The Lair of the Wolf

Widow Margaret Dennis, unaware of the abusive nature of Oliver Cathcart, agrees to become his wife. Among other cruelties, Cathcart has ruined the Taylor family in a bad business deal, causing the death of Mrs. Taylor, turning Mr. Taylor into a worthless drunk and embittering their son Raymond, who swears revenge on Cathcart. Margaret's son Jim, learning of all this, forces his mother to choose between him and Cathcart. Choosing the latter, Margaret goes to his country estate, where she finally learns her husband's true nature. Nearby live the Taylors. Raymond is courting Cathcart's maid Milly, and when he comes to the estate one day to visit Milly, Margaret pleads with him to send a message to Jim. Meanwhile, Taylor's sister Steve leaves home, seeking adventure. Receiving Margaret's message, Jim arrives and promises to take his mother away the next day. That night, Cathcart is killed, and on Milly's testimony that Jim had been at the house, he is arrested for the crime. Steve, however, hearing of Jim's arrest, returns and testifies that she and Jim shared refuge from a thunderstorm in an old shack on the night of the murder. Robert Shepherd, the estate gardener, then confesses that he killed Cathcart when he found him struggling with his beloved daughter Bess. Jim is finally freed, and Shepherd acquitted on a plea of temporary derangement.