Acting
Don Caesar de Bazan, a reckless nobleman, falls for Maritana, a gypsy dancing girl. When Maritana is insulted by a drunk, Don Caesar wins her love by coming to her rescue. The two go to Madrid, where the girl is summoned to dance before the Queen. Maritana also attracts the attention of King Charles. Don Jose, the prime minister, who secretly loves the Queen, plots to get Maritana for the King. To do this, he schemes to have Maritana marry a nobleman so she can enter the King's court.
Alice takes her little siblings Billy and Kitty to a matinee. They immediately become imbued with the wonderful idea that they are actors. They set up a miniature stage of their own in the summer house on the grounds. They spy upon their sister and her sweetheart Bob, and reproduce their affairs. A quarrel furnishes material for an interesting production, which is a revelation and a lesson to Bob. He goes and makes amends, acting upon the suggestions of the performance.
Eric Temple is a composer whose rival, both in romance and work, is Sir Geoffrey Pomfret , a nobleman with few scruples. The woman they both love is Margaret, the daughter of Lord Neville. To get rid of his competition, Pomfret tells Lord Neville that his wife, Lady Neville, is in love with Eric. Then, when Eric is attacked by thugs and lays unconscious in a hospital, he steals his opera too.
Billie and Dollie are very much in love with each other, and they declare their love under the cherry trees. In later years Billie receives news of his appointment as a cadet at West Point: he promises to return to Dollie as soon as he graduates and claim her for his wife.
A Chinese man cares for the orphan of a dying woman who stumbles into his laundry.
A wealthy but weary Charles Morris visits a friend in the country where he meets two young women: the mercenary Hilda and the sweet Dorothy. Betty subtly steers Charles towards Dorothy. When Hilda attempts to capture Charles's affection, Betty orchestrates a situation where Charles sees Hilda with her other suitor, Mr. Bennett, effectively eliminating Hilda's chances. Charles and Dorothy eventually fall in love and become engaged.
Jack, a little orphan, is anxious to become a sailor, and although Captain Rhines refuses to take him aboard his ship, manages to sneak in as a stowaway. When out to sea a few days, he is discovered, and is about to be disciplined, when the captain's daughter, May, intercedes. A terrific storm strikes them, and the ship is dashed to pieces. The captain, with the assistance of Jack, builds a little raft, and with little May, they set out for an island which they can hardly discern, as it is so many miles away. After drifting for many hours, they at last reach the island, which is inhabited by a savage tribe.
Out of desperation, poor Joe, who lives with his sick mother, steals money from the church’s collection. His mother finds out, and wants him to bring the money back.
Thousands of persons would die in the present if it were not for the memories of the past. Old Mrs. Merkle has one cherished reminder of bygone days, her wedding gown.
Mary Collins dies leaving two children; Mildred ('Lucie') and Frank. On her deathbed, she gives Frank a silver watch that belonged to his father. The children are separated from each other and grow up with foster parents. Lucie and Frank meet again when he rescues her from a thief. They fall in love, unaware they are brother and sister. On their wedding day Frank is shot by the vengeful thief. The bullet however is stopped by the silver watch. On seeing the watch, Lucie realizes that they are brother and sister; the marriage is cancelled.
We all remember the boy who cried wolf so often that when the wolf really did come the people did not believe it. Little Billy must never have heard this, or had forgotten it. His sisters Martha and Jane are very fearful of burglars entering their room, and their little brother decides to play a joke on them.
John and Edwin Martin, two brothers, occupy, each with his own family, a double house; they are all very much united. Each one of the brothers has a child. John has a little boy, named Frank, and Edwin, a little daughter named Tillie. The two children are playmates and the wives are the closest of friends. Everything is harmonious, when like a flash of lightning from a clear sky, a quarrel, through some trifling difference of opinion, arises between the two wives, which leads to the severance of the happy relations of the two families, excepting the two children, who fortunately cannot grasp the meaning of it all and consequently remain in blissful ignorance of its purpose and are happy only when in each other's company.
Tommy and Jimmy are very much in love with Dolly. Their appetites however, very much overbalance their affections. Joe, who is not over blessed with this world's wealth, but who is bountifully blessed with chivalry, is favored by Dolly. Tom and Jim decide to get her a valentine.
No matter how absorbed with affairs of state, Abraham Lincoln was always ready to give audience to his little son Tad. Little Tad, playing at the boat landing of the White House lake, falls into the water and is saved from drowning by a young fellow named Jasper Brinton. When young Brinton carries Tad into the White House, the president is very grateful to him and says if there is anything that he can do for him at any time he will be glad to do it. Young Brinton's mother is an enthusiastic supporter of the Federal cause, and when the war breaks out, she urges her son to join the Union army. He has an inherent dread of danger and naturally hesitates. He finally enlists. On the battlefield his natural fear takes possession of him.
Mrs. Brown, who is a widow, finds it a rather difficult matter to clothe and feed her large family of children, so when she becomes acquainted on the beach with Captain Jenks she is not slow in inviting him to her house. That evening the Captain calls with an engagement ring. He asks the widow to become his wife, but just as he is accepted Mrs. Brown's numerous offspring come running into the room. Upon being told that they are her children the Captain nearly faints and does not know how to break the engagement.
"Thirty per cent dividend! Is your money supporting you? If not, call and see us. Rising Sun Copper Company." This is the bait that the vultures throw out to catch the "doves," widows and orphans.
Two nice young people become acquainted at the beach; A romance develops.
Making the best of her genteel poverty, our heroine prepares to attend the dance to which she has been invited, and, after surveying the general effect of her plain and somewhat passé attire, goes on her way with a painful self-consciousness to the home of her friend.
Two little children, who think themselves very much in love with each other, imbued with the ideas of their elders, plan a romantic marriage. Alvin Strong, the boy, confides his intentions to the family's servant, Jaspar. Alvin arranges with Jane, his sweetheart, to elope in the usual way, through a window, with the assistance of a ladder.
Audrey, a charming actress, but classed among the show girls, is invited with some of her stage companions, to have lunch with an old friend, by the name of Dr. Renfrew. The doctor and Audrey, eating together, talk over old times and renew their friendship; she takes his attentions seriously and becomes very much impressed with his pleasant companionship. Night after night the doctor attends the performance in which she appears as the "headliner," and never fails to greet her with generous applause and a bouquet of flowers as marks of admiration. To emphasize his friendship or infatuation he sends her a string of pearls, begging her to accept it as a souvenir of happy days gone by. Through a member of the company in which she is playing, she learns that Dr. Renfrew is married, and at her friend's suggestion redirects his note back to his wife.
