Volume II: Filmography Volume II: Filmography
October 26, 1914 (Monday)
Length: 2 reels (reels 37 and 38)
SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, October 24, 1914:
"After Norton's thrilling rescue of Florence on the night of the Princess Parlova's masked ball, as narrated in Episode 19, both he and Florence are unmolested for a time. Then one day he goes for a walk through the woods with his favorite collie, Shep, while Florence is horseback riding. By a strange series of coincidences both wander in the direction of a cave near the waterside in which the conspirators are wont to meet, and soon afterward they find themselves in the most desperate danger.
"While Florence is out, the Countess calls at the Hargreave mansion, and as she leaves the grounds a mysterious stranger, mistaking her for Florence, puts a note into her hands. 'It will put an end to the persecution of your father, Sidney [sic] Hargreave,' he says hoarsely and turning, vanishes into the woods. The Countess, opening the note, finds within only a sheet of paper which is apparently blank, and fearing some plot, hastens to the cave, where she believes Braine and the others to be. But she finds only one of the gang there, the others being engaged in repairing, under Braine's direction, a fast motorboat at a dock a short distance away. Thither she goes to convey news of her strange experience.
"Meanwhile, Florence, riding through the woods, sees Shep, Norton's dog, limping painfully. She dismounts and draws a sharp thorn from his foot. Then, after putting her riding coat under the dog, she is about to go in quest of Norton, whom she knows is not far away, when through the trees she sees the Countess Olga descend from a taxi and enter the woods. Wondering what her object is, Florence follows her. She sees the Countess stand before a huge cliff beside a waterfall. She fumbles a moment in a bunch of grass, as if seeking a hidden spring, and the next instant a section of the rock swings outward, as if on a hinge, and the Countess enters the cave. Florence waits in amazement, and a few moments later, when she sees the Countess and another of the gang leave the cave to find Braine and the others, her curiosity being aroused, she finds and presses the hidden electric button which the Countess had pushed, the rock opens and she steps into the dark depths of the underground council chamber of the Black Hundred.
"While she is investigating its mysteries, Norton comes upon her horse, its bridle held by the faithful Shep, and sets out in search of her. Shep leads him to the cave, but the rock has closed again and Norton, thinking that Shep has lost the scent, being perhaps attracted by a rabbit or chipmunk, pays no attention to the dog's frantic efforts to get into the cave. Instead he follows the path down to the river, thinking that Florence has gone in that direction. And Florence, still in the depths of the cavern, finds that a subterranean stream of considerable size runs through it, by which at certain times, when the tide is right, access may be had to the cave from the river.
"Hardly has she made this discovery, when she hears the rock at the entrance open, and she has barely time to conceal herself in a niche in the cavern wall, when Braine, the Countess Olga and several others of the gang enter. They seat themselves at a table, and by the light of a guttering candle examine the missive which the Countess has received. To Florence's astonishment she hears the words of the mysterious stranger repeated: 'It will put an end to the persecution of your father, Sidney [sic] Hargreave.'
"When the conspirators have finished their consultation, one of them puts the note in his pocket, and Florence, quick to seize her opportunity, deftly abstracts it. The gang have barely left the cave, however, when the loss of the paper is discovered, and one of the men returns to search for it. Florence, realizing that discovery is certain if she remains, discards her heavy riding boots and plunges into the stream. A few minutes later the conspirator, having discovered her boots, sets out in a rowboat after her. He speedily overtakes her, but not until she has been carried far out on the river. He drags her into the rickety craft, and then begins a battle between them, which would hardly have ended in her favor had not Norton seen the struggle from the shore. Diving into the water, and soon followed by Shep, he swims with rapid strokes toward the rowboat. And he is none too soon, for the other conspirators, seeing that their companion is in difficulties, come to his rescue in a fast motorboat. Norton has hardly finished with him when they are upon him.
"Then begins a terrific struggle in the water, for after seizing and dragging Florence aboard the motorboat, both men are tumbled overboard. With three men striving to drown him, the odds are too great, and Norton is about to give up the fight, when Shep swims into the melee and soon extricates his master from danger. Then, gaining the motorboat, Norton drags Shep aboard and with Florence speeds away to safety, leaving the conspirators struggling in the river."
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Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.