The Prodigal Judge (1922)

Returning to his estate in North Carolina, Judge Slocum Price, a member of Congress in 1830, finds that his wife has taken their child and eloped with David Gatewood; and the domestic tragedy causes him to become a vagabond. Five years later, the judge and his companion (Solomon Mahaffy) on a Mississippi River boat meet a child known as Hannibal, accompanied by Bob Yancy. The judge suspects Hannibal to be his missing son. Colonel Fentress, an outlaw leader, has the boy kidnapped from Yancy, but Hannibal escapes and takes refuge on a skiff; meanwhile, the judge, who has been arrested for innocently passing counterfeit money, escapes, finds Hannibal on the river, and discovers that actually Fentress was the abductor of his wife. Betty Malroy, a friend of Hannibal's, marries Charley Norton, her childhood sweetheart; but Fentress has him shot on their wedding day. Following the rescue of Betty and Hannibal from Fentress, the judge challenges him to a duel. Solomon schemes to go in the judge's place and is mortally wounded; but the judge arrives and shoots Fentress. The judge regains his fortune, and Betty is won over to the affections of Bruce Carrington, who is trapped with her in the rapids.