attractive Western girl arrives at the hotel, and becomes immediately the centre of admiration for three young men, each of whom tries to monopolize her whole attention. ‘I’m just crazy about the water!’ she confides to them—and they each and all resolve on the spot to show her old ocean. First, Harry asks her to go rowing. All is ‘perfectly lovely,’ until the innocent landlubber rocks the boat—and they are upset. Then, along comes Tom, with his yawl, and rescues her—but flatly refuses to take Harry on board—as his rival is a good swimmer. They bound along merrily enough—until Bella forgets to look out for the boom—and, a second time, she and her admirer find themselves in the water. Dick hauls her into into a motor boat—and Tom is left to strike for the shore. But the engines stop—and once more Bella is overboard—Dick with her. At last, with the aid of a life preserver, he brings her to dry land. In the space of one eventful afternoon, Bella gets about all of old ocean she wants—and she takes the next train home to Kalamazoo.”
