A Man of Sentiment

Herman Heupelkossel, a kindhearted orderly at a New York hospital, is teased by his fellow workers for the sympathy he gives patients. An unconscious, badly bleeding girl under twenty, the victim of a speeding, drunk driver, is brought in by the driver, twenty-four-year-old John Russell, who wants to be punished for his offense. Herman sees that the girl, Julia Wilkins, will be alright in a few days and convinces John to hide his drunkenness so that he will be able to help Julia, rather than go to jail. With the aid of Limburger cheese, black coffee and Herman's old pipe, John reluctantly covers up his alcoholic breath. As Julia gets better, she and John fall in love, and when he brings her home to her roominghouse, he proposes. When the accident occurred, Julia had been on her way to meet her former suitor Stanley Colton, a wealthy playboy, and accept his offer to become his mistress in exchange for luxurious rooms, a piano, musical instruction and eventually a trip to Europe to study. She now tells Colton, who is waiting at her room, that she only kidded herself into believing that she was a musical genius. Colton still extends an offer to help her, which John rebuffs. John, who has hidden from Julia the fact that he is the black sheep son of wealthy parents, takes her to his home, where his family, especially his snooty sister Doris, make the meeting unpleasant because they think she is after his money. As a result, Julia breaks off the engagement, which leads John to go on a drinking binge. When Herman learns of this, he calls Julia, who brings John to her room. They plan to marry without financial help from his family, and this time, Julia, anxious to leave before anything else goes wrong, calls Colton to ask him for money. She goes to have dinner at his apartment, and after she refuses his entreaties that she break with John, he has her wait in his bedroom while he answers the door. John, whom Colton craftily had called and asked to visit after he heard from Julia, enters and accuses Julia of selling herself to Colton. Their engagement broken again, Julia soon is kicked out of her room for non-payment of rent. After two weeks, she is taken to the hospital, suffering from pneumonia. Herman, thinking that John's presence when she regains consciousness could determine whether she lives or dies, leaves the hospital to find him, at the risk of losing his job, but arrives at John's house just after John has left to take a steamer to Europe. Herman convinces John's father of the urgency of the situation and they find John. As Mr. Russell is the hospital's heaviest donor, Herman is not fired. Julia recovers and the couple are reconciled.