Through the waving curtains of the darkened library, outlined by the moonlight coming through the windows, the figure of a crouching man is seen. He steals to the safe, which he opens and then vanishes. Bill Avery, a crook, is back at his ...See moreThrough the waving curtains of the darkened library, outlined by the moonlight coming through the windows, the figure of a crouching man is seen. He steals to the safe, which he opens and then vanishes. Bill Avery, a crook, is back at his old trade. Five years in prison have not made him fear the hands of the law. He dodges along the shadows in the street of the underworld until he reaches the hovel where his wife is living. There he sighs with relief. He is safe--for the present, at least. His haunted look tells his wife that her Bill, for whom she has waited and slaved for years, is thieving again. Her look makes even this hardened criminal cringe. He tries to placate her off by offering her the loot, but she shrinks from it. Angered by this, he leaves her. He finds denizens of the underworld willing to drink with him and forget what they are. Bill's wife, Violet, toils in a laundry, subjected to the advances of a man who attempts to induce her to abandon Bill. Each evening she hurries home to find that Bill has not returned. Destiny takes a hand. Bill is robbed and has no place to go except home. He plans another job and all Violet's pleadings do not deter him. When she tries to restrain him from keeping his appointment with his pals, he falls and his limp arm convinces him that he is disabled, the job is put off. Bill's pals wait in vain, then undertake the job alone. They break into a mansion up the river, steal the family silver, but in doing so, drop some of it. The noise attracts the butler, who surprises the thieves. A fight follows. The butler is overpowered and the thieves make a getaway. The police get busy, but fail to place the crime upon anyone. Bill's pals leave their loot with him but do not tell him that in the fight with the butler one of the thieves received an injury on the arm. When Bill appears on the street with his injured arm he is arrested. When Violet, at work in the laundry, is again approached by the manager, Violet leaves, deciding to go with Bill into the country. The thieves, afraid that Bill will double-cross them, steal to his room and find Bill gone. Then take the loot with them. As Violet is packing up, the police enter to search her house and are convinced she is making a getaway. She is arrested, but protests and when the policeman takes her luggage to the station she remonstrates, protesting, "he has no right to touch that." At the station, the captain searches Bill's belongings and, realizing the word of a crook will not be accepted, sees the prison gates yawn. The captain opens Violet's bag and finds a complete set of baby's clothes for Violet's unborn child. Bill is released and this time determines to go straight for Violet and his child. Written by
Moving Picture World synopsis
See less