The Breaker (1916)

Piazzia, a notorious counterfeiter, is trailed by government detectives. To elude the sleuths, the crook surreptitiously exchanges a portmanteau filled with spurious money for one which John Widder, an eccentric young inventor, carries. There comes to live in the garret room adjoining that of Widder's, Alice Treadwell. She ekes out a miserable existence typing intricate medical treatises. John, to aid the girl in dire distress, overcomes his scruples and cashes one of the counterfeit bills. He confesses his crime to Alice, and tells her how he came into possession of the counterfeiter's suitcase. Together they seek the counterfeiters. Government agents appear and arrest John. Alice, however, steps forward, orders John's release and the rest of the real crooks. Her orders are obeyed promptly, for, it develops, Alice, instead of being a struggling little typist, is indeed one of the secret service agents who had been set to trap the crooks. With $2,000 reward as their home stake, John and Alice are married.