Stella Maris
1
Stella Maris,
paralyzed from childhood, has
been tenderly shielded from all
the sordidness and misery of life.
So she dwells serenely within
a dream-world created by those
who love her, unaware of sorrow,
poverty or death.
Mary Pickford
2
Teddy--
Captain of the Guard.
by Himself
(Courtesy of Mack Sennett)
3
Another little prisoner
of fate is Unity
Blake, 'The Ugly Duckling'
of a London orphanage.
Mary Pickford
4
Sir Oliver
and Lady Blount--
Uncle and Aunt of
Stella Maris.
Ida Waterman
Herbert Standing
5
John Risca,
journalist - a cousin of
Lady Blount - whose
daily visits bring their
sunshine to Stella Maris.
Conway Tearle
6
"Who asks to be admitted
to the Throne Room?"
7
"It is the Great
High Belovedest,
Your Ladyship."
8
"Blime me - it stinks
elergant!"
9
Among the women
who come to the
orphanage looking for
a child to adopt, is -
Louisa Risca.
Marcia Manon
10
"If this child behaves
herself, she can have
a good home with me."
11
"Don't tell me too
suddinkly - I might
die of joy!"
12
"I have been so happy
ever since you described
the beautiful castle where
you live - Great High
Belovedest."
13
"Some day, if I can ever
walk - will you take me
into the garden of your
castle?"
14
"Tired of your wife, eh
- sick and disgusted?"
15
"Six years of this hell and
a man's spirit is broken.
Ideals, hopes, ambitions -
all are shattered."
16
"For the sake of the
woman you used to be
when I first knew you -"
17
"I ordered a fine, thick,
juicy steak. Look at this
miserable thing!"
18
"You shall always be
well provided for, but
- I will never return."
19
"Servants were always
leaving and I needed a
girl to help me with the
housework."
20
"Then you ain't
a mother, are you,
ma'am?"
21
"Miss Stella Maris heard
that Mr. Risca is here. She
is asking for him."
22
"How beautiful this
world is - and how
good."
23
Comes Spring to lay
its rarest blossoms
in the lap of Stella
Maris.
24
"Send her back to the
orphanage."
25
"I did all I could to
save you from this -
but the laws are just."
26
"When you married this
commoner's daughter,
there were rumors of her
- drinking."
27
"We were happy until she
could no longer control this
habit. Then - the Woman
in her died and she became
a Thing - a beastly - cruel
Thing!"
28
"I cannot remain in
London any longer."
29
"You must not leave
Stella Maris. She needs
you -"
30
"I say, did she ever
'urt you, too?"
31
"S'welp me! I'd 'ave
swiped 'er on the 'ead,
if I was you, sir!"
32
"Oh, sir - - might I
'ave some peppermint
bulls' eyes?"
33
"I shall adopt her. It
is the only way I can
atone."
34
Six months later
Unity is given a
temporary home with
Sir Oliver and Lady
Blount.
35
"Queer little Unity
- don't you notice a
homely resemblance
to Stella Maris?"
36
"Stroike me pink!"
37
"Lor' luv a duck!
An' me a'restin' on
satink!"
38
As the weeks pass
by, Unity remains
at the Blount home,
pitied but unloved.
39
"I ain't said nothink
to 'er, ma'am - not a
bloomin' word."
40
"She's just a little villager
- - employed by the day
as a seamstress."
41
"I seen 'er - an' lor'
lum me - but she's
'evingly!"
42
"What if that poor
creature had spoken
to Stella Maris ... of
life - as she knows it?"
43
"I knew it was dangerous
for Unity to be here - so
I have persuaded Aunt
Gladys to keep house for us."
44
A consultation of
England's foremost
surgeons.
45
"If we operate upon
Stella Maris, there is a
chance that she may
walk."
46
"Though it may be years
before she fully recovers
- she will walk."
47
Aunt Gladys Linden
a "Fuss-buttons" of
the old school, who
opens her home to
John Risca and Unity.
Josephine Crowell
48
"'Pon me soul, I
never 'eard a sound,
ma'am!"
49
"Unity never tells the
truth. She should be
punished for it."
50
"Children only lie
through fear."
51
"'Onest - it broke
itself, Sir."
52
"Don't swipe me, sir."
53
"You must never lie to
us, Unity, because - we
love you."
54
The surgeon's prophecy
falls true. After
three years Stella
Maris - walks.
55
For John Risca's sake,
Unity struggles long
and hopelessly with an
education.
56
For the woman who
is still his wife
John Risca re-opens
his old home.
57
"Even to the prison they
brought me the gossip that
you had adopted the brat,
Unity."
58
"- and then - there was
a linking of your name
with - Stella Maris."
59
"Don't you ever dare
breathe that name
again!"
60
The passing days
bring their glow
of health.
61
"- we've 'ad nothink
to eat for days, Miss."
62
"Aunt Julia, give me two
or three thousand pounds
at once, please!"
63
"This woman and her
children are dying of
hunger! They have no
home! It is dreadful -
inconceivable!"
64
"My poor child - beggars
are the dregs of civilization.
And there are millions of
them."
65
Little by little,
life is revealed to
Stella Maris as one
tremendous conflict.
66
"It is cruel! It is unthink-
able! Why was I not told
that such conditions exist
in the world?"
67
"These men are fighting
for existence - for principle
- and for the good of
humanity."
68
"And yet I do not want
to believe there are millions
of strong, fine men called
soldiers, who are trained,
just to destroy their brothers'
lives!"
69
"I am grateful for one
ideal - you."
70
Longing to see John
Risca's surroundings,
Stella Maris pays a
visit to the home of
Aunt Gladys.
71
"Why, I remember
you ...... the little
seamstress!"
72
"Mister Risca is me
guardian, now. We keeps
'ouse for 'im - me an'
Aunt Gladys."
73
"I was so disappointed
when he told me he had
closed his beautiful castle
and moved to this house."
74
"'e speaks often of you,
Miss. 'e worships the
ground you walks on."
75
"And I - I love him!"
76
"This is my little secret.
So please do not tell him
I have been here."
77
"An' I - I loves 'im!"
78
Romance - born
of the moonlight.
79
"John - have you ever
loved anyone?"
80
"I have loved dreams."
81
"And I have dreamed
dreams - - of love."
82
"Why are you so
unhappy, John?"
83
"Because - I love you!"
84
"I love Stella Maris and
I can no longer lie to her,
about - my wife."
85
"She has already suffered
too many heartaches. I
forbid a confession."
86
Stella Maris journeys
to the "Deserted Castle"
of John Riska - scheming
to re-open it - for the
happiness of two.
87
"Surely this - this
cannot be John Risca's
castle!"
88
"I am John Risca's
wife."
89
"John - married - you!
You - his wife!"
90
"It hurts to think that
you - like all other
things - - are a lie."
91
"I no longer pity the
blind! All the ugliness
of life is shut away from
them."
92
"- and all its beauties!"
93
"Stella, darling - -
my heart is breaking
for you."
94
"Mine is broken."
95
"Wot - marry you, sir?"
96
"- an' me only a poor
orphant, sir?"
97
By early winter the
shadow that hangs
over John Risca
gathers into a storm
cloud.
98
"There's crumpets an'
marmalade, sir."
99
"- - an' winkles an'
Sally Lun, sir."
100
"Poor little Unity - you
are the only one who
understands in what a
vise my heart is wrung."
101
"As long as that woman
lives - - he will never
be free."
102
"By lying to shield me
you have destroyed my
happiness - and my faith
in human nature."
103
"Do not expect Mr. Risca
home until tomorrow night.
I am taking him for a
day's sail."
104
"Learn to forgive, Stella
Maris. That was His
Message to the World."
105
Dusk of the following
day.
106
"For three years it
'as burned a scar on
me 'eart."
107
"I am 'ere to warn
you. Never 'urt Stella
Maris again!"
108
"I shall keep on and
on until I have broken
her heart."
109
"I am beginning to
realize that happiness
is within ourselves."
110
"We found the girl, Unity
- dead - beside the body
of your wife."
111
"Unity's history is known
to the police, so it is easy
to figure her motive -
revenge."
112
"She sacrificed herself
and is gone. Only the
dead know the great
souls that pass from the
earth."
113
"The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;"
* * * * * *
"God's in His heaven -
All's right with the world."
THE END
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