The Jockey of Death (1915)

Robert Thorne has illegally seized an ancestral castle and estate. Fifteen years later he is visited by Henry Claremont, a nephew of the man he poisoned, a cousin of the little countess whom Thorne has had abducted by a gypsy circus manager, and co-heir with the countess to the estate. Thorne, represented in the picture as "The Masked Man," successfully plots to have Henry fall over a cliff while riding horseback. Henry is not killed, and while recovering from his injuries discovers a note which tells him that his uncle has been poisoned and that Thorne is a usurper. With the aid of a trusted servant, he sets out to find the missing countess and restore the estate to her. They take with them an ivory skeleton which is the family mascot. As Henry and the servant sit in their room one night a jockey's cap falls from the top of a cupboard onto the head of the skeleton. This gives Henry an idea. He resolves to use his ability as a horseman and do an act with the big circuses the country over, billing himself as "The Jockey of Death." Ho hopes to encounter the gypsy circus manager and through him find the countess. Six months later, the girl, now grown to womanhood, is recognized by the servant in the person of a little high wire performer named Elda then appearing on the same bill in the circus with "The Jockey." The gypsy circus manager, under the assumed name of Frank, is posing as her father. Henry communicates with Elda, who is closely guarded by the gypsies, and tells her that she is really a countess and his cousin Frank prevents her escape, but one night, at the close of her act, the jockey lowers a rope to the pedestal leading to her tight-rope. In view of the audience, she climbs the rope to the dome of the circus building and she and the jockey then start on a wild flight. Frank has informed the police that the jockey is an international spy, which, in reality, is the true role of the gypsy. The police join in the chase. In the flight, Elda and the jockey perform many daring feats to escape. They dive from a high railroad bridge, crawl onto a passing barge over the propeller, scale the trusses of another bridge, and as a thrilling climax, ride a bicycle on a wire across a wide river. They finally get away and inform the authorities of the real plotters. The masked man encounters the skeleton and is frightened to death, and Frank, the gypsy, is imprisoned as a spy. The story ends with Elda and Henry taking possession of their estate.