A Salutary Lesson (1910)

During a stay at beach resort Mr and Mrs Randall neglect their daughter and follow their own interests Mrs Randall entertains the local minister while Mr Randall agrees to take his daughter on a walk along the beach However he is attracted by a flirtatious young woman and the little girl wanders off on her own She clambers onto a seaside rock where she falls asleep unmindful of the incoming tide Her parents at last notice her absence and begin searching for her However the incoming tide has by this time surrounded her rock cutting her off from land A lifeguard hears her cries and swims to the rescue just as the rising tide is about to engulf her The child is returned to her parents who receive from their near tragedy a salutary lesson in the importance of being more careful parents