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Learn more- When Mary Custer thoughtlessly turned from her husband to flirt with Jack Legree, it was only through her own bravery that she at last succeeded in undoing the harm that her coquetry created. John Custer was a splendid Southern gentleman, a type of the ante-bellum days, a kind husband to his young wife Mary, who really loved him devotedly. He was studiously inclined and not overfond of the ballroom. One night he and his wife attended a dance at a neighboring plantation, and Jack Legree, the gallant of the neighborhood, set out to entangle Mary. She was very young, an acknowledged beauty, and for the moment fell under the spell of his cajolery. She walks out into the moonlit garden with him, and he wheedles her into snipping off one of her lovelocks and to give to him as a keepsake. Just at this moment, the husband, who has grown suspicious through an incident earlier in the evening, happens on the scene and assails Legree. He beats up the unprincipled young whelp, and severely orders Mary into the house. Then he strides away to his own home, determined to have done with his wife. She follows in her carriage, and begs him not to misjudge her, but he imperiously orders her out of his sight. Later, Legree sends a challenge to Custer to fight a duel at daybreak in the Oak Clearing. Mary intercepts the epistle and decides to offer herself up as a sacrifice to her own foolishness, by appearing in place of her husband, saving him from the possibility of death. She secures one of his suits and appears at the dueling place with her identity undiscovered. The old negro whom she has taken into her confidence, however, has told his wife about it, and as she cannot keep a secret, the news comes quickly to John Custer. He rides to the scene posthaste, and separates the contestants just as they open fire. Legree has shot Mary and she falls wounded. Custer carries her back to his home, his love for her is renewed, and on the bed of convalescence, she repents her folly and pledges her fealty to the only man she really loves, her husband.
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