The Kid and the Sleuth (1912)

Red Gallagher, an "A.D.T." messenger boy, is addicted to reading literature of the yellow-back variety. Shirking his work, he seats himself on a barrel in an alley, pulls out a detective story, and reads. He yawns, drops the book, sleeps, and dreams. In his fancy, he is the hero of the detective tale. There is a mustached villain with an able accomplice in a handsome termagant of a woman. They are persecuting a young, innocent maiden in an effort to induce her to "sign the papers." She is subjected to all kinds of tortures and is suffering intensely when Red is called in to deliver a message. He scents the conspiracy and puts the gentleman detective wise. The sleuth decides to assist and the pair start out to rescue the young and innocent maiden. The plotting pair discover they are about to be shadowed and they spirit the girl away. There is a chase with the messenger kid and the detective in hot pursuit. The boy has his trusty revolver and he fires it at intervals, hampering the flight of the demons in human form, although several laps in the rear. The chase ends at a sawmill where the tender flesh of the helpless girl is about to be mangled by a huge saw. Red arrives in the nick of time to pull the quivering body off the log. His joy is short-lived for the detective places the beauty in a motor car and carries her off, rewarding Red with a few coins as a surcease for his sorrow. The boy awakens to find it all a dream, picks up his book, and starts away to deliver a belated message, disappointed and humbled.

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Summary Details
GenresComedy Crime Drama Short