Silas Croft was a kindly old Englishman who had a farm in South Africa. With him resided his two nieces, whom he had taken from their drunken, worthless father when they were of a tender age.
The Rev. Frank Speakman has been to a rural congregation, and is entertained by the members. He is considered a fine catch matrimonially and the ladies set their caps for him.
A mad sculptor, searching for the perfect realization of "the mask of horror", places himself in front of a mirror after smearing blood over himself with the glass of an oil lamp.
Calumny is one of the most despicable crimes against our neighbor, and while the wife in this story acted conventionally, she nevertheless maligned the other woman simply because of her profession, an actress.
Esmeralda Foster, an attractive girl, is very much impressed with Duncan Miller, a crafty country swain, who makes love to Esmeralda because of her father's wealth.