The School Teacher and the Waif

Overview

Nora, the waif, is forced to attend school. She warms to her teacher for the way that he defends her against the taunts of some of the students, but when she's made to wear a dunce cap, she flees the schoolhouse in shame. Unsupervised by her alcoholic father, Nora becomes a determined truant, wandering the town during school hours. There she catches the attention of a huckster, who convinces her that they will run away and be married. The schoolmaster, meanwhile, preoccupied by Nora's absence, leaves his other students to go find her. He encounters her at a crossroads, being spirited away by the huckster, and calls the man's bluff by saying that he'll find them a minister.

Cast

Edwin August

The School Teacher

Mary Pickford

Nora, the Waif

Charles Hill Mailes

Nora's Father

Bert Hendler

A Street Fakir

Claire McDowell

The Street Fakir's Sweetheart

William A. Carroll

The Street Fakir's Assistant

Robert Harron

Schoolboy

Kate Bruce

Josephine Crowell

Ella Hall

Schoolgirl (unconfirmed)