The Reckoning

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A couple struggles for a livelihood, meager though it must be. The husband seems content in the struggle, working at the factory for the pittance he received, but his love for his wife makes the labor light, but to the young wife the condition was most odious. In the grind of household duties, which she must do herself, she is like a flower withering for want of sunshine. So it's not surprising that she listens avidly to the flattering platitudes of the unconscionable tempter. In the first scene she's at her ironing table while her husband, departing for work, bids her a tender adieu. Hardly has he left the threshold, when the grocer's clerk enters, and is received with an effusiveness most unplatonic. They at once proceed to enjoy a little lunch, the ingredients of which the clerk has brought in a basket. Meanwhile the husband arrives at the factory, only to find it closed down. Retracing his steps he arrives home, and seeing the window down and the shade closed, his suspicions are aroused. Stealthily raising the window and lifting the shade slightly, his fears are confirmed. His action, quiet though it be, startles the lovers, who leave the lunch table and hide behind a sheet hanging across the room. Entering, the husband, with gaze riveted on the sheet, picks up a pistol and sits himself in front of their hiding place, calmly lights his pipe and waits. At length he beckons, "Come out." (This is undoubtedly the most tense situation ever attempted in motion pictures.) The clerk appears first, followed by wife, and the reckoning is paid.