The Substitute Fireman

The Substitute Fireman

Part of The Hazards of Helen

1915•13m

Thriller

A warm friendship springs up between Quirkly and Helen, when the fireman saves the girl's life. In his desire to be near Helen, Quirkly obtains a room in the house where the girl telegrapher boards. Badger, a crook, stopping in the same house, learns that Quirkly is in the habit of carrying his savings in a bag suspended from his neck. Entering the room with a confederate, Badger chloroforms the fireman and steals the money. Helen hears the noise of the struggle, but comes too late to apprehend the crooks.

Open in PickFlick

Production

Kalem Company

Language

EN

Status

Released

Release Date

Cast

Helen Holmes

Helen Holmes

Helen

Robyn Adair

Robyn Adair

Quirkly - a Fireman

Edward Roberts

Badger - a Crook

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5.3

Near Eternity

Near Eternity

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1915

In Danger's Path

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5.0

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1915

A Wild Ride

A Wild Ride

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The Fate of Number One

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1915

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The Runaway Boxcar

The Runaway Boxcar

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1915

The Limited's Peril

The Limited's Peril

Wharton, trailing Red Leary and his gang, learns that the men intend to wreck the Limited. Curley, a fireman, is implicated. The crooks become aware of Wharton's presence and attack him. Helen comes to the detective's rescue with a revolver and captures one of the men.

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A Perilous Chance

A Perilous Chance

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Train Order Number Forty-Five

Train Order Number Forty-Five

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Train Order Number Forty-Five

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The Broken Rail

The Broken Rail

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The Broken Rail

1915

Nerves of Steel

Nerves of Steel

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Nerves of Steel

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A Girl's Grit

A Girl's Grit

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1915

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A Matter of Seconds

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A Matter of Seconds

1915

The Watertank Plot

The Watertank Plot

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1915

A Test of Courage

A Test of Courage

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1915

A Mile a Minute

A Mile a Minute

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1915

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Danger Ahead!

1915

The Girl and the Special

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The Girl and the Special

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The Girl on the Bridge

The Girl on the Bridge

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5.0

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5.5

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Tapped Wires

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The Broken Wire

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The Peril of the Rails

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The Peril of the Rails

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The Perilous Swing

The Perilous Swing

Helen is enjoying a ride on her horse, "Hazard," after her day's work, when news comes that "Red" Purdy and his aides are escaping after making a big haul. When the automobile in which they are escaping breaks down they take to a handcar. Helen pursues them down the track while the Sheriff and his posse set out to head them off on a short cut.

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The Switchman's Story

The Switchman's Story

Number 68 in the Hazards of Helen series.

The Switchman's Story

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The Girl Telegrapher's Nerve

The Girl Telegrapher's Nerve

Steve Nelson, a clever crook, arrives at the little station where Helen is operator. He lives quietly at the village's little boarding house preparing for a coup when Helen receives instructions that lead her to suspect Steve.

The Girl Telegrapher's Nerve

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A Race for a Life

A college boy's prank imperils the life of the railroad president's son who has worked his way up to engineer in his course that starts "from the bottom." Tied to the engine, the son is speeding on a runaway engine toward the Flicker Creek bridge which has been swept away by the floods.

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The Girl Who Dared

The smugglers seem in a fair way to escape on a stolen engine when Helen, unhitching a team from a nearby wagon, races down the road towards the railroad bridge from which a rope is hanging directly over the track. Standing astride the two speeding horses Helen leaps to the rope, and swaying in mid-air makes a perilous drop to the stolen engine as it dashes past.

The Girl Who Dared

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The Detective's Peril

The Detective's Peril

Hanging from a rope over the track, the detective seems certain to plunge to death when the oncoming train splits the knot of the rope which has been tied to a rail and slung over the bridge girder. Helen's presence of mind and nerve in swinging out over the river on the other end of the rope and thus balancing the detective until the train has passed prevents the terrible catastrophe. Later, when pursuing the culprits, Helen once more takes her life in her hands by throwing a lasso from the hand car on which they are pursuing the freight over the brake beam, and then crawling hand over hand to the top of the car.

The Detective's Peril

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The Trapping of 'Peeler' White

The Trapping of 'Peeler' White

Dick Benton is making a game attempt to start life all over again, after escaping from prison where he was confined for a crime he did not commit. "Peeler" White, who was really guilty, and who aided Benton to escape without telling the reason for his interest, stumbles across the young man who is now an express messenger. "Peeler" threatens to disclose his knowledge unless Benton aids him in a fake hold-up. The young man pretends to be a willing victim, but really warns the railroad detectives and "Peeler" and his companion find themselves in a trap on the train the following day.

The Trapping of 'Peeler' White

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The Record Run

The Record Run

The story is built around the rivalry of two railroads, and the record run that is to decide the awarding of large mail contracts.

The Record Run

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The Race for a Siding

Through an accomplice the band of conspirators preying on railroads succeed in having the boxcar loaded with auto tires sidetracked at Lone Point instead of being taken on to its rightful destination. They are getting away with the valuable shipment when Helen takes a hand in the affair. While each of the trio carries a load of tires back to the autos which are in a sheltered spot, Helen hurriedly climbs the side of the boxcar and releasing the brakes the car, with its heavy load, starts down grade at great speed.

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The Human Telegram

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The Bridge of Danger

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One Chance in a Hundred

One Chance in a Hundred

Billy Warren, timekeeper on the construction job, arouses the enmity of Brent and Easton when he resents their bullying of the other men. Pay day finds the men celebrating in riotous fashion, and Brent in a crazed moment breaks into the station and attacks Helen. Her cries bring Warren, who trounces the bully.

One Chance in a Hundred

1916

The Capture of Red Stanley

The Capture of Red Stanley

Red Stanley's band has successfully robbed the express car and the members are making good their escape when they come upon Helen and her girl chum riding in the woods. The girls are set upon but they succeed by desperate riding in making their escape temporarily and, when danger seems near again, are saved by the approaching railroad detectives searching for the Stanley band. A running fight results in the capture of one of the band, but Stanley and his chief aide escape. Under cover of darkness, as Helen is working alone in the desolate station, the two enter and bind and gag her.

The Capture of Red Stanley

1916

The Spiked Switch

The Spiked Switch

Trent returns to the throttle too soon after his recovery from illness. On the following day Ruth, his daughter, and Hume plan to elope. Trent, with a new fireman, is suddenly taken with a weak spell and when the fireman becomes panic-stricken there is a scuffle which ends with the fireman thrown to the ground while the fast freight speeds on.

The Spiked Switch

1916

The Treasure Train

The Treasure Train

"Red" Byrd and his aides succeed in learning that a large treasure is being shipped on a certain freight car under special guard. They overpower the relief operator at Helen's station and tamper with the signals so that the treasure train stops, while the crew runs ahead to investigate, leaving Spencer alone to guard the treasure.

The Treasure Train

1916

A Race Through the Air

A Race Through the Air

The 84th film in the Hazards of Helen series

A Race Through the Air

1916

In Death's Pathway

In Death's Pathway

Burkett, superintendent of the Western Railway, opposes his daughter's friendship for Dick Benton, one of the company's lawyers, favoring the latter's fellow-worker, Guy Warren. Warren succeeds in putting through a scheme which results in Dick's discharge. The lovers plan to elope and enlist the aid of Helen. But Eleanor's father learns of the move and wires ahead to police officials to board her train and arrest her while he follows in his special. By a daring leap from a handcar to the train Helen succeeds in warning Eleanor of her peril, but is too late, and Helen and Dick are forced to stand idly by while Burkett starts on the return trip in his special, carefully guarding Eleanor.

In Death's Pathway

1916

The Mysterious Cipher

The Mysterious Cipher

Chilton, a crooked dealer in antiques, decides on a daring scheme to recoup his finances by defrauding the railroad. A car-load of cheap furniture is shipped with a valuation of $40,000 on it. Blanding, the tool of Chilton and his partner, awaits at Lone Point a telegram giving the number of the car.

The Mysterious Cipher

1916

The Engineer's Honor

The Engineer's Honor

Circumstances make Helen think that Jack, the engineer and son of the road's auditor, is guilty of the theft of $50 that comes to light through a shortage in her accounts. Gypsy Joe, the real thief, gathers his followers to seek vengeance on the train crew for having thrown him off the train.

The Engineer's Honor

1916

To Save the Road

To Save the Road

The vote stands a tie on the railroad bill that will mean ruin to the Western line should it pass the State Legislature. By getting Senator Brown, who is aboard a liner quarantined in the bay, to the Capitol the day will be saved. The road superintendent takes a daring chance and aboard a motorboat succeeds in smuggling the Senator ashore and to a Western special which speeds off towards the Capitol of the neighboring State.

To Save the Road

1916

The Broken Brake

The Broken Brake

In a scuffle between the assistant foreman and a discharged employee at the mountain construction camp the latter's revolver is fired, bringing about a dynamite explosion that severely injures many of the men.

The Broken Brake

1916

A Plunge from the Sky

A Plunge from the Sky

Agents of a foreign power are seeking to get possession of the plans of a new aeroplane motor invented by Dick Benton. Under cover of darkness they succeed in their scheme and are escaping in their automobile when it plunges over an embankment near Lone Point.

A Plunge from the Sky

1916

A Mystery of the Rails

A Mystery of the Rails

Jud Hendricks, foreman of the construction camp, is being blackmailed by Gypsy Joe, who knows of a dark page in the Hendricks' past. Hendricks and Tom Rasom are rivals for the favor of Helen, with Tom in the lead. The latter, an engineer, is about to take his train out when he finds Gypsy Joe hiding in a boxcar.

A Mystery of the Rails

1916

Hurled Through the Drawbridge

Hurled Through the Drawbridge

Learning that the driver of the Comet car has been disabled on the eve of the big race, Sinton, a gambler, bets heavily on its rival. But his plans go awry when Gordon, the owner of the Comet car, meets Naroche, a celebrated French driver, and engages him to pilot the racer.

Hurled Through the Drawbridge

1916

With the Aid of the Wrecker

With the Aid of the Wrecker

Greggs, returning from abroad with a large consignment of precious stones, thwarts the first attempt of Gentleman Joe and his accomplice to rob him at his hotel, but they follow him aboard the train the when he is alone on the observation platform they attack him, and a struggle ensues in which Greggs is finally thrown to the ground from the speeding train. Helen, riding through the hills in an auto, comes upon him before Joe and his pal can alight from the train, Greggs gives her the diamonds and tells her to speed away and rush help back to take care of his injuries.

With the Aid of the Wrecker

1916

At Danger's Call

At Danger's Call

Helen, discharged by the superintendent without justification, comes to the rescue when a flat car, loaded with dynamite, is tearing to certain destruction down the grade, bearing the mischievous son of the superintendent.

At Danger's Call

1916

The Secret of the Box Car

The Secret of the Box Car

Escaping after an early morning bank robbery, Gentleman Joe and his pal succeed in boarding a freight train headed toward Lone Point. Fearing rightly that a warning has been sent down the line, they secrete their loot in a box car, and, after noting its number, alight and seek cover until after the pursuit has cooled.

The Secret of the Box Car

1916

Ablaze on the Rails

Ablaze on the Rails

Helen, by a courageous leap from a motorcycle, reaches the burning boxcar in which the detectives are imprisoned and succeeds in applying the brakes in time to bring it to a stop and save them from almost certain death.

Ablaze on the Rails

1916

The Hoodoo of Division B

The Hoodoo of Division B

The new superintendent scoffs at the men's fear of Engine 3615, and declares that it must be put into service at once. Engineer Kent, a veteran of the road, refuses to take the throttle and is discharged. Dick Benton, a young engineer, is induced to take the engine out and "kill this talk of a hoodoo."

The Hoodoo of Division B

1916

Defying Death

Defying Death

Dick Benton, a young attorney of the railroad, is on his way to the Capitol to deliver evidence involving Riggs in a conspiracy arising out of a fight with the railroad over a franchise. At Lone Point he learns that by leaving the package to be picked up by the express it will reach the Governor sooner than he can bring it on the local.

Defying Death

1916

The Death Swing

The Death Swing

Stallings' plot to spoil the demonstration of Dick Benton's newly invented safety stop for trains seems certain of success when the locomotive is sent running wild down the tracks. Helen saves the day by climbing out on a wire stretching across the tracks and dropping to the speeding engine.

The Death Swing

1916

The Blocked Track

The Blocked Track

On a visit to the State Prison with Superintendent Melvin of the construction camp near Lone Point. Helen gains the friendship of Butler, a former telegrapher who had been wrongfully convicted on circumstantial evidence. Butler is soon to be released and Helen promises to aid him.

The Blocked Track

1916

To Save the Special

To Save the Special

Film 101 in the Hazards of Helen series

To Save the Special

1916

A Daring Chance

A Daring Chance

Film 102 in the Hazards of Helen series.

A Daring Chance

1916

The Lost Messenger

The Lost Messenger

Film 103 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Lost Messenger

1916

The Gate of Death

The Gate of Death

Film 104 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Gate of Death

1916

The Lone Point Mystery

The Lone Point Mystery

Film 105 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Lone Point Mystery

1916

The Runaway Sleeper

The Runaway Sleeper

Film 106 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Runaway Sleeper

1916

The Forgotten Train Order

The Forgotten Train Order

107th film in the Hazards of Helen series

The Forgotten Train Order

1916

The Trial Run

The Trial Run

Film 108 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Trial Run

1916

The Lineman's Peril

The Lineman's Peril

Film #109 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Lineman's Peril

1916

The Midnight Express

The Midnight Express

Film #110 in the Hazards of Helen series.

The Midnight Express

1916

The Vanishing Box Car

The Vanishing Box Car

Film 111 of the Hazards of Helen film series

The Vanishing Box Car

1916

A Race with Death

A Race with Death

Film #112 in the Hazards of Helen series.

A Race with Death

1916

The Mogul Mountain Mystery

The Mogul Mountain Mystery

Bert Morgan and "Squint" Booth are freight agents for rival railroads concerned in getting the contract for hauling the gold ore produced by the Mogul Mountain mine. The contract finally falls to the road employing Morgan upon his promise to have cars in operation over an abandoned spur track within three weeks' time.

The Mogul Mountain Mystery

1917

The Fireman's Nemesis

The Fireman's Nemesis

Joe, the Wop, employed in the roundhouse near Lone Point is notified that he has been promoted and will take his place that night as a fireman on the local freight. On his way home he stops at the station to tell Helen, the operator, of his good fortune. As Joe starts down the track towards home, Scarlotta, a member of a notorious vendetta that has marked Joe for death, shoots him from ambush. Helen sees Joe fall in the middle of the track and barely succeeds in dragging him to safety out of the path of the limited. Joe's wound is not serious and that night he takes his place as fireman on the freight. Determined to "get" Joe, Scarlotta visits the station where Helen is still at her key and after binding her and locking her in a closet, throws the switch so that the freight will collide with the cars on the siding.

The Fireman's Nemesis

1917

The Wrecked Station

The Wrecked Station

Helen, the telegraph operator at Lone Point, receives a telegram for Sydney Wayne, superintendent of the Graham Gravel plant, advising him that the plant has changed ownership and that Stanton Grey accompanied by his daughter Edith, is on his way to Lone Point to inspect the property. Wayne is startled because he has gambled away the company's money and realizes that his books will not balance. Fortune appears to favor him when Grey is carried into the station unconscious as the result of an automobile accident. He extracts Grey's wallet from his pocket but Cole, the gambler, who has trailed Wayne gets a photograph of him in the act. With the photographic evidence, the gambler tries to blackmail Wayne.

The Wrecked Station

1917

The Railroad Claim Intrigue

The Railroad Claim Intrigue

Barstow, a crook, conceives the idea of buying old automobiles, staging "accidents" with them, and settling with the railroad. At the Lone Point crossing one of his machines is hit by the train and the flagman is discharged because it appears that he has been negligent. Helen, the telegraph operatic, gets a day off and starts for the hills on horseback. She meets Duncan, a railroad detective sent to investigate the increasing number of crossing accidents.

The Railroad Claim Intrigue

1917

The Death Siding

The Death Siding

Helen, the telegraph operator at the Lone Point Station, shields Miguel, a greaser, under suspicion of having stolen some horses, until the real thieves are caught.

The Death Siding

1917

The Prima Donna's Special

The Prima Donna's Special

Helen, station agent and telegraph operator at Lone Point, is in despair over a broken sounder when Morley, who has dropped off a passing freight, offers to fix it for her. Recognizing in him a man whose skill points back to happier days, Helen encourages him to tell her his story, promising to get him the position of relief operator if he cares to accept it. Morley's story takes him back several years to the time when he gave up his position as an operator following the death of his wife. He has never seen his little daughter since turning her over to the care of a rich brother.

The Prima Donna's Special

1917

The Sidetracked Sleeper

The Sidetracked Sleeper

Rupert Winslow, traffic superintendent of the railroad that employs Helen as operator at Lone Point, receives a telegram stating that his wife, who is ill, will be on the midnight express. He calls in Summers, a veteran brakeman on the passenger run and instructs him to watch over Mrs. Winslow and to sidetrack her sleeper if she requires medical attention.

The Sidetracked Sleeper

1917

The Hazards of Helen

The Hazards of Helen

The Hazards of Helen is an American melodramatic adventure film serial of 119 twelve-minute episodes released between November 7, 1914 and February 24, 1917. Most episodes of this serial are presumed lost.

The Hazards of Helen

1917

Recommended

The Apology

The Apology

Twenty years after the disappearance of her daughter, a recovering alcoholic is preparing to host her family's Christmas celebration when her estranged ex-brother-in-law arrives unannounced, bearing nostalgic gifts and a heavy secret.

The Apology

2022

5.9

Black Widow

Black Widow

Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.

Black Widow

1987

6.2

Indemnity

Indemnity

An ex-fireman with PTSD goes on the run when accused of a crime he doesn't even remember committing, leading him down a rabbit hole of conspiracy to the highest degree.

Indemnity

2022

6.7

Side Street

Side Street

A struggling young father-to-be gives in to temptation and impulsively steals an envelope of money from the office of a corrupt attorney. Instead of a few hundred dollars, it contains $30,000. When he decides to return the money, things go wrong - and that is only the beginning of his troubles.

Side Street

1950

6.5

The Quiller Memorandum

The Quiller Memorandum

After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.

The Quiller Memorandum

1966

5.9

Shadow of a Doubt

Shadow of a Doubt

In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.

Shadow of a Doubt

1943

7.5

The Truth About Emanuel

The Truth About Emanuel

A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.

The Truth About Emanuel

2013

6.0

The Lady Vanishes

The Lady Vanishes

Young socialite Iris Carr befriends an older woman while traveling solo by train. When Iris wakes from a nap, the woman is gone and other passengers claim she never existed.

The Lady Vanishes

2013

6.4

Cul-de-sac

Cul-de-sac

On the run and in search of help, two wounded gangsters find refuge in the secluded castle of a feeble man and his wife; however, under the point of a gun, nothing is what it seems.

Cul-de-sac

1966

6.7

No Name on the Bullet

No Name on the Bullet

When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.

No Name on the Bullet

1959

6.6

The MacKintosh Man

The MacKintosh Man

A member of British Intelligence assumes a fictitious criminal identity and allows himself to be caught, imprisoned, and freed in order to infiltrate a spy organization and expose a traitor; only, someone finds him out and exposes him to the gang...

The MacKintosh Man

1973

6.1

Pickup on South Street

Pickup on South Street

In New York City, an insolent pickpocket, Skip McCoy, inadvertently sets off a chain of events when he targets ex-prostitute Candy and steals her wallet. Unaware that she has been making deliveries of highly classified information to the communists, Candy, who has been trailed by FBI agents for months in hopes of nabbing the spy ringleader, is sent by her ex-boyfriend, Joey, to find Skip and retrieve the valuable microfilm he now holds.

Pickup on South Street

1953

7.4

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