A Western Waif (1911)
Tom Haley, an old miner en route for the gold fields, with his daughter Gertrude, is lost in the Bad Lands, stumbling along in the arid waste, crazed with thirst and enfeebled by his long exposure to the pitiless heat, he gives up the struggle and dies. Gertrude drops to her knees beside her father, and attempts to resuscitate him with a few drops of water left in the canteen, and then, as the full realization of her loss comes to her, she swoons over his dead body. Jack Porter, a young cowboy from the Circle C ranch, looking for strays, finds the miner's hat, and following the freshly-made tracks of the pack burro, comes upon the unconscious girl beside her dead father. Tenderly he lifts her in his arms and, finding she is still alive, he restores her to consciousness. Taking the miner's pick and shovel from the pack, he digs a grave and consigns the miner's body to its last resting place. Leading the grief-stricken girl to his horse, he takes her to the ranch to be cared for by the ranchman's wife. Gertrude soon becomes the pride of the ranch, and the boys all pay her homage. Jack Prter is her favorite, and they spend many happy hours together, and soon find that their friendship has ripened into love. Jack comes to her one day and offers her a book which he has purchased for her. Having lived in a mining town all her young life, Gertrude has never attended school and cannot read. Jack is astounded and determines to send her to an eastern school. Counting his little horde of money, he finds that he has enough to pay for her tuition and expenses while away. Seeking the ranchman's wife he tells her of his plan and that he desired her to act for him, without allowing Gertrude to know that he is interested. Gertrude is overjoyed at the prospect of going away, and informs Jack that she is going to school to learn to read to him. A year later she returns to the ranch with the manners of the east and is misunderstood. Jack feels that the polished young lady returned from the school is not the little prairie waif of a year ago, and that she cannot love him, a rough cowboy. He leaves a note, telling her he is going away to the Bad Lands and try to forget. Taking his few belongings, he leaves the ranch. Underneath her polish Gertrude is still a true woman, and she follows her lover, finding him exhausted beside her father's grave. She leads him back, and seeking their favorite spot she reads to him and he finds that love and happiness are his at last.
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Domestic
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International
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Worldwide
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GenresShort
Western
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| Allan Dwan | Director |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| J. Warren Kerrigan | |
| Pauline Bush | |
| Jack Richardson |
