The Wasp

• 1915
• Other, Drama

At home a young girl has proved incorrigible. She is placed by her father in a feminine school where the environment is anything but to her liking. She is wrongly accused of stealing a brooch. By night she steals from the school never to return. Circumstances throw her among evil companions, who teach her the tricks of thievery, and she becomes known as the "Wasp." As a midnight marauder she is highly successful and manages to elude the vigilant eye of the police. She has one close call, however, and only the friendly aid of one J. Hart, an eminent man of affairs, enables her to make good her escape. Words of advice from Hart lead the "Wasp" to renounce her life of crime. Her efforts are directed toward doing good, and she becomes the leading spirit of a friendly aid bureau. At length, however, the bureau runs out of funds and its power to do good is seriously crippled. The "Wasp" discovers a former pal in the act of stealing J. Hart's watch. She compels the pickpocket to turn over his booty to her, and she at once restores it to its owner. Hart is impressed by the act of the girl, and offers assistance to the "Wasp" at any time at which she may need it. Things have come to dire straits at the charitable bureau. The "Wasp" is beseeched for aid, but finds herself powerless to aid the suffering applicants. She resolves for once to return to her life of burglary. That night she robs many houses, among them that of J. Hart. In each one she leaves a note, explaining that robbery has been committed so that the needs of suffering humanity may be met. Hart receives a note from the "Wasp," asking that he give work to her pal who also has forsaken the criminal path. Hart discovers that the writing on the card and that of the message left by the burglar are identical. He confronts the "Wasp" with charges of her guilt, then sees the good that the stolen valuables have worked. A big check is made out and the prosperity of the charitable bureau is assured. From then on, Hart and the "Wasp" are constant companions. Friendship ripens into love, and here the story ends.