The Way of the Strong (1919)

In an Alaskan mining camp, James Leyburn runs off with his gold prospecting partner Alexander Hendrie's wife Audrie and son Frank. Caught in a blizzard, James deserts them in order to save his own life. Audrie dies, and the little boy is taken to live with his mother's half sister Monica Norton. A few years later both James and Alexander are wealthy men. Alexander meets and falls in love with Monica, neither aware of the other's identity. After James is financially ruined in the stock market by his former partner, he tells Monica that Alexander abandoned Audrie and Frank in the blizzard. When Alexander hears this bold lie, he confronts James in his office, where Monica secretly observes James' confession of wrongdoing. Alexander and Monica are reunited, and Alexander regains his son.