The Clean Gun (1917)

Stephen Crawfield, an old friend of Senator Norton, needs a large sum of money immediately, so he proposes to the Senator's daughter Matie. She refuses him, and later Crawfield overhears Matie accept the proposal of Jack Algers, a young society man. Jack's millionaire uncle, Dean Grayson, who refuses to give Jack money to marry, is shot and killed at Senator Norton's hunting party, during which a mysterious stranger lurks behind trees. When a gun which looks like Jack's is found in a tree stump, Jack entrusts both guns to Crawfield, who switches Jack's clean gun with the used one. Jack is arrested and Crawfield courts Matie again, but Della Markham, who loves Crawfield, warns him to stop his suit and says that she saw him shoot Grayson. Their conversation, which is overheard by Senator Norton and Matie, leads to Crawfield's arrest and Jack's release. The mysterious stranger, who has continued his lurking, buys a ticket for a journey and, grinning at the spectators, says that he has merely butted into the story.