Buddy, the Little Guardian

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Two suitors for the hand of Betty and the accepting of the wrong one, as is many times the case, forms the nucleus for the story conveyed in the picture story of "Buddy." After a rather unhappy life of seven years, during which time the couple is blessed with a boy, the tie that often binds, "Buddy" was the light and joy of the home, yet in his tender years he shuddered at the father's drinking and often seeks him out at late hours and pleads for his return home. The wife can no longer bear with the husband's actions and leaves home and becomes a nurse, the father, realizing at last the responsibility of caring for the boy and the unhappiness his actions have caused, decides to begin life anew, secures work in a broker's office. Buddy, anxious to help daddy, answers a want ad for an office boy and is engaged by a downtown manager as a messenger boy. His employer sends him on an errand, his long absence worries him and he calls at the station and finds Buddy has met with an accident, being run down by an automobile and taken to the hospital. The office manager at once leaves to visit the boy. Upon his arrival, to his surprise, he recognizes the voice of the nurse, who proves to be none other than his former sweetheart in years gone by, and the mother of the patient. The father, being prevailed upon to enjoy a social glass with some friends, finds his old love for liquor has returned and in his stupor falls and injures himself. An ambulance conveys him to the hospital in a critical condition. Before realizing his situation and discovering that both wife and child were in the same room, he expires. Completing a story of human impulse replete with delicate touches of nature.