A Strange Disappearance

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New York City merchant John Blake tells his son Andrew that he will leave him his entire fortune on condition that he marry his partner's daughter, Katharine Van Wart. Andrew is in love with his cousin Evelyn and tells her that he will marry her despite his father's objections. A bitter quarrel ensues between father and son, and Andrew decides to go away for a month, so that they can both give the matter due consideration. During Andrew's absence, his father tells Evelyn emphatically that she will never be allowed to marry his son with his consent. While hunting in the Maine woods, Andrew is overtaken by a storm; losing his way, he seeks shelter for the night in the cabin of Hoenmaker, a scoundrel who preys upon unsuspecting travelers. Luthia, Hoenmaker's daughter, overhears her father and brother plotting to rob the stranger. She warns Andrew that his life is in danger and leads him out of the cabin to a place of safety, where a saddled horse is in readiness for his escape. Andrew, realizing the risk she runs, if she returns to meet the vengeance of Hoenmaker, takes Luthia with him and places her in a convent for protection. On his return home, Andrew, refusing to yield to his father's wishes that he give up Evelyn, is disowned and disinherited. The excitement of the turbulent interviews with Andrew results in a complete physical breakdown on the part of the merchant. Overcome with remorse, and realizing that his father has only a short time to live, Andrew seeks a reconciliation. The elder Blake is touched by his son's appeal for forgiveness, and tells him that, while he cannot consent to his marrying Evelyn, he will not insist on his marriage to Katherine Van Wart, if he doesn't love her, but that he would dearly like to see him married to some other girl before he dies, Andrew hastens to the convent and induces Luthia to become his wife. John Blake becomes very fond of his daughter-in-law and sends a note to Evelyn, in which he tells her that Andrew is married and offers to remember her in his will if she will call and promise him not to renew the old love affair. Evelyn calls and bitterly upbraids Andrew, who shortly afterwards is overheard by Luthia to tell his father that although he has married Luthia to please him, he still loves Evelyn. Luthia rushes out of the house, leaving a note for her husband saying that he will never see her again on account of his love for the other woman. Just as Luthia is about to throw herself into a lake, she is kidnapped by her father and brother, who have read of her marriage and have been plotting to get her into their power for the purpose of extracting money from her husband. Andrew goes in search of Luthia and finding her shawl near the lake, supposes that she has drowned herself. The news of her death kills the elder Blake, and Andrew has the lake dragged for Luthia's body. A stranger, who has witnessed the kidnapping the previous week, arouses the suspicion in Andrew's mind that Hoenmaker and his son may be the culprits, and he hastens to Luthia's home in the Maine woods in company with several detectives. Entering the cabin, he accuses old Hoenmaker and is about to recover Luthia, when he is felled to the ground by Hoenmaker's son. Believing that Andrew has been killed, the Hoenmakers set the cabin on fire to hide their crime. The detectives, who have been posted nearby, arrive in the nick of time to drag Andrew, half-suffocated, out of the burning cabin. On his revival, Andrew rushes through the flames and saves Luthia. The Hoenmakers are taken in charge by the detectives, and Luthia and Andrew start on their postponed honeymoon.