The Deputy's Love (1910)

• 84%
• 1910
• Western
• Gilbert M. Anderson
• Gilbert M. Anderson
• Clara Williams
• Franklyn Hall

Bob Dean, the deputy sheriff of Tonopah County, has fallen in love with Nance O'Brien, a bewitching little western maid, whose brother, as he supposes, works a claim on a neighboring hillside. Previous to a love scene between the sheriff and the maid a strange incident has happened which will arouse a suspicious thought in our minds as to whether or not Nance is as innocent of evil-doing as her frank face and guiltless eyes would suggest. In the first place, Nance, dressed in her brother's clothes, and Walt, her brother, ride up to their house, dismount and enter. Nance is seen for a brief moment removing her masculine make-up, which reveals her identity as a very beautiful western girl. Later Bob Dean rides up, and after a love scene with Nance, presents her with a pair of riding gloves. Finally he kisses her and rides away. Next we are shown Nance and her brother preparing for another mysterious journey. Nance again dons the man's clothes and both ride cautiously away. In a lonesome place on the mountain trail they pull up their horses and listen. Down the canyon is heard the rumbling approach of the mail stagecoach. A moment later the two are in and ambush with their horses pulled well out of sight. A few moments pass and the coach, with the driver flipping his whip, comes into view. The holdup is successful, as all the occupants are taken unaware, and scrambling out at the robbers' commands are relieved of their jewelry. A strong box, suggestive of a quantity of bullion, is also removed and the driver is ordered to go on. Further down the road the excited crowd of tourists insists on the driver cutting loose one of the lead horses and sending for help, and some time later Dean, the deputy, is notified of the robbery. A posse is organized and the trail of the escaping duo is found. Nance and her brother hear the sound of the hurrying hoofs and decide to separate, and thus throw the party off their trail. The girl arrives home, having safely eluded pursuit, but her brother is not so lucky. Dean traces him to the door of the stable, enters and covers the man with his gun. It is then that Dean obtains evidence of Nance's guilt when he finds the suit of men's clothes and the gloves with which he had presented her. Desiring to test her further, Dean covertly empties the shells from his revolver and replacing it in his holster drags O'Brien into the house where Nance is waiting for her brother to return. The incident that follows is highly dramatic. Nance wrests Dean's pistol from his belt, aims it at him and pulls the trigger. It is empty, of course, and Dean, seizing his former sweetheart's wrist, locks her to her brother and leads them out.