The heroine had little time for romancing newspaper reporter Walter Jameson, what with Doctor X, alias Marcus Del Mar, threatening American democracy in general and master detective Craig Kennedy's designs for a new torpedo in particular. Whenever Doctor X has Elaine or Jameson in his grasp, they are inevitably saved in the nick of time by a mystery figure garbed in black.

In Borrowed Plumes is a silent comedy

Elaine Dodge is the beautiful young daughter of Taylor Dodge, president of the Consolidated Insurance Company. When Mr Dodge is murdered by a mysterious cloaked figure known only as the Clutching Hand, Elaine enlists the aid of Craig Kennedy to unmask the killer

One of many Pearl White silent action movie serials. CHAPTER TITLES: 1. The Serpent Sign; 2. The Cryptic Ring; 3. The Watching Eye; 4. The Vengeance Of Wu Fang; 5. The Saving Circles; 6. Spontaneous Combustion; 7. The Ear in the Wall; 8. The Opium Smugglers; 9. The Tell-Tale Heart; 10. Shadows Of War.

On the advice of his friend Pendleton, Ashton Kirk, a scholar and amateur detective, pays a visit to a house whose occupants, Charles Cramp and his sister Grace, complain of strange happenings involving Mexicans. Discussions with Ashton's agent in Mexico reveal that Cramp's father was once an engraver, who, in desperate need of cash, had agreed to supply Alva, a notorious thief, with forged currency plates. After a change of heart, Cramp refused to deliver the plates to Alva, and now Cramp's aunt, Miss Hohenlo, has come to her brother's home to find them herself. The clever Ashton realizes that the Mexicans are cohorts of Alva's and eventually uncovers an elaborate signalling and tunnel system used by Miss Hohenlo and Alva to locate the missing plates. Deciphering a message announcing the time and place of the arrival of the Mexicans, Ashton and his aides hide themselves in the house cellar, capture the thieves and destroy the plates.

When his son is reluctant to fight for democracy Philip Nolan II shares with him the secret he has long held, the treason of the first Philip Nolan "The Man Without a Country." He explains how the elder Nolan played into the hands of Aaron Burr; how Thomas Jefferson was elected president over Burr; how Alexander Hamilton prevented the conscienceless Burr becoming governor of New York; the duel between Hamilton and Burr; how Philip Nolan was later arrested on his wedding night for aiding Burr, who had conspired to start a rival government in the south to wage war against the United States, and how he was later banished from the United States for saying "Damn the United States! I wish I might never hear its name again," and how Philip Nolan died kissing the flag of the country he had execrated. Understanding how important freedom is the younger Nolan rushes to enlist.

Young New York playboy Stephen Winthrop inherits the entire estate of his wealthy Canadian uncle but pays scant attention to it, preferring the "party" life in New York. He is unaware that the family attorney, Frank Garson, has forbidden hunting on the Winthrop lands in Canada, cutting off the livelihoods of the local villagers. Mary Cartier, goddaughter of the village priest, travels to New York to try to get Stephen to change the policy. He returns with her to Canada, sees what's going on, and lifts the ban, then decides to stay in Canada. Mary returns to New York to try to help Garson's abandoned and ill wife and child, but the wife dies, and Mary brings back the small child to Canada. The villagers, mistaking the child for Mary's, are outraged at this "scarlet woman" flaunting her illegitimate child and attempt to drive her out. Complications ensue.

Young Edyth Vail, believes her fiancé Allen Morris may have committed a murder, asking Ashton Kirk to investigate the crime. The fiancé admits he went to the David Hume's home to retrieve plans for a submarine, invented by his scientist father and stolen by the murdered man, but Allen claims he left the home before retrieving the plans. Kirk uses a train conductor's punch ticket to discover the identity of the murderers, one of whom is mute, and sets a trap to apprehend the suspects.