Volume II: Filmography Volume II: Filmography
Florence LaBadie as the bride, with James Cruze looking over her shoulder, in THE SOLUTION OF THE MILLION DOLLAR MYSTERY. Courtesy Donald Collins (S-110)
a.k.a. THE SECRET OF THE MILLION
a.k.a. THE SOLUTION OF THE MILLION DOLLAR MYSTERY
February 20, 1915 (Saturday)
February 22, 1915 (Monday)
Length: 2 reels (reels 45 and 46)
Scenario: Suggested by Ida Damon, winner of the $10,000 prize for the best solution
Notes: 1. In several contemporary notices The Missing Million was given as the title of Episode 14 of The Twenty Million Dollar Mystery (Zudora in retitled form), which was released on the same day. Such a citation appears in Reel Life, issue of February 13, 1915, for example. However, the title, The Missing Million, has nothing at all to do with the synopsis of Episode 14 of Zudora. It is not known whether this was an error, or whether under the general title of The Missing Million, Episode 23 of The Million Dollar Mystery and Episode 14 of Zudora were presented at the same time. In the present text, The Missing Million is given both as the title to Episode 23 of The Million Dollar Mystery, to which it seems to pertain, and to Episode 14 of Zudora, to which it has no logical relationship. In the serialization in The New York Globe (issue of February 20, 1915), the title of the final episode was given as The Secret of the Million. 2. While the primary release date was February 22, 1915, some exchanges released the film on February 20, Saturday, to avoid conflict with the Zudora serial released on the 22nd.
ADVERTISEMENT, Reel Life, January 26, 1915:
"Announcing the Winner of the $10,000.00 Prize: Episode No. 23 of The Million Dollar Mystery will be ready for release February 22nd. The thousands of exhibitors who have been fortunate enough to run this successful photoplay will now have an opportunity to run this final and closing episode, which shows a complete solution of the mystery and announces the winner of the $10,000 prize offered by the Thanhouser Film Corporation for the best solution.... More than ten million people have already seen the early episodes of The Million Dollar Mystery. Thousands of people are still following this serial photoplay at the leading theatres. Everyone who has seen the 22 episodes will want to see the closing episode, portraying the solution of the mystery....
"The same cast which enacted the early episodes of this successful play will be seen in Episode No. 23. It will be headed by Florence LaBadie, James Cruze, Marguerite Snow and Sidney Bracy. This popular cast of characters is familiar to millions of movie fans throughout the country.... Exhibitors are bound to play to crowded houses with the final episode of The Million Dollar Mystery. The story of this episode by Harold MacGrath will appear in 500 newspapers throughout the country. With this thorough cooperation and the tremendous interest already aroused in this great mystery photoplay, exhibitors will find it necessary to run the 23rd episode for several days in order to accommodate the crowds."
ARTICLE, The Moving Picture World, January 30, 1915:
The following article pertains to the solution of The Million Dollar Mystery and was accompanied by a photograph of Sidney Bracy, Marguerite Snow, and Florence LaBadie in a room full of letters. It was stated that the Thanhouser studio: "Has received millions of letters telling where, how and when the million dollars were hidden. Concealment of the million dollars, is conceived by a few of the contestants for prizes, are as follows: In a Bible, threshold of a door, behind sliding picture, in statue, in top of table, behind mantle, in flower pot, drawer in cabinet, upholstered armchair, vault under hall, secret hole in fireplace, in fountain, secret room, bedroom, on chain in a well, under flooring in room, under water in a pit in cellar, in bank, in mahogany bed, in shark's stomach, in gas meter, summer house beneath vines."
It was announced that "The name of the winner of the $10,000 will not be disclosed until the 23rd episode is completed. In this episode, which will be released about February 22, the successful contestant will be shown, together with the principal of the great serial and Harold MacGrath, the famous author."
ARTICLE, The New Rochelle Pioneer, January 30, 1915:
"Miss Florence LaBadie has returned to the studio after a short illness and is working hard on the 23rd and last episode of The Million Dollar Mystery. Miss Lila Chester has returned to complete her work in the serial, and all the 'atmosphere' of last summer is now apparent at the plant, with the Mystery set standing and the characters of the big production in evidence daily. Frank Farrington mislaid his monocle and had to buy another to complete the picture."
ARTICLE, Reel Life, February 6, 1915:
"Announcement is made by the Thanhouser Film Corporation that the final episode of The Million Dollar Mystery has just been completed by Howell Hansel, Thanhouser's famous production chief, and will be released February 22, 1915. In it the mystery is solved. The fate of Countess Olga, Stanley Hargreave and Florence Gray is settled once and for all, and - what is most important - the place where the $1,000,000 was hidden all the time is at last revealed. The name of the fortunate winner of the $10,000 prize, offered for the best solution of the mystery, will not be made public until the final episode is released and the thousands of photoplay lovers, who are on tiptoe with expectation, must possess their souls in patience until that day arrives. It is said that the denouement of the great Thanhouser serial is filled with surprises, making the final chapter of The Million Dollar Mystery quite as sensational as those which preceded it."
ARTICLE, The Moving Picture World, February 13, 1915:
"Howell Hansel, Thanhouser's famous chief of productions, has completed the final episode of The Million Dollar Mystery. In it the mystery is solved. How? Wait little children and you shall see it when it appears on the screen on February 22. You will learn then what becomes of Countess Olga, Stanley Hargreave and Florence, and too, what is very important, the place where the $1,000,000 was hidden all the time."
ARTICLE, The New Rochelle Pioneer, February 20, 1915:
"Announcement is made by the Thanhouser Film Corporation that the final episode of The Million Dollar Mystery has just been completed by Howell Hansel, Thanhouser's famous production chief, and will be released February 22, to be shown in Loew's local playhouse the 25th, 26th, and 27th. In it the mystery is solved. The fate of Countess Olga, Stanley Hargreave and Florence Gray is settled once for all, and - what is most important - the place where the $1,000,000 was hidden all the time is at last revealed.
"The name of the fortunate winner of the $10,000 prize, offered for the best solution of the mystery, will not be made public until the final episode is released, although it is said that a young lady in Missouri was the winner, but, at any rate, the thousands of photoplay lovers, who are on tiptoe with expectation, must possess their souls in patience until that day arrives. It is also said that the denouement of the great serial is filled with surprises, making the final chapter quite as sensational as those which preceded it."
ARTICLE, Reel Life, February 27, 1915:
"Miss Ida Damon, winner of the $10,000 prize offered by the Thanhouser Film Corporation for a solution of its great photoplay, The Million Dollar Mystery, has received her money from the hand of the mayor of St. Louis, her native city. The unexpected fortune just won by one of its fair daughters was celebrated in a spirit of civic pride by half the population of the famous 'show me' metropolis, and the theatre in which the capital prize was awarded by the first executive was thronged hours before the appearance of the lucky girl.
"When the 23rd episode, containing the solution of the famous photoplay, was thrown on the screen, the crowd cheered wildly and demanded insistently for the author. Soon a commotion at the rear of the house bespoke the arrival of the winner, and every neck was craned in an effort to get the first glimpse of the fortunate solver of the mystery, which has been a source of such wide speculation for so long.
"Miss Damon, leaning on the arm of her aged father, and surrounded by a cordon of police, was seen entering, and amid a torrent of cheering and hand-clapping, slowly made her way to the stage, where the mayor and other officials were awaiting her coming. The party then appeared before the audience, where the mayor, after paying a graceful tribute to the girlhood of St. Louis, presented Miss Damon with the certified check, which will make her independent for life."
ARTICLE, Ashland (Oregon) Record, March 3, 1915:
"Miss Ida Damon, 3731 Minnesota Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, is the winner of the $10,000 cash prize offered by the Thanhouser Film Corporation for the most acceptable solution of The Million Dollar Mystery, the films of which were run at the Vining Theatre in Ashland. Miss Damon is a plain little stenographer, twenty-four years old, on a salary of $60 a month, yet she proved to be the one of many thousands who competed for the prize, with the $10,000 idea. She is the sole support of her aged father and mother, and the $10,000 is a real fortune to her.
"Like many others, she saw the announcement that a prize of $10,000 would be offered for the best solution to the great mystery photoplay and story serial, and she determined to enter the contest. She followed each episode of the pictures and read the concurrent chapter of the story in the newspapers, and when the time came for writing the solution, she sat down and wrote out a brief summary of how she thought the mystery should end, and mailed it to the Thanhouser Film Corporation in New York.
"Her solution was selected from thousands of others as the best. She immediately was notified of her good fortune, and it was with difficulty that the representative of the film company convinced her she was the real winner of the prize. Her solution was made the basis for the last chapter of the great story, and also for the concluding episode of the pictures. This solution and also the closing chapter of the story, written by Harold MacGrath, will be pictured at the Vining theatre, March nineteenth and twentieth."
Note: The preceding is typical of newspaper articles which appeared across the United States.
ARTICLE, Reel Life, March 6, 1915:
"The unusual interest which has been shown everywhere in the winning of the $10,000 prize offered for the solution of The Million Dollar Mystery, the tremendously popular Thanhouser photoplay, which was awarded to Miss Ida Damon of St. Louis, makes the following letter received from her at the Thanhouser studio, New Rochelle, New York, doubly so: 'St. Louis, Mo., February 22, 1915. Thanhouser Film Corp., New Rochelle, New York. Gentlemen: I wish to thank you for the $10,000 check for the solution of The Million Dollar Mystery, which was presented to me today by the Hon. Mayor Kiel of St. Louis, at the Grand Central Theatre. The president of the Times and other officials were present.
"'This has been the greatest moment of my life. I realized that it would be a great honor for the winner, but the glory of being the winner had gone far beyond my dreams. Even now I can hardly believe that I won out among so many other contestants. I have been very skeptical, but from now on I shall believe in all good things. I thank the judges for their consideration and hope that I may have the pleasure of sometime thanking them in person. My best wishes go forth to the entire Thanhouser Film Corporation, and I hope that you may enjoy a most successful year. To the 'Big Six' cast and other members I extend sincere wishes and would be delighted to have the pleasure of forming their acquaintance. Again thanking you, I am Sincerely, Ida Damon, 3731 Minnesota Ave., St. Louis, Mo.'"
ARTICLE by Terrence Eugene Ramsaye, The Photoplay Magazine, April 1915:
"Finding the Ten-Thousand-Dollar Girl: In the first place, they gave me the wrong name. It was rather early in the morning when I started on my St. Louis quest, having just left a Chicago train. I was looking for 'Ida Brown.' I rode on cars, I believe I took a taxicab, and I am quite sure I walked miles. Far out on the South Side, with Minnesota Avenue growing more Teutonic every moment, I hoped no one would mistake me for an active ally. I found the number - 3731. An old woman, as wide as she was self-contained - and that's saying a great deal - very slowly sweeping the sidewalk. 'Does Miss Ida Brown live here?' I asked, cheerily, tipping my hat.
"'No...go on.' She did not even raise her eyes; of course she did not stop sweeping. Further questioning seemed useless. I could not discover the reason for the woman's antagonism. I went to other numbers. No one knew an Ida Brown. I came back to the ancient sweeper. 'Madam,' I said, 'Ida Brown does live here. Now what's the - '
"'Ida Brown does not live here.' And, then, she added, mollified, and a bit mysterious. 'There is a girl named Ida - ' 'Where?' 'Upstairs.' I reflected that I had best get the last name of the girl upstairs. I came back to the rusty mystery. 'Ida-what?' She scrutinized me icily for a full half-minute, and leaning on her broom. 'Damon,' she snapped, and went on sweeping. I just made that 'Damon' through a heavy sea of German. I started to the front entrance.
"'If you mean well,' cried the old woman, shrilly, 'go the back way!' And for this instruction I could ascertain no reason, either until I knew the family, and the way of the quiet families all along that street. The 'front way' led to a parlor of terrible formality, seldom opened save for weddings or funerals, or some equally solemn and dreadful function. I went the back way, according to orders, and found Ida Damon's father, Albert; and her mother, Catherine Damon, in their neat, well-ordered kitchen. Mrs. Damon, a quiet, kindly old lady, was going about her daily household duties. Albert Damon, 70, and an absolute replica of Franz Siegel, was wondering, moodily, whether he would work the rest of the day. He cares for tools in a big contracting company's plant.
"I did not tell these quaint, simple people - who received me hospitably enough - that their daughter had actually won the grand prize of the biggest of mystery contests. I told them that she was a possible candidate, and that I should like to see her. The mother objected; so did the father. They had her telephone number - yes - she was a stenographer in the office of a roofing company, and she had told them, very firmly, never to call her except on matters of gravest import.
"A little thing like a ten thousand dollar possibility did not seem of grave import; they could see, only, that she was about to be annoyed during office hours. Finally, after serious consideration, Mr. and Mrs. Damon effected a compromise: they gave me her address, providing that I would not insist that they call her on the telephone. I went to her office. After a brief delay, I saw her. I found a clear-eyed young woman of Germanic plumpness, with brown eyes and hair, and a clear complexion that was God's gift - no druggist's.
"She was by no means excited about it. I told her what I had told them: that she was a possible candidate. She was very pleased to think that I had come all the way from Chicago to tell her, but I could see that she was, perhaps unconsciously, annoyed at being disturbed during working hours. I asked her is she would go to luncheon with me. She flushed, stammered; I believe she started to refuse my invitation - and then she accepted it. 'Where shall we go?' she asked, with delightfully ingenuous confusion.
"'This is my town, not yours; suggest.' I intended to be gallant, but I think I know St. Louis much better than she does. She promptly named the sort of eating place sometimes designated as a good old fashioned beanery. Her naive economy for me, a total stranger, was rather sweet than humorous. But I suggested, in return, a perfectly respectable middle-class restaurant, where I know the food is good, and the prices are reasonable. She was confused again. 'Oh, well!' she exclaimed, looking away; 'If you want to be stylish - .'
"When noon came, and we sat across from each other - realizing that her father and mother appeared fully inured to Germanic beverages - I suggested something to drink. 'That's a good idea,' she responded, warmly. 'I would like a nice lemonade. And then she told me about herself; still, I hadn't told her anything more than the possibility. She told me that she first saw The Million Dollar Mystery billed in front of a theatre in Chicago, while on a visit last summer. She did not go in, and thought no more of it. Weeks afterward, in St. Louis, she was at her task of checking advertisements in the newspapers, when she came upon the prize offer for a plot with which to build the final episode of the serial drama.
"She followed the picture many weeks. It was her one amusement. Then she wrote out her solution, very briefly, and sent it to the Chicago Tribune - accompanying it, however, with a detailed and very well-written scenario, and a letter, in which she said: 'I do not expect to win any prize, of course, but I am so interested in this picture that I would greatly appreciate a letter telling me what you think of my idea.'
"Ida Damon is the quiet, determined sort of young woman who does things. She is not quite 24 years old. She told me the story of her life as if she were telling me nothing at all - and yet it is a story replete with energy, Americanisms, determination, and indomitable perseverance. She left school at 13 and became cashier in a clothing store. She realized that her pay here, $5 a week, held out no possibilities. Her next place gave her an opportunity to go to night school, and before long she was a competent stenographer. She learned bookkeeping during the lunch hour and after hours. It has always been this girl's idea to work, incessantly. It was because she was not content with gum-chewing and chatter that she learned stenography while a cashier, bookkeeping while a stenographer, and of late, in her present stenographic position, has been intently studying the advertising business.
"A resolute girl like Ida Damon really didn't need the $10,000, for she seems marked for the 'get-there' rank of the world's workers. She got it, in reality, because of her ambition and incessant activity: it was just another thing to do - the working out of this puzzle. It was a delight in itself, like mastering the stenography, and mastering the bookkeeping. Now that she has it, will Ida Damon listen to the blandishments of a host of fortune-hunters augmenting her already (or at least, so I suspect) not small rank of admirers; or stop work to enjoy it; or lose it in sudden splendor, or silly investments? You will find her tomorrow in the roofing company's office, working just as hard at her stenography, and studying the business, and she will do with the money just what she told me she intended to do.
"'If I should win, and didn't die of heart disease' - remember I hadn't told her all - 'I should put it away, carefully, in the bank; and with some I should buy a home for father and mother. I should go on working, certainly! Perhaps I should buy an interest in some business that I know fairly well.'
"Ida Damon is very feminine and winsome, notwithstanding her assiduous business devotion. Her pastimes are highly diversified: embroidery, moving pictures, and baseball. Her mother confessed sadly that 'Ida doesn't like to wash dishes' - but what girl does?"
SYNOPSIS, The Photoplay Magazine, April 1915. The following appeared as an article, "The Solution of The Million Dollar Mystery," by Harold MacGrath, in The Photoplay Magazine, April 1915:
"It will be remembered that the Countess Olga had darted up the stairs during the struggle between Braine and his captors. The police who had followed her were recalled to pursue one of the lesser rogues. This left Olga free for a moment. She stole out and down as far as the landing. Servan, the Russian agent, stood waiting for the taxicab to roll up to the porte cochere for himself, Braine, and Vroon. Norton had taken Florence by the hand, ostensibly to conduct her to the million. Suddenly Braine made a dash for liberty. Norton rushed after him. Just as he reached Braine a shot was heard. Braine whirled upon his heels and crashed to the floor.
"Olga, intent upon giving injury to Norton, whom she regarded equally with Hargreave as having brought about the downfall, had hit her lover instead. With a cry of despair she dashed back into Florence's room, quite ready to end it all. She raised the revolver to her temple, shuddered, and lowered the weapon; so tenaciously do we cling to life.
"Below they were all stunned by the suddenness of the shot. Instantly they sought the fallen man's side, and a hasty examination gave them the opinion that the man was dead. Happily a doctor was on the way, Servan having given a call, as one of the Black Hundred had been badly wounded. But what to do with that mad woman upstairs. Hargreave advised them to wait. The house was surrounded; she could not possibly escape save by one method, and perhaps that would be the best for her. Hargreave looked gravely at Norton as he offered this suggestion. The reporter understood: the millionaire was willing to give the woman a chance.
"'And you are my father?' said Florence, still bewildered by the amazing events. 'But I don't understand!' her gaze roving from the real Jones to her father. 'I don't doubt it, child,' replied Hargreave. 'I'll explain. When I hired Jones here, who is really Jedson of Scotland Yard, I did so because we looked alike when shaven. It was Jedson here who escaped by the balloon; it was Jedson who returned the five thousand to Norton; it was Jedson who was wounded in the arm; it was he who watched the doings of the Black Hundred and kept me reasonably well informed. I myself guarded you, my child. Last night, unbeknown to you, I left, and the real Jones - for it is easier to call him that - took my place.'
"'And I never saw the difference?' exclaimed Florence. 'That is natural,' smiled the father. 'You were thinking of Norton here instead of me. Eh?' Florence blushed. 'Well, why not? Here, Norton!' The millionaire took Florence's hand and placed it in the reporter's. 'It seems that I've got to lose her after all. Kiss her, man; in heaven's name, kiss her!' And Norton threw his arms around the girl and kissed her soundly, careless of the fact that he was observed by both enemies and friends.
"Suddenly the policeman who had been standing by the side of Braine ran into the living room. 'He's alive! Braine is alive! He just stirred!'
"'What!' exclaimed Norton and Hargreave in a single breath. 'Yes, sir! I saw his hands move. It's a good thing we sent for a doctor. He ought to be along here about now.' Even as he spoke the bell rang, and they all surged out into the hall, forgetting for the moment all about the million. Olga hadn't killed the man, then? The doctor knelt beside the stricken man and examined him. He shrugged. 'Will he live?'
"'Certainly. A scalp wound that laid him out for a few moments. He'll be all right in a few days. He was lucky. A quarter of an inch lower and he'd have passed in his checks.'
"'Good!' murmured Servan. 'So our friend will accompany me back to good Russia? O', we'll be kind to him during the journey. Have him taken to the hospital ward at the Tombs. Now for the little lady upstairs.'
"A moment later Braine opened his eyes and the policeman assisted him to his feet. Servan with a nod ordered the police to help the wounded man to the taxicab which had just arrived. Braine, now wholly conscious, flung back one look of hatred toward Hargreave; and that was the last either Florence or her father ever saw of Braine of the Black Hundred - a fine specimen of a man gone wrong through greed and an inordinate lust for revenge. The policeman returned to Hargreave. 'It's pretty quiet upstairs,' he suggested. 'Don't you think, sir, that I'd better try that bedroom door again?'
"'Well, if you must,' assented Hargreave reluctantly. 'But don't be rough with her if you can help it.' For Braine he had no sympathy. When he recalled all the misery that devil's emissary had caused him, the years of hiding and pursuit, the loss of happiness that had been rightfully his, his heart became adamant. For 18 years to have ridden and driven and sailed up and down the world, always confident that sooner or later that demon would find him! He had lost the childhood of his daughter, and now he was to lose her in her womanhood. And because of his implacable hatred the child's mother had died in the Petrograd prison fortress. But what an enemy the man had been! He, Hargreave, had needed all his wits constantly; he had never dared go to sleep except with one eye open. But in employing ordinary crooks Braine had at length overreached himself, and now he must pay the penalty. The way of the transgressor is hard, and though this ancient saying looks dingy with the wear and tear of centuries, it still holds good.
"But he felt sorry for the woman up above. She had loved not wisely but too well. Far better for her it she put an end to life. She would not live a year in the God forsaken snows of Siberia. 'My kind father!' said Florence, as if she could read his thoughts.
"'I had a hard time of it, my child. It was difficult to play the butler with you about. The times that I fought down the desire to sweep you up in my arms! But I kept an iron grip on that impulse. It would have imperiled you. In some manner it would have leaked out, and your life and mine wouldn't have been worth a button.' Florence threw her arms around him and held him tightly. 'That poor woman upstairs!' she murmured. 'Can't they let her go?'
"'No, dear. She has lost, and losers pay the stakes. That's life. Norton, you knew who I was all the time, didn't you?'
"'I did, Mr. Hargreave. There was a scar on the lobe of your ear; and secretly I had often wondered about the likeness between you and the real Jones. When I caught a glimpse of that ear then I knew what the game was. And I'll add that you played it amazingly well. The one flaw in Braine's campaign was his hurry. He started the ball rolling before getting all the phases clearly established in his mind. He was a brave man anyhow; and more than once he had me where I believed that prayers only were necessary.'
"'And do you think that you can lead Florence to the million?' asked Hargreave.
"'For one thing, it is in her room and has always been there. It never was in the chest.'
"'Not bad, not bad,' mused the father.
"'But perhaps after all it will be best if you show it to her yourself.'
"'Just a little uncertain?'
"'Absolutely certain. I will whisper in your ear where it is hidden.' Norton leaned forward as Hargreave bent attentively. 'You've hit it,' said the millionaire. 'But how in the world did you guess it?'
"'Because it was the last place anyone would look for it. I judged at the start that you'd hide it in just such a spot, in some place where you could always guard it and lay your hands on it quickly if needs said must.'
"'I'm mighty glad you were on my side,' said Hargreave. 'In a few minutes we'll go up and take a look at those packets of bills. There's a very unhappy young woman there at present.
"'It is in my room?' cried Florence. Hargreave nodded.
"Meantime the Countess Olga hovered between two courses: a brave attempt to escape by the window or to turn the revolver against her heart. In either case there was nothing left in life for her. The man she loved was dead below, killed by her hand. She felt as though she was treading air in some fantastical nightmare. She could not go forward or backward, and her heels were always within reach of her pursuers.
"So this was the end of things? The dreams she had had of going away with Braine to other climes, the happiness she had pictured, all mere chimeras! A sudden rage swept over her. She would escape, she would continue to play the game to the end. She would show them that she had been the man's mate, not his pliant tool? She raised the window and in slipped the policeman who had patiently been waiting for her. Instantly she placed the revolver at her temple. A quick clutch and the policeman had her by the wrist. She made one tigerish effort to free herself, shrugged, and signified that she surrendered.
"'I don't want to hurt you, miss,' said the policeman, 'but if you make any attempt to escape I'll have to put the handcuffs on you.'
"'I'll go quietly. What are you going to do with me?'
"'Turn you over to the Russian agent. He has extradition papers, and I guess it's Siberia.'
"'For me?' She laughed scornfully. 'Do I look like a woman who would go to Siberia?'
"'Be careful, miss. As I said, I don't want to use the cuffs unless I have to.' She laughed again. It did not have a pleasant sound in the officer's ears. He had heard women, suicide bent, laugh like that. 'I'll ask you for that ring on your finger.'
"'Do you think there's poison in it?' 'I shouldn't be surprised,' he admitted. She slipped the ring from her finger and gave it to him. 'There is poison in it, so be careful how you handle it,' she said. The policeman accepted it gingerly and dropped it into his capacious pocket. It tinkled as it fell against the handcuffs. 'Before you take me away I want you to let me see...my man.'
"'I can do that.' At that moment the other policeman broke in the door. 'All right, Dolan; she's given up the game.' 'She didn't kill the man after all,' said Officer Dolan. 'He's alive?' she screamed. 'Yes; and they've taken him off to the Tombs. Just a scalp wound. He'll be all right in a day or two.'
"'Alive!' murmured Olga. She had not killed the man she loved then? And if they were indeed taken to Siberia she would be with him until the end of things. With her handsome head proudly erect she walked toward the door. She paused for a moment to look at the portrait of Hargreave. Somehow it seemed to smile at her ironically. Then on down the stairs, between the two officers, she went. Her glance traveled coolly from face to face and stopped at Florence's. There she saw pity.
"'You are sorry for me?' she asked skeptically. 'Oh, yes! I forgive you,' said the generous Florence. 'Thanks! Officers, I am ready.' So the Countess Olga passed through the hall door forever. How many times she had entered it with guile and treachery in her heart? It was the game. She had played it and lost, and she must pay her debts to Fate the Fiddler. Siberia! The tin or lead mines, the ankle chains, the knout, and many things that were far worse to a beautiful woman! Well, so long as Braine was at her side she would suffer all these things without a murmur. And always there would be a chance, a chance!
"When they heard the taxicab rumble down the driveway to the street Hargreave turned to Florence. 'Come along, now, and we'll have the bad taste taken off our tongues. To win out is the true principle of life. It takes off some of the tinsel and glamor, but the end is worthwhile.' They all trooped up the stairs to Florence's room. So wonderful is the power and attraction of money that they forgot the humiliation of their late enemies.
"Hargreave approached the portrait of himself, took it from the wall, pressed a button on the back, which fell outward. Behold! There, in neat packages of a hundred thousand each, lay the mystic million! The spectators were awed into silence for a moment. Perhaps the thought of each was identical - the long struggle, the terrible hazards, the deaths that had taken place because of this enormous sum of money. A million, sometimes called cool; why nobody knows! There it lay, without feeling, without emotion; yellow notes payable to bearer on demand. Presently Florence gasped, Norton sighed, and Hargreave smiled. The face of Jones (or Jedson) alone remained impassive.
"A million dollars is a marvelous sight. Few people have ever seen it, not even millionaires themselves. I daresay you never saw it, and I'm tolerably certain I never have, or will! A million, ready for eager, careless fingers to spend or thrifty fingers to multiply! What Correggio, what Rubens, what Titian could stand beside it? None that I thought of.
"'Florence, that is all yours, to do with as you please, to spend when and how you will. Share it with your husband to be. He is a brave and gallant young man and is fortunate in finding a young woman equally brave and gallant. For the rest of my days I expect peace. Perhaps sometimes Jones here and I will talk over the strange things that have happened; but we'll do that only when we haven't you young folks to talk to. After your wedding journey you will return here. While I live this shall be your home. I demand that much. Free! No more looking over my shoulder when I walk down the streets; no more testing windows and doors. I am myself again. I take up the thread I laid down 18 years ago. Have no fear. Neither Braine nor Olga will ever return. Russia has a grip of steel.'
"Three weeks later Servan, the Russian agent, left for Russia with his three charges - Olga, Braine, and Vroon. It was a long journey they went upon, something like 10 weeks, always watched, always under the strictest guard, compelled to eat with wooden forks and knives and spoons. Waking or sleeping they knew no rest from espionage. From Paris to Berlin, from Berlin to Petrograd, then known as St. Petersburg; and then began the cruel journey over the mighty steppes of that barbaric wilderness to the Siberian mines. The way of the transgressor is hard.
"On the same day that Olga, Braine, and Vroon made their first descent into the deadly mines Florence and Norton were married. After the storm the sunshine; and who shall deny them happiness? Immediately after the ceremony the two sailed for Europe on their honeymoon; and it is needless to say that some of the million went with them, but there was no mystery to it!"
REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, February 27, 1915:
"The mystery solved - this final episode, No. 23 of The Million Dollar Mystery series, holds the interest closely. It calls particular attention to the work of Sidney Bracy in the double role of the butler and the millionaire father. Margaret [sic; Florence was intended] learns at least the secret of her parentage, she being the wealthy man's daughter. She also learns where the million dollars is hidden, in the back of his picture, together with a portrait of her mother. She is married to Jim Norton, thus bringing the series to a successful close."
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Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.