Jack Bolt, a convict, receives a letter from his wife telling him their daughter, Ida, is seriously ill. Bolt is frantic to escape and fortune favors him, for that day he is enabled to make a get-away hidden in the supply wagon as it is leaving the jail. The guards pursue the wagon, but are checked by an approaching freight train. Bolt is enabled to get to the other side of the track before the train passes, and jumping from the wagon he boards the freight train and so escapes. Parson Brown and wife leave their little son, Bob, in care of the maid while they go to a lecture, but the maid neglects the little boy and goes off spooning with the new cop. Bob reads himself to sleep. Bolt arrives on the freight train, and sneaks along the rear of the houses, trying to find someplace where he can steal clothes to replace his convict suit. Parson Brown's house looks easy and Bolt enters through a window without trouble. He enters Bob's room, then enters to interior. As he closes the door the draft from the open window and the door causes the gas to blow out. Bolt finds a suit of the parson's and is about to make his escape when he smells gas. He investigates and finds Bob unconscious. He is confronted with the alternative of leaving the boy to die, or having his own escape cut off. His better nature prevails, and he works over the boy so intently that he does not notice the parson's entrance. The parson realizes Bolt's sacrifice and prays for guidance in what he should do, let him go or inform the police. While the parson is praying Bolt settles the question by escaping through an open window. He arrives at his own home to find his little daughter on the road to recovery, so he resolves to be worthy of the clothes that he stole.
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