The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1916)

Bob Heaton is an internal revenue officer, working in the mountains of Virginia, hunting for whiskey stills which are supposed to be located somewhere near the Lonesome Pine Trail. Being unsuccessful, Heaton calls in the district revenue officer, Jack Hale. Through a spy, the Tolliver clan, who are the moonshiners, hear that Hale has arrived to help Heaton in his investigation. June Tolliver, the daughter of old Judd Tolliver, the head of the clan, pretends to have a sprained ankle at the foot of the big Lonesome Pine and when Hale comes along, he carries her to the cabin where he is captured by the moonshiners. Knowing they must work fast to get their illegal whiskey out of the county, old Judd Tolliver leaves Dave, his nephew, who is also in love with June, to guard Hale, while the rest of the gang rush the whiskey to the railroad. The increasing friendliness between June and Hale arouses Dave's jealousy, and he forces Hale to live in the cowshed. After several days of imprisonment Hale is able to set the straw in the shed on fire, burn through his rope bonds and escape. Hale gets back to town and with a posse starts for an old deserted shack where he thinks the illegal whiskey is hidden and where he expects to arrest the gang of moonshiners. The posse surrounds the cabin and upon breaking into it, after a sharp fight, find only June. The remainder of the gang escapes through an underground passageway. Hale sends a note to Heaton, saying that he will take his posse and look for the escaped moonshiners along the south trail and for Heaton and his posse to go along the north trail. There is an understanding between Hale and Heaton that the order of all notes is to be reversed. A spy is sent to deliver the note to Heaton and he pauses long enough to show its contents to the Tollivers, None of them can read except June, and she, wishing to protect her sweetheart, reverses the directions so that, instead of sending the moonshiners to meet Heaton, she throws them directly in Hale's path, which was directly opposite to what she intended to do. Hale is met and riddled with bullets by the moonshiners, who carry him to the cabin. There June pleads with her stern father to do something to save Hale's life. This Judd refuses to do, even though she confesses her love for the revenue officer. The men go out, leaving Dave behind, June induces Dave to ride for a doctor. Dave meets the posse in charge of Heaton and learns that he had had medical experience. He then tells Heaton where Hale is and the posse surround the cabin and by force of numbers induce the mountaineers to surrender, Heaton patches Hale up and then tells the moonshiners they will be permitted to go free if they will destroy their still. This old Judd Tolliver agrees to do. The old man discovers that Dave had been a traitor and shoots him. Hale rapidly recovers under June's nursing. He begs June to marry him, but she says she cannot leave her father, who has nothing left but her. Hale pleads, but in vain, and starts down the trail alone. Old Judd sees that June is sacrificing everything to be loyal to him and calls Hale back, telling him June wants to see him. Hale returns and June sees through her father's ruse and her heart is glad. Back near the Lonesome Pine old Judd walks slowly down the trail and into sunset.