The Path of Happiness (1916)

Joan, a child of Nature, resides with her father and Grekko in the woods of northern New York. Grekko has been living with Joan and her father ever since they rescued him years ago from a bear trap in which he was caught; he is crippled. Joan's father dies and Grekko vows to look after the young girl, who knows nothing of the outside world. Merrill Day is advised by his physician to seek the quiet of a secluded country place to recuperate his health which has been shattered by overwork. Fate ordains that he pick out that part of New York where Joan lives, and he arrives there with his widowed sister Doris Ingraham and her little daughter Barbara. Roaming through the woods one day he comes upon Joan giving vent to her grief over her father's death and tries to cheer her up, but unaccustomed to the sight of man, she darts away. Several days later, Joan is rambling through the woods when she comes upon the big doll Barbara forgot by the roadside when she went in search of her nurse who had wandered a short distance away. Fascinated by the plaything she takes it away with her. The loss of the doll is discovered, and Merrill goes to hunt for it. Near the spot where Barbara said she left it, Merrill finds a rag garter. He recognizes it as belonging to Joan and goes to her cabin. He demands the toy, but Joan refuses to give it up. Grekko intervenes in behalf of his ward, and Merrill finally consents to let Joan keep the doll. He learns that she is untutored and begins to teach her to read from the primer which Barbara brought along with her. Grekko meanwhile has been harboring a hatred for Merrill; he assumes that the latter's intentions are not good. His animosity comes to white heat one day when Merrill calls upon Joan. She is in swimming. Merrill refuses to obey the demands of Grekko to keep away from Joan and is attacked. By an artifice Merrill succeeds in overpowering Grekko and then goes in search of Joan. Months later Joan and Merrill are madly in love with each other. But when Grekko sees Merrill caressing his sister he informs Joan, who scathingly denounces the broker. By a prearranged plan with Grekko he is to fire and kill the broker when Joan is in his arms. When Joan finishes upbraiding Merrill he tells her that the other woman is his sister, and that he is in love with no other girl but Joan. Overcome with love for the man she throws herself into his arms, and it is then that she realizes what will happen to him. In order to spare his life she places herself in such a position that she receives the bullet. Grekko sees the enormity of his crime and tries to make amends, but is driven away by Merrill. Believing that he has killed Joan, Grekko leaves the country. But she received a slight wound only, and when Joan regains consciousness, the lovers come to a perfect understanding and the renewal of their love.