- Gretchen, an abandoned child, is raised by Frau Van Lom, the nastiest woman in the little Dutch village of Olenburg. As she grows up, Gretcen's few moments of happiness are those she spends with Carl, who is also an abandoned child, but who is raised by a poor family. When Gretchen refuses to marry a wealthy old man in exchange for his paying off Frau von Lom's mortgage, she is framed for theft and jailed. On top of that, Carl is taken away from the village and sent to the palace of the king. Complications ensue.
- Olenberg, a town in Holland, is famed for its pretty girls. One of these is Gretchen, who lives with her foster mother, Mrs. Van Lorn. Gretchen is beloved by everyone. Carl, a woodchopper, particularly loves Gretchen. He too, is a foster child. Mynher De Haas the town lawyer and capitalist, loves Gretchen and despite his fifty years cannot understand why the girl will not consider him as a suitor. Mrs. Van Lorn prefers the lawyer. Incidentally the lawyer holds a mortgage on the Van Lorn homestead. But Hulda, a dark beauty, is determined Gretchen will not have Carl. Every time she finds them together she notifies Mrs. Van Lorn who drags Gretchen away and leaves Carl and Hulda, One day De Haas comes to pop the question. As ho is making a fervent plea a friend fastens a fishhook to his wig. When he gets up off goes his wig. Gretchen laughs heartily. Mynher leaves in a rage. Determined to make the Van Lorn family pay for the insult he looks for the mortgage in his pocket. It's not there. He has Gretchen arrested as the thief. At the same time Carl is in the woods. A carriage approaches. On nearing Carl it stops and a liveried attendant gets out. Noticing a birthmark like a fleur-de-lys on Carl's back he calls another attendant, seizes the youth and throws him into the carriage. They drive off. The next day finds Gretchen on her way to the stocks, to pay for her theft. Mynher is following her. Just as the girl is to be locked in the lawyer finds the mortgage. He asks that Gretchen be freed. When the populace learns of his mistake they put him in the stocks, and free Gretchen. That evening a courier enters the town seeking a lost princess. The lucky girl has among her trinkets a beautiful locket. Hulda finds the locket in Gretchen's trunk. Hulda is proclaimed the princess. In a carriage in the square, she is told, is the prince she is to marry. The carriage door opens and out steps an old, wrinkled man. Hulda runs off, crying she isn't the princess, that Gretchen is the girl and that she stole the locket. Gretchen is placed on the throne. But the old man wasn't the prince. The prince, no other than Carl, comes from the coach and sits beside Gretchen. After the town's celebration a messenger announces that Carl's father has died and Carl is king. While the people hail him, Carl gathers Gretchen into his arms and asks her to be his queen. Then Gretchen awakes and finds it was only "Every Girl's Dream."
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