- Dora is a spirit wandering through the netherworld looking for her lost child. She meets Edith, her great-grandniece, at the Well at the World's End, and sees that Edith is about to make the same mistake that Dora herself did 70 years before: leave her husband and child for another man. Dora inhabits the body of an old servant and determines to stop Edith from ruining her life the way she did.—frankfob2@yahoo.com
- The spirit of Dora Becket wanders through purgatory looking for her lost child. She arrives at the Well at the World's End, and the Angel of the Well has her look down into it. Dora sees a young wife named Edith Wayne, who is one of her descendants. Edith is rich and spoiled, and her husband James is immersed in his business, so she feels neglected. Her son, Jinty, is a handful and she grows tired of him. Edith turns to her husband's cousin, Clyde Meredith, for attention.
Dora cries out that Edith must not follow the same path that Dora did - she must somehow warn Edith. The Angel at the Well tells Dora she can only reach Edith by passing through storms and flames. Dora agrees, and goes through an icy storm and burning fire to reach earth.
Meanwhile, Edith places her son in a boarding school, and tells her husband she is leaving to visit Beckets' Point, a vacation spot which has always been in the family. In reality, she meets Meredith there and the two plan to run off together. While at the vacation home, they see a portrait of a woman from 1850, a woman who looks similar to Edith. Edith explains that the woman is her great grand-aunt Dora, who drowned some seventy years ago. The spirit of Dora enters the house and attempts to speak with Edith, but the young woman cannot see or hear her. Neither can the caretaker, Nora. Then Dora comes upon Nora's grandmother Eileen, who had served in the household when Dora lived there. Eileen is now blind, deaf, and paralyzed. Dora enters Eileen's body, and the old woman suddenly rises and walks out of the room, much to the astonishment of Nora. Eileen walks into Edith's room, and the young woman cries out in fright. Eileen then tells Edith the story of another foolish woman who lived in this same house, seventy years ago.
Dora Becket was young and pretty, and her husband was harsh and old and unkind. The couple had one child, Totty, who was mischievous. Totty had a dog named Boss. One day the husband's half-brother, Francis Vincent, came to the house. He was an adventurer and lavished attention on Dora. The two planned to run off together in his ship. Both felt that Totty should be left behind with her father. Dora's husband left on a short trip, so she and Vincent plotted to leave. While packing, she was interrupted by Totty, who wanted to play. Dora heard Vincent whistle from outside, so she had to hurry. She put Totty to bed, and to make sure her daughter would not follow her, locked her in the room. Boss took up a position outside the door. Dora then went to Vincent's ship. A fire broke out at Dora's home. Boss barked but would not leave his post. He tried to free Totty from the locked door, but was overcome by the fire. Aboard the ship, Dora could see her house on fire. Vincent reassured her that her child would run out of the house, but Dora screamed that she had locked her daughter in her room. Dora leapt from the ship to try to reach the shore, and Vincent dove in after her. But Dora was swept away, while Vincent was rescued by his men.
The story completed, Edith rushes out of the house with only one thought - to get her son back before anything could happen to him. Nora comes upon her grandmother, now dead in her chair. Dora, back at the Well at the World's End, looks down and sees Edith push aside Meredith and drive off to get her child. The Angel tells Dora she has won the right now to find her little girl, and Dora finds herself transported to a place where there are trees, grass, and dim light and a brook, which she begins to follow. Meanwhile, with Edith driving full speed to her son, her husband is also driving toward the boarding school. Jinty is dreaming of climbing on the scaffold that surrounds the new gymnasium. Still asleep, he rises from his bed, makes his way outside the building, and climbs the scaffold. Edith reaches the school just in time to see the boy on the scaffold. She climbs up after him and reaches him just as he totters along the edge. Her husband arrives, and rescues both of them.
Dora comes across the old dog Boss, and knows that Totty must be nearby. She follows the dog, and at last she comes to a place where there are flowers, green trees, and sunshine. Across the field, Totty comes running to meet her mother, and the two embrace.
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