One Good Joke Deserves Another (1913)

Jim Wilson gets sore when, on the first of April, John Bunny, the bridge watchman, makes a fool of him. Bunny gets his silk hat and rubs it the wrong way when Wilson is not looking and then laughs at him. Wilson makes up his mind to pay him back. He goes home to his mother and makes arrangements with her for what he considers will be a gigantic joke. They get a pillow and tie it up with twine, so that it looks like a baby, and put on it an automobile coat and hat. Then, taking the chauffeur into their confidence, they drive down to the bridge and throw the supposed baby into the river as they pass the horrified Bunny, who at once gives the alarm to the watchman at the other end of the bridge to stop the auto. Wilson gets past the bridge all right, but the hue and cry has started and they are followed by a mounted policeman and an auto-cyclist. They are caught and taken straight to the police court, which is in session. Some fishermen under the bridge see the splash and try to get the baby out of the water, a difficult proceeding as it sinks at once to the bottom. After dragging the river for some time one of the men gets it out of the water and finds out that the supposed baby is only a pillow. He gets mad and starts to fight with John Bunny, who had told him to fish for the infant. Both of the men are arrested and taken to court, where they meet Wilson and his mother, who have just been brought in. The four are taken in straightway to the magistrate and the case is tried at once. Even the majesty of the law has to laugh at the episode and decides to have a hand in it. His honor tells them that they are all fined five hundred dollars and sentenced to six months in jail. At the sight of their rueful faces he laughs and pointing to the calendar remarks, "April Fool's Day, the case is dismissed."

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Summary Details
GenresComedy Short