G.W. 313
George Walser, a clerk in a banking house, lives with his unmarried sister. Through an accident, he discovers that the son of his employer has betrayed his sister, and calls upon the son to demand that he marry the wronged woman. The son refuses. At this the brother, overcome by blind rage, strikes a blow which results in the seducer's death. Walser is arrested and sentenced to imprisonment for ten years in the stone quarries near the Chateau If. Here he becomes acquainted with Adolph Gautier, who had been sent to prison for political offenses. Gautier is enormously rich and for the kindness shown to him by Walser in prison, he makes Walser his sole heir. The estate is one of the richest in France and Walser finds himself in the possession of unlimited wealth. He hears that his sister, who has been the cause of his misfortune, has become a sister in a neighboring convent. He calls upon her, forgives her and intends spending the rest of his life near her. At this time he receives an invitation from a neighboring landlord, whom he befriends in financial distress. The landlord's daughter falls in love with Walser and though he struggles manfully against it, Walser stills the voice of his young heart and becomes engaged to the daughter of the landlord, whose name is Elsie. He invites his fiancée to go hunting with him on his preserves. A former suitor for the hand of Elsie joins the party, and in the midst of their hunt they meet a wild bear. In the scramble for positions of safety, Walser has his clothes torn by the branches. This accident reveals the brand on his upper left arm, G.W. 313, which had been burned into his flesh after he had entered prison. The defeated rival notices the fatal brand and after short inquiries discovers the real identity of Walser, who had changed his name. Walser is confronted with these facts just as he is about to reveal his past to his future father-in-law. The engagement is at once broken and Walser decides to leave the country. Brooding over the terrible revelation which had been hers, Elsie remembers a photograph which her lover bad taken of Walser in the act of helping a poor old woman carry a bundle of wood to her hut. Looking at the picture, she becomes convinced that Walser could never have been criminal at heart, and she hastens to Walser's sister in the convent and from her hears a confession of the truth. There she also meets Walser, who had come to bid his sister farewell. Explanations follow and the happiness of Elsie and her lover are complete.
