In the Chorus

A young widow is compelled because of her poverty to leave her only child, a little daughter, at a charitable institution, while she hunts for work. The child, punished because of some minor infraction of the rules, runs away, and takes refuge with a kindly old couple, who being childless, welcome and finally adopt her. In the meantime the mother receives word from the asylum authorities that the little one has been lost and that everything indicates that she was drowned. The mother, alone in the world, has just secured a position in the chorus of a musical show, and tries to drown her sorrows in a life of gaiety. Ten years later, a theatrical manager who stops by chance at a farmhouse, is charmed by the voice and beauty of a young girl he sees there. He offers her an engagement in one of his attractions, and the girl, dazzled by the thought of a life on the stage, gladly consents, and later appears in the city. The mother is a member of the same chorus, and at first laughs at the new member of the cast and her shy country ways. She and the other girls induce the newcomer to attend a dinner which some men about town are giving, and laugh at her prim, high-necked dress. On a sudden inspiration the mother offers to rearrange the girl's attire so that she will not look so "old fashioned." Deftly she removes the yoke of the dress, and for the first time sees a scar on the girl's shoulder. A recollection of the fact that her own child was scalded on that same shoulder years before flashes through her brain. A few questions establish that her belief is correct. The mother recognizes the daughter, but the girl does not know her. The mother's first thought is to save her daughter from treading the path she has followed. She induces her not to attend the dinner, and after the others have gone on jeeringly she paints to the frightened, innocent, country-bred child the pitfalls and dangers of a life in the chorus. She proves to her that she will be far happier with the people who have been so kind to her, and leads the girl back to her foster parents. But the mother does not reveal her identity. She considers that she is not worthy to associate with the innocent young woman, and decides that it is her duty to disappear as soon as she has placed her in safety. She creeps into the girl's room at night, places a farewell message on her pillow, kisses her softly and steals out into the night alone, determined to lead a new life and in time become worthy to reveal herself to the daughter she had lost, but found again - IMDb