The husband's suit for divorce is granted by the magistrate and the decree is thrice welcome to the indolent wife. Little thought has been given to their child until the stern judge awards the custody of the boy to the father. This was an angle the woman had not contemplated, but the ruling had been made and there was no alternative; so after an affectionate farewell, mother and child parted. In the woman's heart she has resolved to regain her child. Some time later she secures the child and departs to the sea-coast, where she lives a secluded life. Years have passed and the father has become the county sheriff. Visiting the town one day, the boy, now a young man, becomes involved in an altercation, and in self-defense, strikes his antagonist, felling the latter with one blow. The alarm is given and the young man seeks refuge in flight. At the coast he enters his boat and puts to sea. The sheriff and his deputy give chase, but too late to apprehend the man. They follow the direction of the boat along the shore, preventing it from effecting a landing. Without food the young man at sea becomes exhausted, and, too weak to manipulate the boat, drifts about aimlessly. Patiently the expectant mother awaits the return of her son, little dreaming of his dire distress at sea. Neighbors sight the boat and put out to the rescue, returning with the all but dead seaman. The sheriff watched from a distance, and is soon on hand to arrest his man, not knowing his identity. At the little shack he recognizes his wife, and upon inquiry as to their boy, is led to the room where the young man, exhausted from hunger and exposure, is being carefully nursed back to life. The sheriff came to arrest a man - not his son. At the bed of the boy the two estranged hearts are reunited and the almost dead embers of love are fanned back to life to blaze anew until the divine edict, "until death doth part," shall be executed. - Moving Picture World, August 1913
Sometimes misidentified as a Kerrigan/Rich vehicle.