Trama

Esther, the sister of a wanted criminal, marries the detective who is hunting her brother on the promise that he will halt his pursuit if she marries him, although she really loves another man, Kenneth. One night her brother Bert is on the run from the police and Esther and Kenneth hide him. It turns out that Kenneth's father was murdered that same night, and the evidence seems to implicate Kenneth. He is arrested for the murder when he can't account for his whereabouts--because that would let Esther's husband know that she was with Kenneth on that night.—frankfob2@yahoo.com

Bert Saunders and Kenneth Carmont are roommates at college. Bert is in love with Kenneth's sister Bertha and Kenneth is in love with Esther Saunders. Bert, whose family is definitely not as wealthy as the Carmonts, tries to keep up with the wealthy fellows, and gets into debt. In order to pay a gambling debt he appropriates the funds of which he has control as treasurer of the fraternity. The deficiency in the funds is discovered and a detective is called in to catch the thief. The man they get is Elwood Collins, a detective who is in love with Esther. Esther is told that she must do all in her power to help her brother. Kenneth does all he can to raise the money, but does not succeed. The only way is to "fix" Collins. The detective says that the only price that appeals to him is the hand of Esther. At last she gives in to the pleadings of her brother and agrees to marry the man to save her brother. Elwood himself pays the money and no questions are asked. A few years after the two graduate from college they drift apart. Kenneth has taken some money which his father has given him, and is succeeding in business. Bert is wasting his life hanging around cheap dives and gambling houses. Esther has proved to be a conscientious wife and is living happily with Elwood. At last Bert really enters upon a career of crime and is sentenced to a term of imprisonment in jail. But on the way to the penitentiary he escapes and goes to a farmhouse to hide. He sends word to Kenneth to help him for old time's sake, and asks him to come with Esther to see him. He decides to go and Esther agrees, as her husband is to be out that night on a case. But that day Kenneth learns that one of his largest creditors has failed, and he is insolvent unless he can raise money at once. His father, in a stormy scene, refuses to help him, and the poor fellow is ruined. Then Kenneth calls for Esther and takes her to see her brother. On the way back they are detained, and it is daybreak before they reach home. The next morning old Carmont is found dead on the floor of his study, and the clock is set at 1:05. Elwood is called in to unravel the mystery. Things look very black for Kenneth, as the servants testify to the quarrel between him and bis father, and the safe has been robbed of all its contents. He cannot account for his whereabouts at the time of the murder without compromising Esther and giving away Bert. Esther cannot tell her husband where she and Kenneth were on the fatal night, as it would mean her ruin. She is torn between her own happiness and that of Kenneth. At last the day of the trial arrives and she can stand the strain no longer. She rushes to the courtroom in time to hear the verdict of guilty. Then she confesses that she was with Kenneth on the fatal night, and he is acquitted. The case falls away against him when the real murderer confesses. So Kenneth is set free, and when Elwood learns that the two were to see Bert he forgives his wife, and they live happily ever after.—Moving Picture World synopsis