The Wayward Son
William Cartwell, a wealthy manufacturer, is an industrious, self-made man, and it is a source of sorrow, as well as vexation, to him that his son, Wilfred, is opposed to any kind of work. Driven to extreme irritation by his son's continued Indolence, Cartwell orders Wilfred from the home, telling him, in no uncertain language, that the door will be closed to him until he has made his way in the world. After a month of shiftless existence, Wilfred becomes a vagabond. Unaccustomed to work of any sort, he can neither find nor do any profitable labor. Discouraged, hungry and footsore, he reaches his native town. "Red," a fellow vagabond, conducts him to a cheap resort, where food is bought. Two toughs in the place see that Wilfred has a watch, the only keepsake of big former happy life which he has been able to retain, and when they attempt to secure it, a fight ensues and Wilfred, badly bruised, is thrown into the street. Sally, a pretty young working girl, discovers Wilfred's plight and secures quarters for him in a tenement building. During the evening Wilfred overhears a conversation between the two toughs who occupy the adjoining room and is startled to learn that a plan is being made to rob his father's office. Wilfred's presence is detected and after being mistreated by the toughs, he is left, bound. Sally, bringing Wilfred's supper, releases him and by a daring act they thwart the thieves, who are arrested. The elder Cartwell gives Wilfred a new start in life and the young man begins to work with a will.
