In the second entry of the popular Hazards of Helen series, Helen, is temporarily assigned as a telegraph operator at Quarry Depot; bad blood springs up between two men who are seeking Helen's favor, but to whom she has remained impartial.
A series of 2-reel thrillers in which a society girl has a position as a special investigator for the police and works on various cases where her unique talents can help to solve crimes. Each episode is complete in itself.
The first adaptation of Lew Wallace's novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
While touring Egypt, Harris and his wife visit an old temple and are fascinated by a sacred scimitar, which, at the corner of a shrine, is religiously guarded by Hadjji, a Mohammedan priest. The wife is a curio fiend, and demands that Harris secure the scimitar, but the husband, having read in his guidebook that the scimitar was supposedly presented to the prophet in a vision and that the vengeance of Allah will follow whosoever disturbs it, begs her to abandon the foolish idea. She insists. That night Harris enters the temple with a rope ladder, steals the scimitar and escapes.
Don Jose encourages the King in his infatuation for Maritana, a dancing girl, believing that when the Queen discovers the clandestine love affair, she, in revenge, will listen to his suit. It would aid his plans if Maritana is made a noble. Don Caesar de Bazan, a swashbuckling adventurer is under sentence of death for having violated the edict against dueling.
A short smugglers’ drama in which a new employee of the harbour police starts working for an export trader, so as to keep an eye on the smugglers. After a wild chase, the smugglers are captured, and it turns out that harbour police agent and the daughter of the export trader get along very well.
"Sidewinder Steve" returns to civilization to find that his ore specimens show he has discovered a turquoise mine. He wires his friend, Ace Brent, the capitalist, who has a half-interest in his discoveries, to furnish him with money to make the trip back across the desert to officially stake his claim. But "Lonney" Smith, telegraph operator at the town and secret spy for The Syndicate, Brent's rivals, informs his employers of the new "strike," and they dispatch their agent Meyers to thwart Brent. The latter, recovering from injuries received in a previous encounter with sheep herders, consents to allow Barbara to handle the affair. Her admirer, John Wallace, follows her to the desert town, fearing for her safety. The action then develops into a thrilling three-cornered race across the desert between Barbara and John, Lonney and Meyers, and a gang of local adventurers headed by "Dry Wash" Sexton, proprietor of the "saloon and hotel."
On the day of their marriage, Ruth discovers that her sweetheart, Jasper King, is the proprietor of a gambling establishment. Denouncing the man, Ruth declares that she will not become Jasper's wife until he has given all his ill-gotten wealth to charity. Jasper obeys Ruth's demands.
Believing her husband no longer loves her, Alice Lund consents to elope with Cater. She writes the man a note to this effect. Dane and the Lunds are warm friends. He decides to surprise them by taking them to the theater. Dane calls at the Lund home in time to see Alice preparing to run away with Cater. He sees the woman rifle her husband's safe of a large sum of money. She is just about to hand it to Cater, when Dane steps between and seizes the money.
Lured by Diana, Katherine runs away from home. The foolish girl is soon drawn into the whirlpool. She meets Mace, a notorious man-about-town, and is fascinated by him. Doctor Busby, an insane physician, recognizes in Mace the man who had caused his daughter's death. Shortly afterward, Katherine discovers Mace's real character. Wild with rage, she stabs him.
"The Devil's Dansant" is the nickname given to a dansant of which Dominique, a Frenchman, is the proprietor. District Attorney Farrar, while searching for evidence on which to raid the place, is astounded to find that his wife Valerie, is a frequent visitor at Dominique's. The willful woman disobeys her husband's orders and continues to visit Dominique's.
The life of Jesus is played out in tableaux shot in the Holy Land.
Tony Vallenci, just over from Italy, is offered a job by Pietro Valli, an unscrupulous padrone. Ignorant of American money, Tony signs a contract calling for a wage of sixty cents a day. He goes to work in a quarry owned by Dodge. The following day Tony is knocked down by an auto containing Mrs. Dodge. He is uninjured, but the kind lady takes him to his home.
Wealthy Irving Randolph is falsely denounced as a deliberate murderer by his greedy younger brother when Randolph, during a rifle shooting contest, accidentally kills a man with whom he has had an altercation. Fleeing to Australia, Randolph becomes known as the bandit Stingaree and is aided in his Robin Hood like adventures by his friend Howie and his sweetheart Ethel.
Steve Nelson, a clever crook, arrives at the little station where Helen is operator. He lives quietly at the village's little boarding house preparing for a coup when Helen receives instructions that lead her to suspect Steve.
The Humpty Dumpty Circus is the first animated short film created in stop-motion technique. It features a circus with acrobats and animals in motion.
Tom Ingraham, who has been rescued from the clutches of Lina, a siren, meets Ruth. Knowing the marriage would please his wealthy uncle Macy, Tom makes the girl his wife. Ruth soon discovers the marriage to be a loveless one. Tom's hopes of inheriting a fortune are blasted when Macy is ruined.
Jud Hendricks, foreman of the construction camp, is being blackmailed by Gypsy Joe, who knows of a dark page in the Hendricks' past. Hendricks and Tom Rasom are rivals for the favor of Helen, with Tom in the lead. The latter, an engineer, is about to take his train out when he finds Gypsy Joe hiding in a boxcar.
Little Elsie, scarcely two years of age, awakens one morning and crawls out of the house, dragging her doll. The little tot creeps to the nearby railroad station and resumes her nap in one of the flower beds. Mrs. Hastings, a wealthy widow, is taking an early morning train, after having spent several weeks at an eastern summer resort. She reaches the station before train time and while strolling about, she discovers little Elsie. While she is fondling the little one, the train arrives and Mrs. Hastings, who has no child of her own, cannot master the temptation to take this baby with her. Upon arriving in the west, Mrs. Hastings learns from a newspaper of the strange disappearance of Elsie Mason.
Two tramps hold up small-town Ferndale's railway station night operator Helen, lock her in a closet, and escape. Later, standing on a bridge over the freight yards, Helen sees the two bandits aboard an outgoing freight and drops onto the roof of the car from above as it crosses underneath. A chase along the roofs of the speeding cars ensues.
