The Baby Bride

He was the only son of a pretty young widow. Perhaps she spoiled him, but anyway she loved him dearly, for although he was under seven years old, he had many cute quaint ways, and heartily returned the affection of his mamma. Their next-door neighbor was a man the boy did not approve of. He was not married, for one thing, there were no little children in his house to play with. Besides, when he met mamma, he never had time to talk to her son. Really he was in love with the pretty young widow, but was too bashful to say so. Then, one day, a new interest came into the boy's life. A beautiful maiden, she was three years old, moved into the house next door. She was the niece of the man, and bad been left to him when brother died. The man, however, did not know much about children, and left the girl in the care of a cross old housekeeper, who did not appreciate her. It made the boy's blood boil, for he failed to understand why anyone could be anything but sweet to her. One of his few sorrows was that he did not have a little sister to play with, guide and protect, and he soon knew that the little girl next door was the very one he would have chosen had the stork deigned to consult him. Matters finally came to a climax. He saw the wicked housekeeper brutally and fiendishly scold the wonderful creature, and he decided that something must be done, so he firmly took her away, silencing the housekeeper's objections with missiles, led the baby to his home, and told his mother that now he had a little sister. His grief was profound when the child was taken away from him, and he could not understand why this was done, even when his mother explained to him that they had "no legal right" to the child. He did not comprehend what legal rights were, but later he learned, when he glanced at a newspaper and saw that the "legal rights" of a father were secondary to the legal rights of a husband. Naturally there was only one thing to do, elope, and he did it. The baby did not object; she liked the boy, and anything he said was law in her eyes. So she obediently took her bonnet, trotted to a window, permitted him to help her out stealthily and hand in hand they wandered along to a convenient parsonage. The minister listened to their troubles; he was a kindly man, then bade them wait until he could secure the necessary witnesses. Instead he telephoned the mother and she and the baby's uncle hastened to the parsonage. The boy explained that he was marrying the baby, to provide against her being neglected and ill-treated, and declared that he would defend his "legal rights." The uncle, really a good sort, but like most unmarried men, helpless when it came to a matter of caring for children saw a way out of the difficulty. He told the boy that he could have the guardianship of the baby if, and then he looked at the pretty widow inquiringly. She blushed and hesitated then, well there was a wedding that afternoon after all, and the baby was never neglected again. - IMDb