The Burglarized Burglar (1911)

Charley Fortune-Hunter, a young hack writer, woos a pretty heiress, Dorothy Willard, but, strange to say, the match is objected to by Dorothy's papa, who prefers that Dorothy pick out a young man with more collateral. Charley is having a hard time of it in stalling off his creditors and only partly succeeds in doing so, by telling of his engagement to the heiress to the Willard millions. On her birthday, Dorothy insists that Charley get a box to Grand Opera, which he manages to do by "hocking" his watch. In the meantime, a burglar enters the Willard mansion and steals a necklace of pearls, intended as a birthday gift to Dorothy from father, and also gets away with the old man's wallet and his watch. Pursued by the police, the burglar dashes into Charley's hallroom, where he, in turn, is held up by the impecunious writer, who unloads the valuables and locks the burglar in the closet. Exultantly Charley looks at the pearls, which he resolves to give to Dorothy for her birthday present, and finding the wallet well filled with currency, orders a taxi. When he presents the gift, the delighted girl rushes to her father immediately and shows him the necklace. The old man is thunderstruck as he recognizes the pearls and tells her to send the young man in. You can imagine Charley's surprise when the old man identifies the watch and wallet as his own and is about to summon the police when Charley explains that it was only a joke and that he can produce the real burglar if they will accompany him to his room. They do, in company with a policeman, and Charley gets another shock when he finds that the burglar has escaped. The policeman is about to take Charley away, but the old man stops him. Nevertheless, Dorothy is convinced that Charley is a thief and sails out of the room with her nose perked at a sharp upward angle, while the young man drops into a chair and dumbfoundedly at the opera tickets.

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GenresShort