The Guard's Alarm
The guard, anxious to wake punctually, invests in a new alarm clock; but the use of the instrument to murder sleep so impresses itself upon his mind that his dreams become awfully and comically realistic. The whole series of pictures are only dream incidents, but their presentation is so vivid that the convulsed audience only realizes this fact as the final scene is projected. The Guard's Dream. The indignant guard is aroused by his new clock, and throws the offending thing upon the floor. The clock is in no way injured but continues to ring and mechanically moves about the room. The sleeper arises, immerses the clock in his wash basin and again retires. A female member of the household unceremoniously reawakens the guard. He hurriedly rises and finds he has no time even to dress. Knocking the woman down in his flight, and clad only in pajamas, he rushes to the station to find his train retiring from the platform. He jumps into his van, but the train magically disappears and he is precipitated on to the line, from which he is helped by a porter. The inspector arrives and turns the insufficiently dressed guard away from the premises. As the guard runs backwards, his uniform clothing, article by article, flies to him and is hurriedly donned. After another vain attempt to overtake the train it is stopped and he enters his van. Interior of the Guard's Van. The official mops his head and prepares to begin his duties of sorting the baggage and parcels. To his dismay, the mischievous head of an imp emerges from a milk churn, and the creature throws a missile at the guard. Surprised at first, then indignant, the guard retaliates and chases the imp around the van. Mysterious appearances and changes follow in rapid succession. The imp constantly arrives upon the scene, but when caught, changes to a girl. Love passages ensue, and a dance, but the guard finds that he is waltzing with the milk churn. The imp again appears from a bucket, and the guard makes a grab, upon which the creature dissolves into a heap of paste. Again he resumes his unnatural form, and from this changes to a red Indian, who seizing the guard, chops off his head. The headless guard sways about, when the girl reappears and reunites the dissevered railway man. A further bewilderment and a country yokel, arising, is forced into the imp's basket, out of which instantly springs a conventional Mephistopheles. The churn now acts independently, rising to the roof of the van and emptying its contents over the astonished official, alter which Mephistopheles vanishes in a wreath of smoke. The culminating point of the drama is now reached. The train is depicted traveling through picturesque scenery; then stops, and another train at full speed runs into it. The cars are telescoped, and a most realistic scene of a railway disaster is projected; escaping steam, bounding car's and general wreckage result. The Guard's Bedroom. He awakes in terror, looks at his new clock, and, greatly relieved, again relaxes into, this time, more peaceful slumber.
