Volume II: Filmography

Episode 19

THE TWENTY MILLION DOLLAR MYSTERY

THE PRISONER IN THE HOUSE

a.k.a. THE PRISONER IN THE PILOT HOUSE

March 29, 1915 (Monday)

Length: 2 reels (Reels 37 and 38)

Location: Some scenes were filmed in New York Harbor, near the Statue of Liberty, while others were filmed in the Hudson River off the coast of New Jersey.

Note: The title, The Prisoner in the Pilot House, 36 prints of scenes, and a description of this episode were registered by the Copyright Office on March 20, 1915.

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, March 20, 1915:

"After Zudora's thrilling rescue from the Island of Mystery we left Hunt and Baird pursuing the conspirators with the diamonds. Down the bay, sparkling in the late afternoon sun, sped the two motor boats, the one containing Tom Hunt and Jim Baird puffing noisily after the craft which held Gyp, Bill and Ike, the hirelings of the conspirators. The three 'strong-arm' men were skilled navigators, and though the lower bay was particularly crowded with traffic they switched their way in and out of the path of steamers, barges, ferry-boats and the great variety of things afloat which make the mouth of the Hudson a strangely stirring, fascinating sight.

"But Hunt and Baird were not in a mood to admire even so majestic a spectacle as the great waterway teeming with activity. They kept their eyes fastened on the small, black boat scuttling ahead, and a mental picture of the rubber bag of diamonds, Zudora's rightful property, spurred her friends to redouble their speed. The other craft, however, rapidly was out distancing them. Now that their path was clearer, and the Navesink Highlands drew near, there were times when it would be completely lost in the maze of small craft. The sun had gone down, and with the deepening of the shadows upon the shore, it soon became impossible to distinguish the motor boat. Hunt was convinced that somewhere, on the small islands, near the Jersey shore, the conspirators were plotting to bury the treasure. When they reached one of these it was dark. The panting motor of the ruffians could no longer be heard.

"'You go back,' said Jim Baird. 'Storm may need you. I'll land here and lie low. There's sure to be something doing.' He was not mistaken. Lurking in the bushes near the shore, he soon saw lights moving like will-o-the-wisps, a few yards inland. Then, to his astonishment, he distinctly recognized the nasal voice of Bruce. The masculine head of the conspiracy had joined Mme. Duval's mercenaries. A coup d'etat was about to be executed.

"Baird waited until he saw the men retreating to the other side of the island, doubtless to put off in their motor boat. He could not hear them take their departure. But, at last, impatience and indignation getting the better of him, he crept cautiously toward the shapeless mass around which a full half-hour previously, he had seen the lanterns and the dark shapes moving. He found himself on the threshold of a lonely hut, the door sagging on its rust-eaten hinges, and slipped noiselessly within. The young moon palely lit the desolate room. Baird dropped on his knees and peered through the broken flooring. Then he thrust in an arm. He felt something smooth, slippery, hard -

"The next moment he was flung backwards, a hand clamped over his mouth. Strong arms held him fast. And then they began to bind him. Dragged from the hut, he recognized in the moonlight Mme. Duval's three desperadoes. Bruce was directing them. They thrust Baird into the pilot house of an old boat on the shore, tied him in securely, and busied themselves about something under the wreck. The prisoner smelled kerosene, heard the scratching of a match. So he was doomed! Then they scrambled down to the boat and pushed off, out into the bay.

"Hunt had had his misgivings about leaving Baird on the island. As the conspirators were making their escape at the north end, he was noiselessly effecting a landing in the thicket, where he had left his companion. The first tongue of flame shooting up over the boat hulk led him to Baird's rescue. So it was that, in Zudora's service, one of the faithful narrowly escaped death. When they returned to the hut, however, they found that the conspirators had taken the bag of diamonds with them.

"Mme. Duval, meanwhile, had been eavesdropping. She had heard John Storm read to Zudora a letter from Villiers, to whom she, Mme. Duval, had passed herself off as the defrauded heiress. Bold in her desperation, she invaded Storm's office in his absence, and not finding the letter there, took Captain Radcliffe to Mrs. Ramsay's. There they succeeded in getting Villier's document safely out of the house without their being discovered. Mme. Duval was satisfied that Zudora again was in her power. Two days later Captain Radcliffe received from the hands of Bruce the rubber bag containing the diamonds."

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