The Sea Waif (1918)

Popular New York musical-comedy star Harry Caton loses his voice on stage and journeys to a small town on the New England coast to recuperate. Here he meets beautiful Nancy Potter when he defends her against the drunken advances of her father's friend Silas Jones. Although Nancy believes her father is a fisherman, Cail Potter is actually a thief who robs houses along the coast; Silas is his accomplice. When Cail robs wealthy Col. Brett's home, he finds an old miniature of a woman who exactly resembles Nancy, whom Cail rescued from a wrecked boat when she was just a year old. Soon after the robbery, Harry learns that the police are about to raid Cail's house, but Silas knocks him unconscious when he attempts to warn Nancy. Cail is shot, but before his death, he reveals the miniature and confesses that Nancy is Col. Brett's long-lost daughter. Her prospects appear even brighter when Harry, upon recovering from Silas' blow, declares that he loves her.