A Dangerous Wager
Directed by George MelfordIn a spirit of fun Jack wagers with Ned that he can hold up the stagecoach with his straight-stem pipe. Both men are in love with Nell and Ned sees an opportunity to gain the ascendancy over his rival. Ned takes passage on the coach and with the other travelers turns over his valuables to the supposed highwaymen. In gathering up the passengers' belongings that he may return them and claim his wager. Jack inadvertently leaves his pipe by the roadside and and Indian picks it up. Meanwhile, the stage returns to inform the authorities and Ned accompanies the sheriff's posse to capture the robber. They meet Jack on his way home and the young man is overwhelmed when Ned repudiates the wager. As Jack has lost his pipe he cannot convince the sheriff that he has merely been perpetrating a joke. A trial is held and the evidence of Ned and the other passengers convicts Jack. The sheriff and deputies lead Jack to a lonely tree for execution. Nearly prostrate with grief, Nell comes to the stage-house and implores her friends to intercede for Jack--to no avail. Just as she is about to abandon hope, the Indian who has been sleeping on the porch extracts the pipe and starts to fill it. Nell recognizes it as Jack's and orders the Indian to accompany her to the tree, where her sweetheart's innocence is established.
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