To Cherish and Protect

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After gambling with a customer's stock and losing, the stockbroking firm of Poole, Crane and Bream is completely ruined. They draw lots to see who will commit suicide. All are insured for amounts sufficient to cover their losses. Bream is secretly in love with Crane's wife Helen, and he and Poole trick Crane so that he draws the fatal slip. After Bream assures Crane that his wife and child will be taken care of, Crane promises to end his life at midnight that night. Instead, he stumbles over the body of a suicide and exchanges identities with the dead man. Helen is cheated out of her insurance money and forced into poverty, believing her husband dead; for the sake of her child she marries Bream. One night, under the glare of a street lamp, Crane comes face-to-face with Bream and Poole, but they ignore his threats. He follows them to the home of Potts, the insurance company head, where some thrilling adventures happen. Bream and Poole again try to 'frame' Crane, but Bill the burglar's dying confession clears him. Bream kills himself, Poole is "sent up," and Crane and his wife reunite.