The story
“A young mechanic, temporarily residing in a Southern city, found that business was slack in his trade, and decided to send his wife to a relative’s in the North until happier days dawned. He did not dream that he was putting her in peril, and when he later received word that the ship upon which she sailed had been lost with all on board, he was frantic with grief and self-reproach. Life in the city became hateful to him, and having no ties that bound him here, he abruptly departed into the country, deciding to wander wherever fate might lead him. He found that after a period of sorrow and suffering, he met a kindly old farmer, who offered him a job, and soon grew to absolutely trust him. His employer had a daughter, and as time passed on, the girl showed him favor, while the farmer made it manifest that he would be only too glad to trust the future of his child in the hands of one who but a short time before been a stranger. The young man did not love the girl as he had loved his wife; but he was very fond of her, and had almost a filial affection for her father, and gradually, as time dulled his anguish, he became convinced that his happiness depended upon a second marriage. So he proposed, was accepted, and the course of true love seemed to be running very smoothly.
“In the meantime, the wife was slowly regaining her strength. She had not met death in the wreck, but was the one survivor, having been found nearly dead, by some fishermen, who had discovered the broken fragments of the ship. When able to sit up, her memory was gone, and it was not until many weary months had passed that she was able to remember who she was, what had happened. By this time the husband had vanished, and the poor, weak woman found it impossible to trace him. She kept up the search, however, and finally by chance located him, reading the paper of his approaching marriage. The wife reached the house on the day set for the ceremony. There she met her rival, arrayed in a wedding gown, and told her who she was. The untutored country girl, in her first moment of anguish, denied the man of her choice was the husband of the other woman, and fiercely ordered her away. In terror of her life, the wife departed, and the country girl followed her to the porch of the house, and grimly watched her as she staggered off. She saw her attempt to cross the railroad tracks, slip and fall, striking her head on the tracks and lying there unconscious. At the same moment the watcher heard the whistle of the approaching train, and knew that if she refused aid, the obstacle that might prevent her marriage to the man she loved would be removed. First she watched her grimly, determined that she should die. The train was coming on rapidly, but the woman’s thoughts traveled far more swiftly. She hated her rival bitterly, but she could not let her die. In the end she dragged her from the tracks, restored her to her husband, and tearfully watched the couple as they departed from her life, happy after their long period of suffering. The girl remained at the farmhouse, and during the long, lonely years that followed she frequently wondered whether she had done the right thing in sacrificing her happiness. ‘Is love worth a crime?’ she mused, and somehow she could never answer the question to her satisfaction.”
Summary from The Moving Picture World · 25 May 1912
