A Border Tale was the companion feature to the Pathe "actuality" film The Freak. The hero is an army officer; the heroine is a mountain girl. When the hero's life is threatened by bandits, it is the heroine who saves his life at the cost of her own. This sort of fare was considered intensely romantic back in 1910, especially by young women who knew deep down in their hearts that they would never be asked to lay down their lives for their sweethearts. Like most Pathes of the era, A Border Tale was color-tinted by hand.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide