The Pardon

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The chairman of the Board of Pardons has brought to the attention of the Governor, a case deserving special consideration. The family of Robison, a mechanic, has been rendered destitute by his death in an accident. His widow, sooner than accept the dishonorable attention of Trowbridge, her landlord, is dispossessed. She uses every endeavor to obtain employment in order to support herself and little girl, Esther, but in vain. The child is eventually sent to an asylum by the court as the mother is deemed incompetent to provide tor its proper welfare. After years in the asylum, without the loving care of her mother, she returns home, but she is no longer the innocent child of the past. Instead, her time is spent with questionable companions. At a third rate dance hall she falls in with Trowbridge, the human wolf that caused her mother much pain in former years. He takes advantage of her romantic nature and induces her to elope with him. Esther's mother, learning of this, follows the couple to Trowbridge's rooms and pleads with the girl to give up her evil-intentioned companion. Finding her pleas are ignored, and driven desperate, she shoots Trowbridge dead. For this she is convicted and sent to prison. Esther, realizing then the great sacrificial love of her mother, sincerely repents for her waywardness. Through friends she sets in motion the intricate wheels of justice, and finally succeeds in drawing the attention of the Governor to her mother's sad case. The chairman of the Board of Pardons, convinced of the merits of the case, uses his influence with the Governor, who, swayed by many emotions, signs the pardon which once more unites the unhappy mother and her repentant daughter,