While engaged in a card game with some of the "boys," Sandy Smith, the hero of the story, received a letter from his friend, Jim Malone, sheriff of the county, asking him to trail a notorious train robber who is hiding in the mountains ...See moreWhile engaged in a card game with some of the "boys," Sandy Smith, the hero of the story, received a letter from his friend, Jim Malone, sheriff of the county, asking him to trail a notorious train robber who is hiding in the mountains where perpetual snow is almost a barrier to intrusion. Malone tells Sandy that he is suffering with a wounded arm and cannot go himself. In order to secure Sandy's services he reminds him that he once saved his life. Sandy deliberates, unwilling at first to act as the hunter of his fellow man, even though he be a criminal, but the reminder of the debt of gratitude he owes proves a convincing argument and he finally undertakes the perilous mission. He calls on the sheriff, gets his final instructions and starts. He finds the trail and captures the desperado after a dramatic encounter, in which the devoted wife of the outlaw, Weatherford, is forced by Sandy to shackle the two men to each other and destroy the firearms which were in their stronghold. Bound as described, the two men start on a desolate journey through the frozen snow. Day and night, faint from hunger and exhaustion, they march lock-step, stumbling and falling in the deep snow only to rise and continue on their journey, Sandy's gun constantly trained on the man before him. All the suffering and pathos of this dreary march, as described in Mr. Norton's story, is vividly brought out by the wonderful scenic effects and acting in the picture. The two last scenes show: First, the two men falling headlong into the saloon where arc assembled a number of men in company with the sheriff, and where Sandy "turns over" his man to the sheriff; second, Sandy's surprise and indignation at learning that he has earned five thousand dollars "blood money." He relieves his mind and disposes of the reward by sending the money to Weatherford's wife with a characteristic note. The action at this point is deeply pathetic, though there runs through it that vein of comedy which is peculiar to Mr. Norton and which will no doubt produce the smile and the tear so much sought by the writer and the actor. Written by
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