Mojave Matt realizes he is slipping away from God, when one Sunday morning he cannot even remember the Lord's prayer. He got as far as "give us this day our daily bread," and stopped there in self-abusement. Packing his burro, he deserts his camp and starts back towards civilization, to find somebody who can tell him the next words. In the distant camp Dan Page and Alice, his wife, are celebrating their fourth anniversary of their happy union. To the little camp town comes Arthur Sanford, auditor for the development company, who has known Alice before. Seeing Alice, he speaks slightingly of her in the presence of Dan, whose first impulse is to kill him on the spot. Regaining his control, however Dan gets Alice to confront the slanderer. To his consternation, she is confused, and begs Dan to save her from Sanford. Dan is greatly astonished. Having made up his mind, he takes Sanford out into the desert, hands him a gun and turns him loose. Then he returns to his wife, drives her home and goes about his work in silence. In the desert old Mojave Matt meets Sanford, exhausted and dying. Matt asks him what follows after "daily bread." "Forgive us our trespasses" breathes Sanford, as he expires. After asking many others to teach him further, and failing to learn the words, Mojave Matt at length comes to the home of Dan and Alice, still peaceful, but silent with the great silence of unpardonable sin between them.' They entertain the desert rat; they give him food. He tells his story of his pitiful search for the words that have grown to mean so much to him now. He begs Dan to tell him what comes after "trespasses." "As we forgive those who trespass against us," Dan repeats. The desert rat thanks him and departs. The words have struck inward to Dan's soul. He turns to Alice, in tears beside him, and takes her to his heart, forgiven and restored. - Moving Picture World, September 9, 1916
The original title for this film was "The Man Who Forgot."