The Broken Gate

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When Don Lane returns from college to visit his mother in the town of Spring Valley, where she has worked in a millinery shop to support him since his infancy. There Don learns that he is an illegitimate child and that his mother is still denounced in Spring Valley. When he fights some cruel townsmen in defense of his mother's name, he lands in jail, although he is soon freed by "Hod" Brooks, a lawyer and long-time friend of Aurora's. Soon after, Don is jailed again, on circumstantial evidence, for the murder of the town drunkard; in despair, Aurora goes to visit Judge William Henderson, who is the guardian of Don's sweetheart Anne Oglesby. Aurora pleads with the judge to defend Don in court; when he refuses, Aurora threatens to expose Henderson as Don's father. Together with Anne, who has overheard the conversation, Aurora forces Henderson to take Don's case. A lynch mob attacks the Spring Valley jail, only to discover that Don has escaped. The mob then proceeds to Aurora's house, which they almost destroy. Don arrives in time to save his mother by threatening the mob with a revolver, and soon after, Henderson and Brooks arrive with the news that a half-witted boy has committed the murder. After the mob disperses, Henderson offers to atone for his sins by marrying Aurora, but she refuses him. Aurora is united with Brooks, and Don with Anne.