It was mother who through false love had sinned. Years later on her deathbed, as the last sacraments were administered, she confesses the folly of her youth. Her husband, a straightforward, conscientious man, had loved the boy as his own. A few days later the priest gives the son a note his mother had left him. The few lines on the first page sting him to the heart, but he does not weaken and his conscience tells him not to turn the leaf of his absolute disaster.

Ashton Kirk is a wealthy and scholarly young man who solves mysteries that have the police puzzled. Stella Morse asks Kirk to find out who is threatening her uncle, Dr. Morse. Morse has a copy of a secret treaty between Russia and the United States that was made during the Russo-Japanese War. When the Doctor is murdered Kirk takes on the case. Japanese spies have been trying to purloin the treaty to ruin relations between its country and America. Kirk manages to get the treaty himself and prevents a war from breaking out.

16 episode adventure serial. 1. The Grey Seal 2. The Stolen Rubies 3. The Counterfeit Five 4. The Metzer Murder Mystery 5. A Fight for Honor 6. Below the Deadline 7. The Devil's Work 8. The Underdog 9. The Alibi 10. Two Crooks and a Knave 11. A Rogue's Defeat 12. The Man Higher Up 13. Good for Evil 14. A Sheep Among Wolves 15. The Tapped Wires 16. The Victory.

Draw back your skirts, oh maiden pure and fair, lest they perchance may touch her garments as she passes. Shun her as you would a vile reptile or a fell disease that pollutes the air. Give her no word or look that would bespeak the sympathy of humanity. Put forth a willing hand to clasp His, the hand that led her to destruction and disgrace. Shower upon him the smiles, the same tender graces and the same love that she saw fit to honor him with. Pass her, oh maiden, with a pure proud face, if she puts out a poor polluted palm. Ignore in silent contempt the piteous specimen of womanhood as she passes, beseeching one little token of womanly recognition. But, lay your hand in his on bridal day, the man who brought her there, and swear to cling to him. Stone the woman; let the man go free?