The Return

• 1916
• Other, Drama

Ione, society favorite, inherits a strain of barbarism. She is wooed by Rutley, a leader in business affairs but she tells Rutley that he can ill afford to marry a woman who is really half savage. With friends, Ione and Rutley visit a cabaret to see Pascho, a man of iron muscle, known as the "God of the Tenements." When Ione and Pascho meet, it is a case of mutual magnetism. The woman forgets Rutley for the moment, and has only eyes for the muscular giant. Maritana, in love with Pascho, sees the love interest prevalent between Ione and Pascho. Finally Ione throws caution to the wind and agrees to elope with Pascho. At the appointed hour, her better judgment returns, and she tells Rutley, who confronts her, that he can win her if he will kill Pascho. Ione is informed by Rutley that the men of today do not kill, but win through the power of Love alone. Pascho, at the trysting place, impatient because Ione does not appear, goes to her home. There he attempts to persuade her to flee with him, picturing the delights of sunny Italy, and she is almost persuaded. Maritana, Pascho's former sweetheart, with Bela, who loves the girl, follow Pascho into the home of Ione. Through her urgency, Bela shoots at Pascho with a determination to slay him, but the bullet goes wild and strikes Rutley, who sinks to the floor in a dying condition. Then it is that Ione comes again to better understanding. Her love for the stricken man grows strong, and she nurses him back to health, while Pascho returns to Maritana, and together they sail for the sunny land of Italy.