The Paymaster - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

Shorty Kennedy and Bill Watson, two notorious ex-convicts, applied for work at the Great Western Mining Company. The superintendent, not knowing of their record, gave them employment. In less than a week the two men were discharged for ...See moreShorty Kennedy and Bill Watson, two notorious ex-convicts, applied for work at the Great Western Mining Company. The superintendent, not knowing of their record, gave them employment. In less than a week the two men were discharged for drinking, and when they saw Carson go to town for money, they decided to hold him up. Carson was delayed at the bank until too late to pay the men that day, and there being no safe at the superintendent's office, he took the money home and secreted it in his bedroom. The ex-convicts concocted a plan to get Carson away from the house, and, by securing one of the Mining Company's letter heads, sent Carson a note purporting to be from the superintendent's wife, stating that her husband was taken suddenly ill and asking his assistance. His suspicions were not aroused until on his arrival at the superintendent's house, he found him in perfect health and his wife declared the note a forgery. During Carson's absence, the ex-convicts entered his home, bound his wife and endeavored, through intimidation, to make her disclose where the money was hidden. When she refused, they made a careful search, during which Kennedy found a box of "Rough on Rats," and with fiendish ingenuity, the two desperadoes decided on a plan to force Carson's wife to tell where the money was hidden. Taking a piece of bread, they mixed the rat poison with butter and sugar, and before the helpless mother, they offered it to her child. As the baby reached out its hand for the poisoned bread, the mother could stand the strain no longer, and told the men where the money was hidden. In the meantime, Carson tried to reach his home by telephone, but the crooks had broken the receiving cord, leaving the wire open. Carson heard the struggle his wife was having with the robbers, and calling on the miners for assistance, arrived at his home in time to save the money. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less