Juan and Juanita (1912)

• 40%
• 1912
• Western
• Wilbert Melville
• Edwin Carewe
• Edna Payne
• Earl Metcalfe

Juanita moves to Saltillo, and Juan follows her to find work and make a home for her. Work is scarce, and Juanita's mother has no use for a penniless peon. Luckily, Juan strikes a job. Tony, Tom Darby's fireman on the drill engine, has just been discharged for knifing Darby, and Juan is hired to take his place. The new job makes a new man of the peon. It also brings him into favor with Juanita's mother, who allows Juan to take Juanita for a walk. They pass a consignment of gold en route from the mine to the express office. Juan returns to work, but not for long. The Division Master has stolen the gold consignment, held up the station on the road, and the order includes Juan. So he is out of a job, and when Juanita's mother hears the news, he is out of a sweetheart also. He goes to the depot next morning, hoping to find the order canceled. Instead, he finds the station agent lying on the platform badly wounded, and the drill engine vanishing in the distance. Tony has stolen the gold consignment, held by the station agent, and compelled Tom Darby to run the engine off with the loot. Juan helps the agent to his feet, and they pursue the locomotive on a handcar. Tony has stopped at a road crossing, and has bribed a muleteer to help him escape with the gold. His accomplice is in the cab, with a revolver at the engineer's head. Juan boards the engine and overpowers Tom's assailant. With the station agent's help, he binds and gags him, and then captures Tony. By the time they are back in Saltillo, the news reaches the townspeople, who give them a noisy reception. Even Tony is forgotten when Darby and the agent tell of Juan's good work. "And the boss fired him!" Not for long, however. A message clicks in on the wire, "Reinstate fireman on double pay. We join with mining company in forwarding deed for homestead as reward." Juan forgets the crowd on hearing the good news, and he hurries to tell Juanita. There is a wedding that night on the hill above Saltillo.