The leading character, nicknamed "Hook and Hand," is a crook who operates with a hook which he had substituted for a lost left hand. "Hook" is associated in crime with Philip Sleek, a stepson of William Hartman, a banker. Hartman, the old millionaire, does not know of Philip's existence, his wife, for personal reasons, having omitted to mention him. He is a good for nothing, and for a time lives on his mother's generosity. She meets the boy secretly and does whatever she can to give him new starts in life, but all her efforts are of no avail. After "Hook" robs Hartman's establishment, at Philip's instigation, the mother, not knowing where her son had secured a big sum of money, prevails upon her husband to take his stepson into partnership, telling him that he is a cousin returned from abroad. In the meantime the crime is cleverly fastened upon Mr. Hartman's confidential secretary. This upsets the household arrangements because the secretary was to have married Mr. Hartman's adopted daughter. The story is still further complicated by "Hook and Hand's" refusal to enter into a conspiracy that would lead to the destruction of Miss Hartman. Here the clever operations of William Fox, a very crafty detective, who is engaged by Miss Hartman to unravel the mystery surrounding the accusations against her sweetheart, are productive of sensational results. A good many encounters take place between the gang and the police. The young detective finds himself in many tight places. The hero, not knowing at the last moment that he had been vindicated by a deathbed confession by "Hook and Hand," makes a spectacular escape from the officers in charge of his removal from the court to the State Penitentiary. The young man jumps from the window of a very fast moving train into the river, and thus makes on unnecessary getaway. The final scenes are full of thrill, showing the round-up of the gang and the burning of their dive, in which Miss Hartman is imprisoned and from which she is rescued by the police and Detective Fox.

• published: 07 Aug 2019
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