The Bliss of Ignorance

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Ernest Gray, discontented with the dull routine of a farmer's life, rails at his fate. He causes great uneasiness for his widowed mother and his brother, John, by openly sympathizing with those of anarchistic tendencies. At a lecture by Arthur Fenno, an anarchist, he gains the friendship of the lecturer by saving him from violence at the hands of a mob. Fenno prevails upon him to leave the farm and go to the city. He becomes a leader of an anti-capitalist movement, and attracts the attention of the mayor, who secures a position for him in a public library. Mary Pearce, a romantic school girl, is deeply impressed by him. They meet often, and their friendship ripens into love. Through ignorance, and intending no harm, he induces her to enter into a common-law marriage with him. A month later, while reading a book of law, he learns of his terrible mistake, and in a moment of cowardice, he drives her from him. Through this act he loses his position, and swears vengeance on the mayor, who caused his dismissal. Mary, driven from her home by her irate father, leaves the city and makes her way unknowingly to the former home of Ernest. Weakened by hunger, she is taken in by John, who was left alone by his mother's death. John later induces her to marry him. She accidentally learns that John is a brother of Ernest, who meantime becomes "down and out." Ernest joins a band of anarchists, and shoots the mayor, for which he is sent to prison. Time tempers his spirit, and on his release from prison, he returns to his old home, where he learns of his brother's marriage to Mary. Weakened by his life in prison, he soon pays the penalty for his misspent career.