The Devil, the Servant and the Man

• 1916
• Drama, Other

Franklyn Foster, a noted young surgeon, because of the stress of overwork, resorts to stimulants much to the sorrow of his wife, Alice, who next to their little daughter idolizes her talented husband. Thelma Gordon, a woman of doubtful reputation, calls for "the best surgeon in the city" when her little dog sustains a broken leg. Foster answers the summons. When he finds that it is a dog he has been called to attend, he tells Thelma Gordon that her presumption is unpardonable. As time passes, Thelma Gordon calls at Dr. Foster's office to thank him for setting the dog's leg, and to request her bill. Dr. Foster refuses any remuneration and tells the woman, "I would do as much for any stray cur. The incident is closed." The woman, enraged at what she terms humiliation at the hands of Dr. Foster, vows to be revenged. Dr. Foster, near a collapse from overwork and the continual use of stimulants, is ordered to the mountains for at least a month. Thelma Gordon reads of Dr. Foster's plans in a newspaper. She follows him into the wilderness. She succumbs in a fierce snowstorm, and rescued by Dr. Foster, is taken to his hut. In the morning it is found that they are snowbound. In the days that follow Thelma Gordon exerts all her feminine wiles to gain the love of Dr. Foster, and he becomes infatuated with her. At the end of a month Dr. Foster returns to his home in worse condition than when he left; he neglects his business for the woman. In the early morning after a night of dissipation, Dr. Foster returns to his home. His wife, who has sat up waiting for his return, has fallen asleep in a chair. The intoxicated man falls asleep and dreams that the Evil One visits him and shows him the end of the broad way that leadeth only to destruction. The Evil One shows Dr. Foster in his dreams, his loving wife in the arms of another man, because she has been driven to desperation by one who should be her lover and protector. Dr. Foster awakens with a start. He sees his faithful wife sleeping peacefully in the chair exhausted by her long vigil. He goes to her, sinks upon his knees at the side of her chair, and as she awakens he takes her in his arms. Womanlike she forgives him the past, and with their little daughter they are happy again.