The Spoiled Child
John and Edith Harrold have two children, Raymond and Albert. Raymond is a manly little fellow aged nine, while Albert is a spoiled child of eight. When the story opens the boys are getting ready for school. Albert wishes to remain home to try a new pair of skates, which he is allowed to do, while Raymond goes manfully off to school. Next day in the schoolroom, Albert throws a spit-hall at the teacher. Raymond rises to his feet in an effort to prevent it and is blamed for the act. He makes no denial and is punished. The teacher also sends a note home to his parents, and he is sent supperless to bed. In the meantime, the father buys a pony, which Albert, as usual, monopolizes. Raymond loves the pony dearly, and when Albert strikes it in anger, the boys quarrel, and as usual, Raymond shoulders the blame. The father decides that Albert shall have the pony to himself for a week. Raymond, heart-broken, steals to the stable after dark to caress the pony. The coachman sympathizes with him and follows him, carelessly laying his lighted cigar on a bale of hay. An hour or so later the fire is discovered. The children are wild. The pony will not move, but is terrified and rigid. Unseen, Raymond enters the burning stable and, throwing a coat over the pony's head, leads him to safety. He is so badly burned that a specialist is called in. The specialist decides that the only way to save the boy is by skin-grafting. Albert is frantic and in a burst of emotion confesses his faults and shoulders the blame that is rightfully his. He asks to be allowed to furnish the cuticle necessary to save his brother, and the parents consent. The operation is successful and the later scenes show the boys in their new-found understanding and happiness. The pony is unhurt, but another one is bought and the boys ride happily away together as the picture ends.
