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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42069 ***
+
+JANET HARDY IN HOLLYWOOD
+
+by
+
+RUTHE S. WHEELER
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+The Goldsmith Publishing Company
+Chicago
+
+Copyright 1935 by
+The Goldsmith Publishing Company
+
+Made in U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                     PAGE
+      I. "The Chinese Image"                                    13
+     II. Leading Rôles                                          20
+    III. The Wind Roars                                         33
+     IV. Little Deer Valley                                     47
+      V. The White Menace                                       58
+     VI. Desperate Hours                                        64
+    VII. Sanctuary at Home                                      72
+   VIII. Postponed Tryouts                                      78
+     IX. Big News                                               85
+      X. Victory for Helen                                      92
+     XI. A Famous Director Arrives                             101
+    XII. On the Stage                                          112
+   XIII. Janet Steps In                                        124
+    XIV. Just Fishing                                          134
+     XV. Hollywood Bound                                       145
+    XVI. Thrilling Hours                                       155
+   XVII. On the Westbound Plane                                161
+  XVIII. Hello, Hollywood!                                     173
+    XIX. Gorgeous Gowns                                        182
+     XX. At the Premiere                                       188
+    XXI. Screen Tests                                          196
+   XXII. Western Action                                        202
+  XXIII. On the Screen                                         210
+   XXIV. "Kings of the Air"                                    220
+    XXV. The Stars Vanish                                      227
+   XXVI. Bombs from the Sky                                    233
+  XXVII. The Showdown                                          244
+
+
+
+
+                        Janet Hardy in Hollywood
+
+
+
+
+                              _Chapter I_
+                          "THE CHINESE IMAGE"
+
+
+Winter hung on grimly in the Middle West that year. Late March found the
+streets piled high with snow and on that particular morning there was a
+threat of additional snow in the air as Janet Hardy, a blond curl
+sticking belligerently out from under her scarlet beret, hurried toward
+school.
+
+It was an important day for members of the senior class of the Clarion
+High School, for Miss Williams, the dramatics instructor, was going to
+hand out parts to read for the class play. For that reason, Janet walked
+more briskly than usual and she failed to hear footsteps behind her until
+another girl, running lightly, called.
+
+"Slow up a minute, Janet. I'm nearly breathless. I've been chasing you
+for more than a block."
+
+Janet turned to greet Helen Thorne, who lived half a block beyond her own
+home and on the same broad, comfortable thoroughfare.
+
+The girls fell into step, Janet slowing her pace until Helen could
+recover her breath.
+
+"What chance do you think we'll have of getting parts in the play?" asked
+Helen, her face reflecting her hopefulness.
+
+"Just as good as any of the rest," replied Janet. "I don't think there
+are any Ethel Barrymores in school and I wouldn't worry if there were. I
+won't be heart-broken if I don't get a part."
+
+"That's easy to say, but I'm afraid I'll be pretty much disappointed if I
+don't get one. You have the _Weekly Clarion_ to keep you busy."
+
+"It does that all right," conceded Janet, who was editor of the page of
+high school news which appeared once a week in the local daily paper, the
+_Times_, under the title of "The Weekly Clarion."
+
+The girls turned into the street which led up the hill to the high
+school, a sprawling brick structure which covered nearly a block. The
+original building had been started in 1898 and as the city had grown
+additions had been made, seemingly at random, until hardly any one knew
+how many rooms there were and it was not unusual for a new student to get
+lost.
+
+Janet was slightly taller than Helen. Her hair was a golden blond with
+just enough of a natural curl to make her the envy of most of the girls
+in school. Her blue eyes had a friendly, cheery look and her mouth had an
+upward twist that made it easy for her to smile.
+
+Helen was a complement to Janet, with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a
+dusky skin. Because of her brunette coloring, she inclined to gayer
+colors than her blond companion.
+
+It was half an hour before school when they reached the building, but a
+goodly number of seniors were already on hand and competition for rôles
+in the play would be intense. With 132 in the senior class, not many more
+than a score could hope to win parts.
+
+"There's so many it's going to be a discouraging business," said Helen as
+they went upstairs to the chemistry auditorium where the class was to
+meet.
+
+"If a lot of the others think that, it will be easy for us," smiled
+Janet. "Come on, tell yourself you're going to win a part and you will."
+
+"I want to for Dad's sake. He wrote that he would be home for my
+graduation and would attend all of the senior activities. So I've just
+got to make the play cast."
+
+"Keep up that kind of a spirit and you're as good as in," encouraged
+Janet, who secretly confessed that it was going to be quite a job to win
+a place in the play.
+
+The chemistry auditorium was well filled when they arrived. Almost every
+senior girl was there and at least half of the boys.
+
+Janet looked around the large room, gauging the mettle of the girls they
+would have to compete against. Well up toward the rostrum was Margie
+Blake, petite and blond and exceedingly vivacious. Margie was popular,
+confessed Janet, and probably stood a good chance of winning a part in
+the play for she had innate dramatic ability, while Janet, who had taken
+a leading rôle in the junior play, had been compelled to study each bit
+of action carefully.
+
+Near Margie was Cora Dean, a pronounced brunette, who had already
+announced that she intended to have a leading rôle, and Cora had a
+reputation of getting whatever she went after, whether it was a place on
+the honor roll or a part in one of the drama club's one act plays.
+
+"I'm afraid Cora will be after the part I try out for," whispered Helen.
+"She's good, too."
+
+"She's not a bit better than you are, and not half as pretty," retorted
+Janet.
+
+"But you don't always win play parts on your looks," said Helen.
+
+Just then Miss Williams, the dramatics instructor, hurried in. In one
+hand she carried a large sheaf of mimeographed sheets while in the other
+was the complete book for the play. Several plays had been tentatively
+considered, but final approval had been up to Miss Williams and she was
+to announce the title that morning as well as give out reading parts.
+
+The room quieted down as a few stragglers, coming in at the last minute,
+found seats at the rear.
+
+Miss Williams sorted the mimeographed sheets into piles and at exactly
+8:45 o'clock she rapped briskly on the desk with a ruler. The dramatics
+teacher was pleasant and almost universally liked. She smiled as she
+looked over the seniors who had gathered.
+
+"It looks like we're going to have real competition for the play parts
+this year," she said. "I suppose, though, that first you'd like to know
+the name of the play."
+
+She paused a moment, then went on.
+
+"I've read all the plays the committee recommended carefully and my final
+choice is 'The Chinese Image.'"
+
+There was a ripple of applause, for a number of seniors, including Janet
+and Helen, had read portions of "The Chinese Image."
+
+Helen leaned toward her companion.
+
+"That's the play I've been hoping would be selected. There's a part I
+think I can win."
+
+"The leading rôle?" asked Janet.
+
+"Well, hardly, but it isn't a bad part."
+
+Miss Williams held up her hand and the buzz of conversation which had
+started after her announcement ceased.
+
+"I have had parts for every character mimeographed and each sheet gives
+sufficient reading material for tryouts. There are 23 rôles in 'The
+Chinese Image.' I'm familiar with the ability of almost all of you and if
+you'll come up as I call your names, I'll give you tryout sheets. The
+first sheet contains a brief synopsis of the play with the complete cast
+of characters and the second sheet has the part I want you to try for.
+You will also find the hours on the second sheet when I want you to go
+down to the gym for the tryouts."
+
+Janet had to confess that she was more than a little nervous as she
+waited for Miss Williams to call her name. Senior after senior was called
+up to the desk and handed his sheets. To some of them Miss Williams added
+another word or two, but she talked too low to be heard by the main body
+of pupils.
+
+As the tryout sheets were handed out, the seniors left the room for it
+was nearly assembly time.
+
+Helen looked anxiously at Janet.
+
+"I wonder if we're going to be called? There are less than a dozen left."
+
+"We'll know in a couple of minutes," replied Janet. "There goes Margie
+Blake. Wonder what part she'll get a chance at?"
+
+"One of the leads, you can be sure of that. And there's Cora Dean. I
+suppose Cora will get the part I try for. That happened in several of the
+one acts last year."
+
+"This isn't last year and Cora's a bit too temperamental. Well, we are
+going to be the last."
+
+All of the others had been called before Miss Williams spoke to Janet and
+Helen, and with a feeling of misgiving they advanced toward her desk.
+
+
+
+
+                              _Chapter II_
+                             LEADING RÔLES
+
+
+Miss Williams smiled pleasantly as she looked up from the now slender
+pile of sheets with the tryout parts.
+
+"Afraid I was going to forget you?" she asked.
+
+"We were commencing to worry," admitted Janet, "for after all there's
+only one senior play."
+
+"Right. And I'm determined that 'The Chinese Image' be the best ever
+produced by Clarion High."
+
+The electric gong that heralded the opening of school banged its lusty
+tone through the hall.
+
+"Never mind about opening assembly," said Miss Williams. "I'll explain to
+the principal that I detained you."
+
+The dramatics instructor looked quizzically at Janet and Helen.
+
+"You make a good team, don't you?"
+
+"Well, we don't exactly fight," smiled Helen, "but there are times when
+we don't agree."
+
+"Of course. That's only human. What I mean is that when you get together
+with a goal in mind, you work hard to attain that goal. When Janet went
+out for editor of the _Weekly Clarion_ last fall, you were working hard
+for her to win."
+
+"I did my best," admitted Helen.
+
+"And it had a lot to do with my winning out over Margie Blake," said
+Janet whole-heartedly.
+
+"Which is just the kind of spirit I'm looking for to put across the
+senior play. I'll have to make a little confession or you'll wonder why
+I'm so intensely interested in the success of this special play. A
+dramatic producing company has made me a tentative offer, but their final
+decision will be made after one of their representatives has seen the
+senior play."
+
+"But that would mean leaving Clarion," protested Helen.
+
+"I'm afraid it would, and while I wouldn't like that, the opportunity
+offered by this company, if it finally develops, would be such that I
+just couldn't afford to reject it."
+
+"I suppose there isn't a whole lot of money in teaching dramatics in a
+high school," said Janet.
+
+"Not enough so I want to make it a life career," replied Miss Williams.
+"But this isn't getting along with my plan. Helen, I'm assigning you for
+a tryout for the leading rôle. Here's your part. Read it over carefully
+and be ready tomorrow afternoon at 4:15 o'clock."
+
+Miss Williams handed the mimeographed sheets to the astounded Helen.
+
+"They won't bite," she smiled.
+
+"But the lead? I never dreamed you would want me to try out for that."
+
+"Why not? It calls for a brunette with ability and brains and I think you
+answer that description."
+
+Miss Williams turned to Janet.
+
+"Here's your rôle, Janet. It's the second lead. You play a jittery little
+blond who hasn't a brain in her head and probably never will have."
+
+"Does that rôle fit me?" asked Janet, her eyes twinkling.
+
+"Well, hardly, but I think you'll have a lot of fun working on such a
+part. Margie Blake is going to try for it, also."
+
+"Who will be trying for the part you've assigned me?" asked Helen.
+
+"Cora Dean. I expect that with such competition both of you will be
+forced to do your best to win the part. Maybe it's a little mean of me to
+match you against each other this way, but I've got to have a superlative
+cast for the play."
+
+"You'll get it," promised Janet, "for Helen and I are going to do our
+best to win these rôles. Why Helen's father is planning on coming back
+for graduation week and Helen's got to make the play."
+
+"Is he really coming?" asked Miss Williams, almost incredulously, for the
+name of Henry Thorne was a magic word in Clarion.
+
+"He's promised, and both mother and I are counting on it. We haven't seen
+him since last fall."
+
+"Then I know one dramatics teacher who is going to be doubly nervous the
+night of the play. Just think of it--Henry Thorne, star director of the
+great Ace Motion Picture Company, watching a high school play. I'm afraid
+the cast may go all to pieces, they'll be so nervous."
+
+"But Dad's so entirely human," said Helen. "That's just the trouble.
+Because he's made a success in films, people think he must be some kind
+of a queer individual who goes around with his head in the air thinking
+he is better than anyone else. He's just like Janet's father and when he
+gets home he likes nothing better than getting his old fishpole out,
+digging a can of worms, and going out along the creek to fish and doze."
+
+"I suppose you're right, but his pictures have been so outstanding it
+seems that directing them must be some sort of a genius. I've never quite
+understood why you and your mother stayed on here, though."
+
+Miss Williams had often wanted to ask that question just to satisfy her
+own curiosity, but the opportunity had never opened before.
+
+"Dad's working under pressure on the coast, long hours and a terrific
+strain, and he says some of the things that are said about Hollywood are
+true. Most of the people are fine and hard working, but a small, wild
+crowd gives the rest a bad name and he doesn't want to take any chance on
+my getting mixed up with that bunch."
+
+"But you wouldn't," said Miss Williams.
+
+"I don't think so, but Dad thinks it best for us to stay here in Clarion
+and mother and I are happy here with all of our friends. Of course we
+don't see a whole lot of Dad, but when he does get home or we go out
+there, we have an awfully good time."
+
+Miss Williams glanced at her watch.
+
+"It's 9:10. You'd better go down to assembly. I'll explain why you were
+late. Don't forget, tryouts for both of you tomorrow afternoon and I'm
+counting on you to do your best."
+
+"We'll try," promised Janet, as they picked up the sheets with the tryout
+parts and left the chemistry auditorium.
+
+In the hall Helen, her dark eyes aglow with excitement, turned to Janet.
+
+"Just think; I've got a chance at the leading rôle. Of course Cora will
+probably get it, but at least Miss Williams is considering me."
+
+"Now let's stop right here," said Janet firmly, "and get one thing
+straight. You have a chance at the leading rôle." Helen nodded.
+
+"Cora has a chance at the lead." Again Helen nodded.
+
+"But," went on Janet, "you are going to win the lead."
+
+"Oh, do you really think so?" There was a tinge of desperation in Helen's
+voice.
+
+"I know you are." Janet spoke with a definiteness that she didn't quite
+feel, for Cora was a splendid little actress. But Helen needed some real
+encouragement and Janet knew that if Helen felt confident from the start
+half of the battle was won.
+
+The morning passed in a whirl of routine classes, but Janet found time to
+study her tryout sheets for several minutes.
+
+"The Chinese Image" was ideally suited for a senior play, with an
+excellent mystery story to carry the action. A whole lot of dramatic
+ability was unnecessary for the rapid tempo of the story would carry
+along the interest of the audience.
+
+The synopsis Miss Williams had prepared was brief and Janet read it
+twice.
+
+"The Chinese Image" centered about a strange little figure which had been
+brought back from China in 1851 by Ebenezer Naughton, then captain of one
+of the clipper ships which had sailed out of Salem for far-away ports in
+the Orient. The strange, squat little figure had remained in the Naughton
+family ever since for Captain Ebenezer, in his will, had stipulated that
+it must never be given away or sold.
+
+"When grave troubles befall my family, turn to 'The Chinese Image,'" he
+had written, "and therein you will find an answer."
+
+But the Naughtons had prospered and the will had been almost forgotten
+until the family came upon hard times and its fortune dwindled. Two
+grandsons of Captain Ebenezer, now heads of their own families, quarreled
+bitterly and in the ensuing family feud the image became involved. It
+finally fell to the lot of Abbie Naughton, the rôle played by Janet, to
+solve the mystery of the image, which she did in as thorough a manner as
+might have been expected of the light-headed Abbie.
+
+Janet chuckled over the lines she was to read in the tryout. The part of
+Abbie should be great fun, for Abbie did about every nonsensical thing
+possible and the giddier the part could be made, the better, decided
+Janet.
+
+Helen's rôle was more serious, for she was supposed to be in love with
+one of the boys of the other branch of the family and many were the
+trials and tribulations of their love affair. It was a delicate rôle,
+with much sweetness and tenderness, and it should prove ideal for Helen.
+Janet couldn't conceive of Cora Dean, who had a certain harshness about
+her, getting the part. But then, Cora was capable and she might be able
+to play the rôle to perfection.
+
+Just before noon the sky, grey since morning, turned a more desolate
+shade and the clouds disgorged their burden of snow. It was dry and fine
+and tons of it seemed to be coming down.
+
+Janet met Helen in the hall.
+
+"What about lunch?"
+
+"I'm going to stay at school and have mine in the cafeteria," replied
+Helen. "How about you?"
+
+"I don't relish the long walk home, but I didn't bring any money with
+me."
+
+Helen smiled. "You wouldn't accept a loan, would you?"
+
+"I might," conceded Janet, "because I'm more than a little hungry."
+
+"I've got fifty cents. That ought to buy enough food to last until we get
+home tonight."
+
+"But we're not going home," Janet reminded her companion. "Have you
+forgotten about the roller skating party at Youde's?"
+
+Helen flushed. "To tell the truth, I had. I've been thinking so much
+about the play I completely forgot the party."
+
+"Better not. It will be lots of fun."
+
+"I don't know whether I ought to go. If I do, I won't have much time to
+study over my tryout part."
+
+"There'll be an hour after school and you haven't more than two
+paragraphs to memorize."
+
+"I know them now," said Helen.
+
+"Then come on and go to the party. The bus is leaving school at five
+o'clock. We'll be at Youde's in an hour and there'll be a hot supper and
+the skating party afterward."
+
+"It's snowing hard," observed Helen, gazing out into the swirling grey.
+
+"You think of everything," expostulated Janet. "Of course, it's snowing,
+but the road to Youde's is paved part of the way. If it gets too thick we
+can turn around and come back."
+
+Both Janet and Helen had one open period in the afternoon which came at
+the same hour and they went into the library to study their tryout parts.
+
+Janet read her lines, stopping several times to chuckle over the
+nonsensical words which Abbie Naughton was required to say in the play.
+
+"This is going to be great fun," she told Janet. "How is your part
+going?"
+
+"It's a grand rôle, and lots of fun. I know the lines, but I'm supposed
+to be in love."
+
+"That shouldn't be a hard part then. You rather like Jim Barron, don't
+you?"
+
+"Yes, but what's that got to do with my part?"
+
+"I heard this noon that Jim was trying out opposite you."
+
+"Honestly?"
+
+"Honest true. Of course he may not get it."
+
+"Jim's a grand fellow."
+
+"Seems to me I've heard you say that before," chuckled Janet. "I have a
+hunch you'll get that part all right."
+
+Helen went through her rôle while Janet looked on with critical eyes,
+suggesting several minor changes which she thought would improve her
+companion's chances.
+
+The bell for the final class period sounded and they folded up their
+parts and hastened back to the assembly. Their last class for the day was
+honors English, a group of advanced English students who also served as
+the editors and reporters for the _Weekly Clarion_, writing and editing
+all of the high school news which appeared each Friday in the _Times_,
+the afternoon daily paper published in Clarion.
+
+It was the honors English class which was sponsoring the roller skating
+party at Youde's and Jim Barron, the sports editor, was in charge of the
+plans.
+
+There were seventeen in the class, including Cora Dean and Margie Blake,
+who wrote the girls' athletic news. Miss Bruder, the instructor, was
+small and dark, but somehow she managed to keep her high-tempered class
+under control.
+
+This was a mid-week period and the entire time was devoted to writing
+stories, which were turned over to Janet for final editing. It was
+Janet's task to write the headlines, a job at which she had become
+exceedingly proficient.
+
+Promptly at 3:30 o'clock the final bell sounded and writing materials
+were shoved hastily aside.
+
+Jim Barron stood up.
+
+"I'm counting on everyone being at the party. The bus will be here at
+five o'clock. We'll stop at Whet's drug store on the way out of town to
+pick up any of you who aren't here when we start. Remember, we're taking
+the money for the party out of the profit we've made from the _Weekly
+Clarion_ and it won't cost you a cent. Wear old clothes and plenty of
+warm ones. See you here at five."
+
+The class scattered, some of them remaining at school to finish up odd
+tasks, others hurrying home to change clothes and prepare for the party.
+
+"Going home?" asked Helen.
+
+"Right now. I'm certainly not going to fall down in these clothes while
+I'm skating. I've got an old tweed suit and boots I'm going to wear. Why
+don't you change to your corduroys?"
+
+"I thought I'd stay on and work on my part."
+
+"You know that almost to perfection now. Better get into some older
+clothes."
+
+Helen acquiesced and they donned their winter school coats and started
+down the hill toward home. The snow was still coming down steadily, as
+fine and dry as ever.
+
+"I'm glad there's no wind. This would drift terribly if there was," said
+Janet, kicking her way through the fine spume.
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter III_
+                             THE WIND ROARS
+
+
+Janet was home in plenty of time to dress in leisure for the skating
+party. Her mother looked in once to make sure that she had plenty of warm
+clothes on.
+
+"I'm glad you're wearing that old tweed outfit. It's warm and at the same
+time nice looking."
+
+"Even though it's old, mother?"
+
+"Even though it's old. Tweed always looks nice and that's an especially
+pretty shade of brown. It goes so well with your hair. Wear your scarlet
+beret and don't forget the boots."
+
+"I won't," promised Janet as her mother started downstairs again.
+
+The Hardy home was pleasant, even though decidedly old-fashioned. There
+was a broad porch completely across the front of the house. The house
+itself was L-shaped, the base of the L having been added after the
+original structure was built. The exterior was shingled and creeping
+vines softened the sharper angles.
+
+Janet's room had a south exposure with two dormer windows that added to
+the many angles of the low-ceilinged rambling room. The wall paper was
+pink and white with gay farm scenes interspersed. Crisp chintz curtains
+were at the windows and a gay curtain hid the large, old-fashioned
+wardrobe at one end of the room in which she kept her clothes.
+
+Her dressing table was between the dormers with a rose-colored shade on
+the electric light.
+
+The bed, a walnut four poster, was against the wall nearest the hall. A
+gay, pink-tufted spread covered it. At one side was a small walnut stand
+with a shaded reading lamp.
+
+Hooked rugs, reflecting the cheery tone of the room in their varied
+colors, covered the dark, polished floor.
+
+Over in the far corner, where the roof sloped sharply, Janet had built a
+book case and stained it brown. It was filled with books, arranged in
+none too perfect order, showing the interest she had in them.
+
+But Janet had little time now to relax in the charm of her room. Parting
+the curtain of the wardrobe she found her tweed suit far to the back. Her
+boots were back there too, but they had been well oiled and were pliable.
+
+From a walnut chest of drawers which stood beside the wardrobe Janet drew
+woolen socks for it was an 18-mile ride to Youde's and they probably
+wouldn't be home until late.
+
+Janet dressed sensibly, woolen hose, heavy tweed skirt, a blue, shaggy
+wool sweater and her tweed coat. The crimson beret would be warm enough.
+
+She glanced at the clock. She had spent more time than she had
+anticipated, it was after 4:30 and Whet's drug store where they were to
+meet the bus was a good six blocks away.
+
+Janet hurried downstairs.
+
+"I've a cup of tea and some cookies all ready," her mother called.
+
+It would be after six o'clock before they ate and Janet drank the tea
+with relish. The cookies, crisp and filled with raisins, were delicious
+and she put several in the pockets of her coat.
+
+"I put your old fur coat in the hall," said Mrs. Hardy. "Your scarf's
+there, too."
+
+"Thanks mother. I'm certainly going to be too warm."
+
+Her mother went to the window. It was nearly dark and the snow still
+swirled down in dry, feathery clouds.
+
+"I almost wish you weren't going," she said, "but there doesn't seem to
+be any wind."
+
+"Oh, we'll be all right, mother. The bus is large and if the weather
+should get bad we could stay at Youde's until it clears. Remember Miss
+Bruder is chaperon and she's extremely sensible."
+
+"She needs to be with your crowd on her hands," smiled her mother,
+following Janet into the hall.
+
+Janet slipped into her old coat. It wasn't much to look at but it was
+warm and serviceable, one of those bunglesome coonskins that were so
+popular with college students at one time. She twisted her scarf around
+her neck, gave her mother a quick hug and kiss, and strode out of the
+house.
+
+Janet kicked along through the dry snow, walking rapidly until she
+reached Helen Thorne's home. There were no lights in the southeast room
+and Janet knew that Helen must be dressed for that was Helen's room.
+
+She whistled sharply, a long and a short, that penetrated the quick of
+the twilight.
+
+The porch light flashed on and Helen, sticking her head out, yelled, "I'm
+coming."
+
+Helen hurried down the walk, wriggling into a suede jacket.
+
+"Think that will be warm enough?" asked Janet, who felt very much bundled
+up in her coonskin.
+
+"I've got my corduroy jacket underneath and a sweater under that. I'm
+practically sealed up against the cold, but I'll run back and get my old
+coonskin."
+
+They swung along rapidly toward Whet's scuffing through the dry snow.
+
+"I like this," said Helen, breathing deeply. "The snow's grand and it
+isn't too cold. Wonder if they'll have any heat at Youde's?"
+
+"Oh, the dining room will be warm, but there's only a fireplace out in
+the room where we skate. Wraps will probably feel good there until we get
+well warmed up from skating."
+
+Out of the haze ahead emerged the blob of light that marked the
+neighborhood drug store. As they approached they could see two or three
+standing near the front door of the store.
+
+Ed Rickey, captain of the football team, jerked open the door.
+
+"Greetings, wanderers of the storm. Enter and be of good cheer."
+
+They stamped the snow off their boots and stepped inside. Cora Dean and
+Margie Blake were there. Boon companions, they were seldom apart.
+
+"Hello," said Margie, but there was no warmth in the greeting.
+
+"Hello," replied Janet.
+
+"You must think you're going to the north pole," put in Cora, as she
+looked Janet and Helen over coolly.
+
+"Well, not quite that far, but we believe in being sensible and warm,"
+replied Helen, and Cora's face flamed, for both she and Margie, always
+trying to make an impression, were dressed in fashionable riding breeches
+of serge. They were pleasing to look at, but hardly the thing for comfort
+on a night when the temperature might drop almost to zero. Instead of
+coats they wore zipper sweaters of angora wool. Their boots were
+fashionable, but light, and would be of little use in withstanding any
+severe cold.
+
+"Here comes the bus," said Ed Rickey, who was bundled up in nondescript
+clothes.
+
+"All out that's going to Youde's," he bellowed, imitating a train caller.
+
+The bus ground to a stop in front of the store and the girls followed Ed
+across the curb. Jim Barron opened the door. The windows of the bus were
+heavily frosted for a heater was going full blast but the driver, a
+middle aged man, had a windshield wiper cutting a swath through the frost
+that formed on the glass in front of him.
+
+Miss Bruder spoke as they came in.
+
+"Everyone's here," announced Jim. "Find your seats. Next stop at
+Youde's."
+
+There was plenty of room in the bus for the vehicle had a capacity of
+thirty and there were only eighteen in addition to the driver. Most of
+them found seats well to the fore where they could feel the blast of warm
+air from the heater.
+
+Clarion was a sprawling city of 19,000, but in less than ten minutes they
+had left the street lights behind and were rolling along a smoothly paved
+highway.
+
+It was impossible to see out for the windows were frosted solid, but it
+was a merry crowd nevertheless. Ed Rickey, who had a fine bass voice,
+started in with a school song and the others soon joined him.
+
+Six miles outside Clarion they turned off the main road and swung over
+toward the hills which flanked the Wapsie river for it was along the
+banks of the Wapsie that Youde's Inn was located.
+
+Their progress was slowed here for the road had not been cleared by a
+snowplow. But the snow was less than five inches deep and the powerful
+bus forged ahead steadily.
+
+Almost before they knew it they were over the last hill and dropping down
+into the river valley. As the bus turned into the inn, floodlights in the
+yard were snapped on. A dog, barking eagerly, leaped forward to greet
+them.
+
+Ed and Jim were out of the bus first, assisting the others down. With
+Miss Bruder in the lead, they trooped toward the rambling, one story inn.
+
+Eli Youde, a coonskin cap on his head, was at the door. Behind him stood
+his wife, a buxom, motherly soul of forty-five.
+
+"Supper's on the table now," said Mrs. Youde as she greeted them. "The
+girls can take off their things in the room at the right; the boys go to
+the left."
+
+There were nine boys and eight girls in the honors English class, but
+with Miss Bruder it made an even number and she was so young and full of
+fun that she always seemed like one of them.
+
+Cora and Margie stopped before an old fashioned dresser to powder their
+noses and pat their hair into shape, but at a skating party these things
+were irrelevant to Janet and Helen and they hastened out to join the
+group in the dining room.
+
+One long table had been set. There were no place cards and the first to
+arrive took the choice seats, which were near a glowing soft-coal burner.
+
+Mrs. Youde, assisted by her husband, brought in steaming bowls of oyster
+stew. Three large bowls of crisp, white crackers were on the table, but
+huge inroads in them were soon made. Conversation died away as the stew
+was ladled down hungry throats.
+
+Before the bowls of stew had vanished, Mrs. Youde brought in two heaping
+platters of thick sandwiches. Janet found at least three varieties and
+was afraid to ask Helen how many she discovered.
+
+"This is ruining my weight, but I'm having a fine time," said Janet
+between bites and Helen nodded.
+
+After the sandwiches came pumpkin pie, great thick wedges of it with a
+mound of whipped cream on top and a slab of yellow cheese at one side.
+
+Ed Rickey yelled for help and when no one volunteered to jounce him up
+and down to make room for the pie, he managed to get to his feet and trot
+around the table several times.
+
+"I'm never going to be able to bend down and put on a skate," groaned Jim
+Barron, who had begged a second piece of pie and was now looking ruefully
+at the last crisp crust. He wanted it, but he didn't quite dare and with
+a sheepish look he pushed the plate away from him.
+
+"Perhaps we'd better sit around a few minutes before we start skating,"
+suggested Miss Bruder. The suggestion was welcomed and while Mr. Youde
+carried armfuls of woods into the skating rink to fill the fireplace they
+told stories around the roaring fire in the heater.
+
+"I feel better," announced Jim a few minutes later. "In fact, I'll be
+courteous enough to help any of you weak damsels get your skates on.
+Let's go."
+
+With Jim in the lead, they trooped into the skating rink. The fireplace,
+along one wall and halfway down the rink, was roaring lustily as Mr.
+Youde piled it with fresh fuel.
+
+The skates were in boxes, numbered for size, and ranged in rows along the
+walls. Jim, Ed and one of the other boys did the fitting while the girls
+sat on a long bench.
+
+"Here's a pair that ought to be long enough for you," grinned Jim as he
+placed a skate under Janet's right foot.
+
+"Oh, I don't know that I'm such a clodhopper," smiled Janet. "Anyway,
+I'll bet I can beat you around the rink the first time."
+
+"It's a go," replied Jim, fastening the other skate. "Wait until I get
+the wheels under my hoofs."
+
+Janet stood up and tried the skates. Jim had found an excellent pair for
+her. They felt true and speedy. She tried a preliminary whirl. Her
+balance was good.
+
+Jim shot out onto the floor, tried to make a sharp turn, lost his
+balance, and sat down with a thud that shook the room.
+
+"First down," yelled Ed Rickey, who hastened to Jim's aid and entangled
+himself over Jim's outstretched legs. Ed also went down and shouts of
+merriment echoed through the room.
+
+"Ready Jim?" asked Janet when the husky senior was back on his feet.
+
+"Just as ready now as later," he replied and they shot away, Janet's feet
+moving swiftly as she got up speed.
+
+Jim had the longer legs, the more powerful strokes, but Janet was fast
+and light. That might overcome the advantage of her heavier rival.
+
+"Go on, Janet, go on!" she heard Helen shouting as they took the first
+turn.
+
+Jim was still ahead, but he was going too fast for a safe turn and he
+skidded sharply and lost speed at the next turn while Janet, her feet a
+twinkle of motion, shot ahead. Jim yelled in protest, but Janet only went
+the faster and flashed by the finish at least two yards ahead of the
+puffing Jim.
+
+From then on the rink buzzed with the roll of the skates as in couples
+and singly they sped around the room.
+
+Ed Rickey was a wizard on skates and after the first rush of skating,
+when some of them were content to sit on the benches near the fireplace,
+he gave a demonstration of fancy skating.
+
+Janet had never imagined Ed had that grace and sense of rhythm but the
+big fellow was remarkably light on his feet.
+
+Then they were back on the floor again, this time in a series of races
+Jim Barron had planned, some of them rolling peanuts the length of the
+rink and back and others skating around backwards in tandem races.
+
+In spite of the roaring fire, the room was cold and Janet felt the chill
+creep through her bones. She stopped skating and edged over close to the
+fireplace just as the bus driver came in and spoke to Eli Youde. The
+innkeeper departed at once with the driver and Janet heard the bang of an
+outer door as though it had been caught by the wind and closed violently.
+But there had been no wind when they came down into the valley to the
+inn.
+
+If the wind had come up, the snow might drift badly. She put that thought
+out of her mind, and rejoined the skaters.
+
+It was less than five minutes later when the innkeeper and the bus driver
+returned, striding down the center of the rink. Mr. Youde held up one
+hand and the skaters gathered around him.
+
+"Wind's coming up and the snow's starting to drift. May be bad in another
+hour or two. If you want to get home before midnight you'd better start
+now for it will be slow going up in the hills."
+
+"We'll start at once," decided Miss Bruder. "Get your wraps, everybody."
+
+Janet, some unknown fear tugging at her heart, hung back and spoke to Mr.
+Youde.
+
+"Is it perfectly safe to start the trip back?" she asked.
+
+"I guess so. That's a powerful bus. But you'd better start now before the
+wind gets bad. This snow is going to drift like fury before morning. I
+expect we'll be blockaded for a couple of days."
+
+Janet rejoined the girls in the room where they had left their coats. A
+horn sounded outside and they hastened to don their wraps. The
+floodlights in the yard flashed on and the group, bidding the Youdes
+cheery goodnights, hastened out to the bus.
+
+
+
+
+                              _Chapter IV_
+                           LITTLE DEER VALLEY
+
+
+In spite of her warm clothing, Janet could feel the sting of the night
+air. It was much colder than when they had arrived. The snow seemed to be
+less, but the wind was shipping it in little eddies across the yard.
+
+With the heater running full blast, the bus was comfortable and they
+found seats well up toward the front. Miss Bruder counted them to make
+sure that everyone was on hand. Reassured, she told the driver to start
+the return trip.
+
+The windows were heavily frosted and it was like being in a sealed room,
+the only peephole being the small frame of glass which the windshield
+wiper kept clear.
+
+"What time is it?" Janet asked Helen, who had a wrist watch.
+
+"Nine forty-five. We're starting home early."
+
+Janet nodded, but she was glad they had made the start. It wouldn't have
+been pleasant staying at Youde's if they had been snowed in for the
+lonely inn had few comforts.
+
+The powerful engine of the bus labored as the big machine topped a grade
+out of the valley and they swung down into another. For five or six miles
+it would be one hill after another and Janet wondered if the snow was
+drifting down in the valleys.
+
+The road was little used and if the wind increased, it might make travel
+exceedingly difficult. But she dismissed that thought from her mind for
+the bus had heavy chains on the double wheels at the rear.
+
+The spontaneity which had marked their trip out was missing and
+conversation soon died away. Everyone was tired and willing to snuggle
+down into their coats.
+
+Janet must have been dozing for the heavy roar of the bus motor awoke her
+with a start.
+
+They were backing up. Then they stopped and the driver shifted gears. The
+bus leaped ahead, the throttle on full and the exhaust barking in the
+crisp air. Gradually their forward motion ceased and the wheels ground
+into the snow.
+
+Without a word the bus driver shifted instantly into reverse and they
+lurched backward. The driver stopped the bus, set the emergency brake,
+and dodged out into the night.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Helen, who was almost hidden in her fur coat
+and deliciously sleepy.
+
+"I think we've hit a drift," replied Janet.
+
+"We ought to be almost home, though. It seems like we've been traveling
+for ages."
+
+"I expect we are," but Janet didn't feel the optimism that she meant her
+words to convey.
+
+If the wind had increased they might find themselves in a serious
+situation.
+
+The bus driver opened the door and stuck his head in.
+
+"One of you fellows come out and give me a hand with the shovels."
+
+Jim Barron, nearest the door, responded with Ed Rickey at his heels.
+
+After several minutes the bus driver came back inside and slowed the
+motor down to idling speed and the wave of heat from the heater
+diminished noticeably.
+
+With the motor barely turning over, outside noises were audible and Janet
+could hear the rush of the wind. Particles of the fine, dry snow were
+being driven against the window beside her.
+
+It was at least fifteen minutes later when Jim, Ed and the driver
+returned, red-faced and breathless from their exertions. The boys dropped
+into the front seats while the driver opened the throttle and sent the
+big machine lumbering ahead.
+
+The bus plunged into the drift, the chains on the rear wheels biting deep
+into the snow. Once they swung sharply and Janet gasped, but they swung
+back and with the engine taxed to the limit finally pulled through the
+drift.
+
+Janet saw Jim look around and she thought she detected grave concern in
+his eyes. Then he turned away and she was too far away to speak to him
+without alarming the others.
+
+The bus labored up a long grade, breasted the top of the hill, and then
+started down. It would be in the valley that trouble would come, for the
+snow would be heavily drifted.
+
+The big machine rocked down the slope, jolting its occupants around and
+bruising one or two of them. Janet heard Miss Bruder cry out sharply and
+turned around, but the teacher motioned that she was all right.
+
+Then the speed of the bus slackened, the wheels spun futilely, and their
+forward motion ceased. Almost instantly they were in reverse, but the bus
+slipped to one side and in spite of the full power of the motor, the
+wheels churned through the dry snow.
+
+The driver eased up on the throttle, looked significantly at Jim and Ed,
+and with them at his heels plunged into the storm again. Fortunately, he
+had tied several shovels to the bus before leaving Youde's and they were
+not without implements to dig themselves out.
+
+Janet could hear them working, first at the front and then at the rear
+and Helen, now thoroughly wide awake, looked at her in alarm.
+
+"It's getting colder in here," she said.
+
+"The engine's barely turning over; there isn't much heat coming out."
+
+"I know, but I mean the temperature outside must be dropping rapidly, and
+listen to the wind."
+
+But Janet preferred not to listen to the wind; it was too mournful, too
+nerve-wracking. What it whispered alarmed her for they were still some
+miles from the main road and there were few if any farms near.
+
+The bus driver returned and motioned to the other boys.
+
+"Give us a hand. We don't want to stay here a minute longer than
+necessary."
+
+The rest of the boys piled out of the bus, leaving the girls and Miss
+Bruder alone.
+
+"I'm nearly frozen," complained Margie Blake. "At least we might have
+obtained a good bus driver."
+
+"I don't think it's the driver's fault," interposed Janet. "We stayed too
+long at Youde's."
+
+"Then he should have told us the storm was getting worse. My folks will
+be worried half to death if we are hung up here all night."
+
+Janet admitted to herself that they would all have cause to worry if they
+had to stay in the bus all night, for she doubted if the supply of fuel
+would be sufficient to keep the engine going to operate the heater for
+that length of time and she dreaded to think of how cold it might get if
+the heater was off.
+
+Between the gusts of wind that swept around the bus they could hear the
+steady swing of the shovels biting into the snow. It was eleven o'clock
+when the driver came inside. His face was almost white from the cold and
+he beat his hands together as he took the wheel and eased in the clutch.
+
+With the motor roaring heavily Janet felt the power being applied to the
+wheels ever so gradually to keep them from slipping. The bus seemed
+cemented into the snow, but motion finally became evident. The wheels
+churned and they moved backward.
+
+Someone outside was shouting, but the words were unintelligible to all
+except the driver. He stopped while one of the boys scraped the frost off
+the window outside for the windshield wiper had frozen.
+
+Then, barely creeping ahead and with the bus in low gear, they moved
+through the snow, shouted commands keeping the driver in the right path.
+At last they were through the drift and the boys piled back into the bus,
+pounding each other on the back and clapping their hands to bring back
+the circulation.
+
+Miss Bruder called Jim Barron back.
+
+"Just how serious is this, Jim?" she asked.
+
+"Pretty bad. We're three miles from the main road and there isn't a farm
+within two miles. Only thing we can do is to keep going ahead and try to
+shovel through."
+
+"How about Little Deer valley?"
+
+"That's what we're worrying about. The wind gets a clean sweep there and
+I'm afraid we may not get through."
+
+"Can we turn back and stay at Youde's?"
+
+"Some of the road behind us would be as badly drifted as Little Deer
+valley," replied Jim. "I guess the only thing is to grind ahead and trust
+that the gas holds out."
+
+For a time they made steady progress, the bus rumbling along smoothly and
+the heater throwing out a steady blast of warm, dank air. Then they
+rolled down a gentle slope and onto the flat of Little Deer valley, which
+was more than half a mile wide.
+
+The driver stopped and went out to wade through the drifts. He came back
+to report that they might make it although in places the drifts were
+nearly up to the tops of the fence posts.
+
+"It's going to mean plenty of shoveling," he warned them.
+
+"We've got to go on," said Miss Bruder. "If we get stuck at least we're
+that much closer to the road. Perhaps we could walk to the main highway."
+
+Janet saw Jim glance sharply at Miss Bruder. Perhaps she didn't realize
+the seriousness of their situation, or perhaps she was masking her
+thoughts with those words.
+
+The gears ground again, the motor took up its burden, and they lurched
+ahead, churning through the deepening snow.
+
+The air was colder now. There was no warmth from the heater. Something
+had gone wrong with the motor or a pipe had frozen. No matter then.
+Getting through the drifts was uppermost in their minds.
+
+Gradually the straining progress of the bus slowed, finally stopped, the
+gears clashed, and they lurched backward several hundred feet. Then they
+plunged ahead again, burrowing deeper into the snow.
+
+"Everybody out to shovel," said the driver, snapping off the engine to
+save fuel.
+
+The boys hurried out into the cold and the girls huddled closer to each
+other. Margie and Cora, thinly clad for such a night, beat their arms
+almost steadily and stamped their feet in rhythmic cadence.
+
+Janet and Helen, heavily clothed, were still warm although the cold crept
+through their gloves to some extent.
+
+"I wonder how cold it is?" asked Helen.
+
+"I haven't any idea, but it feels like it was almost zero. Let's not
+think about it."
+
+"Try not to think about it," retorted Helen, and Janet admitted that her
+companion was right. There was nothing to think about except the cold and
+the snow. Of course there was the class play, but marooned in the middle
+of Little Deer valley with a howling blizzard raging was no time to think
+of class plays.
+
+The driver came back and stepped on the starter. The motor was slow in
+turning over. It must be bitterly cold, thought Janet. Finally the engine
+started and they plowed ahead a few feet, then finally churned to a stop.
+
+Outside the shovels clanged against the steel sides of the bus as the
+boys dug into the snow again. It was chilling, numbing work out there and
+Jim Barron tumbled through the door to stand up in front and beat his
+arms steadily. When he went out, Ed Rickey came in and the boys
+alternated.
+
+Margie whimpered in the cold and Janet felt sorry for her.
+
+"My coat's large. I'll come up and sit with you and Cora can come back
+here with Helen," said Janet.
+
+The other girls, thoroughly chilled, welcomed the change and Janet
+unbuttoned the voluminous coonskin and shared it with Margie, Helen doing
+likewise for Cora. Janet could feel Margie trembling as she pressed close
+to her.
+
+After a time the driver returned and started the motor again. They moved
+forward slowly, creeping along the trail the boys had opened with the
+shovels. Finally they rocked to a stop and the driver turned toward Miss
+Bruder.
+
+"It's no use. The drifts are three feet high and getting worse every
+minute."
+
+
+
+
+                              _Chapter V_
+                            THE WHITE MENACE
+
+
+Miss Bruder looked at the girls, huddled together on the seats,
+desperately trying to keep warm. Outside the boys were bravely attempting
+to clear a path, but it was hopeless.
+
+"Perhaps we'd better get out and try to reach the main road on foot," she
+said.
+
+"I wouldn't advise that," replied the driver. "Some of the girls couldn't
+make it through the drifts. It must be well below zero now and the snow's
+still coming down bad."
+
+Just then Jim and Ed led the boys back into the bus, closing the door
+carefully after them. They were covered with fine snow and frost from
+their own breath.
+
+"I'm going to try and break through to the road," said Jim. "The rest of
+you stay here and try to keep warm. Whatever you do, don't leave the
+bus."
+
+"If anyone is going to try to make it to the paved highway, I'm going,"
+spoke up the driver. "I've been over this road a number of times. I'll
+follow the fence line and get to a farm somehow."
+
+In spite of the protests of the boys, the driver remained firm, insisting
+that he, and he alone, could make the trip.
+
+"Keep the door shut and don't run the motor. The heater's out of order
+now and if you run the motor, carbon monoxide fumes may creep in. They're
+deadly."
+
+But that was an unnecessary warning for all of the boys knew the danger
+of the motor fumes in a closed compartment.
+
+Bundling himself up well, the driver plunged into the storm and Miss
+Bruder and her honors English class were left alone in the middle of
+Little Deer valley with the worst storm of the winter raging around their
+marooned bus.
+
+Jim turned off the headlights, leaving only the red and green warning
+lights atop the bus on. He snapped the switches for the interior lights
+until only one was left aglow for there was no use to waste the precious
+supply of electricity in the storage battery.
+
+If anything the whine of the wind was louder and it was exceedingly
+lonely out there despite the presence of the others. There was something
+about it that made Janet feel as though she were a hundred miles from
+civilization. She had not dreamed it would be possible to have such a
+sense of loneliness and yet be in a group of schoolmates.
+
+Jim Barron and Ed Rickey kept on the move, talking with some of the boys
+or attempting to cheer up the girls.
+
+"Better get up every few minutes and swing your arms and stamp your
+feet," advised Ed. "That'll keep the circulation going; otherwise you may
+suffer frostbite."
+
+Helen squinted her eyes and looked at her watch in the dim light shed by
+the single bulb. It was just after midnight.
+
+"Wonder if we'll be home by morning," she asked, turning back to Janet.
+
+"Let's hope so, though I'm not in the least bit hungry after the big meal
+we had at Youde's."
+
+"That seems ages away," replied Helen. "I'd almost forgotten the skating
+party."
+
+Margie, who had taken shelter under Janet's coat, spoke up.
+
+"It's all the bus driver's fault. We never should have left Youde's."
+
+"But none of us wanted to spend the night there," said Janet. "Of course
+we didn't dream the snow would have drifted this much."
+
+"The driver should have known," insisted Margie, and Janet thought her
+more than a little unreasonable, but then Margie was probably thoroughly
+chilled and likely to disagree with everything and everyone.
+
+The minutes passed slowly, dragging as Janet had never known they could.
+The cold increased in intensity and some of the other girls, not as
+warmly dressed as Janet and Helen, began to complain.
+
+"My feet are getting numb," said Bernice Grogan, a slip of a little
+black-haired Irish girl.
+
+"Better keep them moving," said Ed Rickey. "Here, I'll move them for you
+until the circulation starts back."
+
+Ed knelt down on the floor and took Bernice's boots in his hands,
+massaging her feet vigorously.
+
+Soon Bernice began to cry.
+
+"It's the pain. They hurt terribly."
+
+"Just the circulation coming back," said Ed, but Janet knew from the
+lines on his forehead that Ed was worried.
+
+"If any of the rest of you feel numb, just call out. We've got to keep
+moving or some of us may suffer some frozen parts before morning," he
+warned.
+
+Bernice, in spite of her efforts, couldn't keep the tears back, but they
+froze on her cheeks, so bitter was the cold.
+
+Jim Barron opened the door, and a rush of cutting air swept in. Then he
+was gone into the night and Janet could hear him wielding the shovel
+outside.
+
+It was five or six minutes before Jim returned and he looked utterly
+exhausted.
+
+"I've never seen such a night," he mumbled. "I'm afraid the bus driver
+didn't get very far."
+
+"Then we'd better start out after him," said Ed, getting to his feet.
+
+But Jim's broad shoulders barred the door.
+
+"We're going to stay right here. You can't even find the fences now. It
+would be suicide to start in the dark. The only thing we can do is keep
+as warm as possible inside the bus. I started throwing snow up around the
+windows. Some of you fellows give me a hand. We'll bank the bus in snow
+clear to the top and that will keep out some of this bitter wind."
+
+"But if you cover the bus with snow, they'll never find us when they come
+hunting us," protested Cora.
+
+"Just never mind about that," retorted Jim. "The only thing I'm worrying
+about now is keeping us from freezing to death."
+
+Jim's words shocked the girls into silence.
+
+
+
+
+                              _Chapter VI_
+                            DESPERATE HOURS
+
+
+Freezing to death! The phrase was terrible in its import, yet the danger
+was very near and very deadly, for there was slight chance that the bus
+driver had gotten through to give a warning of their predicament. Even if
+he had Janet wondered if any searching party could brave the rigors of
+the night.
+
+Outside the boys worked steadily, coming inside in shifts, and then going
+back. They could hear the snow thud against the side of the bus as it was
+piled higher and higher and the sound of the wind gradually faded as the
+wall of snow protecting them from it thickened.
+
+The light from the single bulb was ghostly now. The battery seemed to be
+weakening. Helen looked at her watch. It was just one o'clock when the
+boys came in, beating their hands and knocking the frost from their
+breath off their coats.
+
+Jim was the last one in and he closed the door carefully after him.
+
+Bernice was crying again and Ed, though half frozen himself, bent down
+and massaged her feet. Miss Bruder was white and shaken for it was more
+than she could cope with and she turned to Ed and Jim to pull them
+through the emergency.
+
+While Ed worked with Bernice's feet, Jim spoke to the group.
+
+"We might as well face this thing frankly," he said. "We're in an awful
+jam. It must be fifteen or twenty below right now. The snow has stopped,
+but the wind is increasing in strength and the snow is drifting badly. It
+may be hours, perhaps a day, before we're discovered."
+
+He paused and watched the conflicting emotions on their faces, then
+plunged on.
+
+"We've banked the bus with snow to keep out the worst of the wind, but
+it's going to be terribly cold just the same. We've got to keep moving,
+keep up our spirits. If we don't----"
+
+But Jim didn't finish his sentence. There was no need for they all knew
+what would happen once they became groggy and sleepy.
+
+"I'm going to start with a count and I want all of you to beat your feet
+in time with me. That'll jar your whole body and warm you up a little."
+
+Jim started counting and soon the whole group was stamping their feet
+methodically.
+
+Even Janet had not realized how cold she was. Her feet had felt a little
+numb, but under the steady pounding against the floor they started to
+tingle, then burn with an intensity that brought tears to her eyes where
+they froze on her lashes.
+
+"I'm nearly frozen," chattered Margie, huddling closer to Janet. "If it
+wasn't for your coat I'd be like an icicle by this time."
+
+They kept up the motion with their feet for at least five minutes, and
+Jim called a halt then.
+
+"Everyone feel a little warmer?" he asked.
+
+"My hands are still cold," said one of the girls, but Janet was too stiff
+to turn around and see who was speaking.
+
+"Then here's an arm drill for everyone," said Jim, starting to swing his
+arms in cadence.
+
+When that exercise was completed, most of them could feel their bodies
+aglow as the blood raced through their veins.
+
+Ed started to tell funny stories and though he did his best, their own
+situation was so tragic that nothing appeared humorous. But he kept them
+interested, which was the main thing.
+
+Helen was the first to break the now monotonous flow of Ed's words.
+
+"Stop, Ed," she said, her voice low and tense. "Shake Miss Bruder,
+quick!"
+
+Ed turned suddenly to the teacher, who had been sitting back of him. Her
+head had fallen forward on her chest and her arms hung limp.
+
+The husky senior picked her up and brought her back under the light, the
+rest crowding around him.
+
+Then Janet took charge. Miss Bruder's eyes were closed, but she was
+breathing slowly.
+
+"I believe she's half frozen. She was sitting where a constant knife of
+air was coming in around the door," whispered Jim. "Get busy and massage
+her."
+
+Janet, with Helen helping her, stripped off Miss Bruder's thin gloves.
+Her hands were pitifully white.
+
+Ed scooped up a handful of snow where it had sifted in around the door
+and used it to rub Miss Bruder's hands while Janet and Helen massaged the
+upper part of her body and her face.
+
+It was five minutes before the teacher responded to their frantic
+efforts. Then her eyes opened and she tried to smile.
+
+"I must have dozed for a moment," she whispered.
+
+"Don't talk," said Helen. "Rest now."
+
+"Is everyone all right?" insisted the teacher.
+
+"Everybody's here," replied Jim, who was keeping a close eye on Bernice,
+who seemed the most susceptible to the cold.
+
+Ed pulled Janet to the rear of the bus.
+
+"This thing is getting serious," he whispered. "Some of the girls won't
+be able to stand it until morning unless we're able to keep them warmer.
+Jim and I have sheepskins. We'll put them down on the floor and you girls
+get down and lie on them. Huddle together and cover up with your own
+coats. Your body heat should keep you warm and we'll be moving around and
+talking to you so none of you will get too drowsy from the cold."
+
+"But you can't do that. You and Jim will freeze," protested Janet.
+
+"Freeze? I guess not. We're too tough for that. Besides, I've got all
+kinds of clothes on under this sheepskin."
+
+Janet finally agreed to the plan and Ed explained it briefly. Miss Bruder
+hesitated, but the others overruled her.
+
+Jim and Ed placed their heavy canvas, sheep-lined coats on the floor and
+the girls laid down on them like ten pins, huddling together and putting
+their own coats over them.
+
+"Get just as close as you can so you'll keep each other warm," counseled
+Jim, who, minus his heavy coat, was busy swinging his arms and legs.
+
+In less than five minutes the girls were ready to admit that the plan was
+an excellent one, for they were quite comfortable under the mound of
+coats and Janet made them keep up a constant flow of conversation,
+calling to each girl every few minutes. Up in the front of the bus they
+could hear the boys moving steadily and stamping their feet.
+
+How long they had been under the pile of coats Janet couldn't guess, but
+suddenly there was a wild pounding on the door of the bus. She managed to
+get her head out from under the coats in time to see Jim open the door.
+
+"Everyone safe?" cried someone outside.
+
+"We're all right," replied Jim and then Janet saw her father looking down
+at the huddled group of girls on the floor of the bus. His face was
+covered with frost, but he brushed past the boys and knelt beside her.
+
+"All right, honey?" he asked.
+
+"A little cold," Janet managed to smile. "How did you get here?"
+
+"Never mind that. The first thing is to get out of here and where you'll
+be safe and warm."
+
+Other men poured into the bus. Janet recognized some of them. Ed's father
+was there. So was Jim's, Cora's and Margie's. Someone had a big bottle of
+hot coffee and cardboard cups. The steaming hot liquid, bitter without
+sugar or cream, was passed around.
+
+Janet drank her cup eagerly and the hot beverage warmed her chilled body.
+
+Extra coats and mufflers had been brought by the rescue party.
+
+"Get as warm as you can. It's going to be a cold ride to the paved road,"
+advised her father.
+
+They were soon ready and once more the door of the bus was opened.
+Outside a powerful searchlight glowed and as they neared it Janet saw a
+large caterpillar tractor. Behind this was a hayrack, mounted on runners
+and well filled with hay.
+
+"Everybody into the rack. Burrow down deep so you'll keep warm."
+
+Janet's father counted them as they got into the rack, yelled to the
+operator of the tractor to start, and then piled into the rack himself.
+
+With a series of sharp reports from its exhaust, the lumbering tractor
+got into motion, jerking the rack and its precious load behind it.
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter VII_
+                           SANCTUARY AT HOME
+
+
+It was nearly an hour later when the tractor breasted the last grade and
+rolled down to the paved road where a dozen cars, all of them warmly
+heated and well lighted, were strung along the road. Anxious fathers and
+mothers were on hand, including Janet's mother and Mrs. Thorne and they
+welcomed their thoroughly chilled daughters to their bosoms.
+
+Janet's father shepherded them into their own sedan where despite the
+sub-zero cold the heater had kept the car comfortable. Then they started
+the final lap of their eventful trip from Youde's home.
+
+Helen and Janet sank back on the cushions of the capacious rear seat,
+thoroughly worn out by their trying experience.
+
+Janet's father, one of the most prominent attorneys in Clarion, slipped
+in behind the wheel, slamming the car door and shutting out the biting
+blast of air.
+
+There were other cars ahead of them and they made no attempt at high
+speed as they rolled back into the city.
+
+"How did you ever find us, Dad?" asked Janet.
+
+"You can thank the bus driver for that. Somehow he got through to a
+farmhouse. He was almost frozen, but he managed to tell them the story
+and they phoned word in to us."
+
+"Who thought of the tractor and hayrack?" asked Helen, warm once more.
+
+"It was Hugh Grogan, Bernice's father. He sells the caterpillars. Good
+thing he did or we'd never have gotten through."
+
+"It was a good thing for Bernice, too. She was about all in," said Janet.
+
+When they reached the Hardy home, Janet's mother insisted that Helen and
+Mrs. Thorne come in and have a hot lunch before going to their own home.
+
+While the girls took off their coats and Mr. Hardy put the car into the
+garage, Mrs. Hardy bustled out into the kitchen where she had left a
+kettle of water simmering on the stove.
+
+Lunch was ready in short order, tea, peanut butter sandwiches, cookies
+and a large bowl of fruit.
+
+Janet and Helen had ravenous appetites and the sandwiches disappeared as
+though by magic.
+
+"How cold is it, Dad?" asked Janet.
+
+"Twenty-two below."
+
+"The wind was awful," said Helen, between bites at a sandwich.
+
+"I know. It was pretty fierce going across country in the hayrack. The
+boys must have used their heads for someone banked the bus with snow."
+
+"That was Jim Barron's idea. He and Ed Rickey kept us moving and talking
+most of the time, but we forgot Miss Bruder. She was in a draft and
+almost froze to death without saying a word to anyone."
+
+"That scared us half to death," put in Helen, "but the boys massaged her
+hands with snow and Janet and I massaged the upper part of her body until
+we could get the circulation going again. I think she'll be all right,
+but probably pretty sensitive to cold for the rest of the winter."
+
+"But the winter's almost over. Here it's late March. Who'd ever have
+thought we'd have a storm like this," said Janet.
+
+"If I had, I can assure you that you'd never have made the trip to
+Youde's tonight," promised her father. "It was one of those freak storms
+that sometimes sweep down from the Arctic circle and fool even the
+weather men. By tomorrow the temperature will shoot up and the snow will
+melt so fast we'll probably have a flood."
+
+The girls finished every sandwich on the plate and drank two cups of tea
+apiece.
+
+It was five o'clock when they left the table.
+
+Mrs. Thorne and Helen started to put on their coats, but Janet's mother
+objected.
+
+"Your house will be cold and our guest room upstairs is all made up.
+Janet and I will lend you whatever you need. We'll all get to bed now."
+
+Janet got warm pajamas for Helen and then went to her own room. Warm and
+inviting in the soft rays of the rose-shaded lamp over her dressing
+table, it was a sanctuary after the exciting events of the night.
+
+A wave of drowsiness assailed Janet, and it was with difficulty that she
+unlaced and pulled off her boots. Somehow she managed to crawl into her
+pajamas and roll into bed, but she was asleep before she could remember
+to turn off the light.
+
+Her mother, looking in a few minutes later, pulled the blankets up around
+Janet's shoulders, opened the window just a crack to let in a whiff of
+fresh air, and turned off the light.
+
+Janet slept a heavy and dreamless sleep. When she awakened the sun was
+streaming in the windows and from the angle she could tell that it was
+late.
+
+But in spite of the knowledge that she would probably be extremely late
+in getting to school, Janet was too deliciously comfortable to move
+rapidly.
+
+After stretching leisurely, she got out of bed and closed the window. The
+radiator in her room was bubbling gently and she slipped into bed to wait
+until the room warmed up.
+
+Vivid thoughts of what had happened during the night rotated in her mind,
+the cold, the wind, the snow--the terror of waiting in Little Deer valley
+for the rescue, hoping but not knowing for sure that they would be
+reached in time to save them from the relentless cold.
+
+Someone opened Janet's door and peered in. It was Helen, who, on seeing
+that her friend was awake, bounced into the room.
+
+"You look pretty live and wide awake after last night," smiled Janet.
+
+"I'm not only that, I'm ravenously hungry," said Helen, "and if you had
+been out in the hall and caught a whiff of the breakfast your mother is
+preparing you would be too."
+
+"What time is it?"
+
+"Well, you can call it breakfast or lunch, depending on whether you've
+had breakfast. For me it's breakfast even though the clock says it's just
+a little after eleven."
+
+"You're seeing things," retorted Janet, throwing off the covers and
+hurrying toward her wardrobe.
+
+"I wouldn't be surprised if I am, but your mother says it is after eleven
+and I'll take her word for it. I'll run down and tell her you'll be along
+within the hour."
+
+"That isn't fair. You know it won't be more than five minutes. I always
+dress faster than you do."
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter VIII_
+                           POSTPONED TRYOUTS
+
+
+Helen went down stairs and Janet hastened to the bathroom where she made
+a hasty toilet. Back in her room she fairly jumped into her clothes, gave
+her hair one final and hurried caress with the brush, and then went down
+stairs.
+
+Mrs. Thorne, who had breakfasted earlier with Janet's father and mother,
+had gone home, so Helen and Janet sat down to the breakfast Mrs. Hardy
+had prepared.
+
+There was grapefruit to start with, then oatmeal with dates in it, hot,
+well-buttered toast, strips of crisp bacon and large glasses of milk.
+
+"Feel all right this morning, Janet?" her mother asked, looking a little
+anxiously at her vibrant and energetic daughter.
+
+"Fine, mother. I slept very soundly. Last night seems almost like a
+nightmare."
+
+"It was a nightmare," said her mother, sitting down and picking up a
+piece of toast to munch while the girls ate their breakfast. "I've never
+seen your father so worried. He was almost frantic until Hugh Grogan
+suggested they try to get through with one of his big tractors. They held
+a council of war right here in the front room and I've never seen as many
+nervous and excited men in my life. Talk about women getting upset, why
+they were worse than we ever think of being." She smiled a little. She
+could now, but last night it had all been a very grim and very near
+tragedy.
+
+"You'll have to write an excuse for me," said Janet between munches on a
+crisp slice of bacon.
+
+"Not this time. I phoned the superintendent and he said that everyone in
+honors English was excused from school today."
+
+"Wonder if we'll have the tryouts for the class play this afternoon?"
+said Helen, who until that moment had been devoting her full energies to
+the large bowl of oatmeal.
+
+"There's one way of finding out," replied Janet. "I'll phone the
+principal's office and see if it has been taken off the bulletin board."
+
+Janet went to the phone in the hall and called the schoolhouse. When she
+returned her face was aglow.
+
+"No school, no tryouts--what a day and what to do?"
+
+"You're sure about the tryouts?" Helen was insistent, for winning the
+leading part meant so much to her.
+
+"Sure as sure can be. They've been postponed until Saturday morning at
+9:30 o'clock when they will be held in the assembly."
+
+"Then that will give me plenty of time to study my part thoroughly," said
+Helen.
+
+"But you know it now. Why you had it memorized, every word and phrase,
+yesterday afternoon," protested Janet.
+
+"I know I did yesterday, but last night scared it completely out of me. I
+can't even remember the opening lines."
+
+"Maybe it's a good thing. We'll both start over and this afternoon we can
+rehearse upstairs in my room."
+
+"Grand. I've got to go home and help mother for a while, but I'll be back
+by 2:30 o'clock and we'll start in."
+
+Breakfast over, Janet went to the door with Helen. The day was bright and
+almost unbelievably clear. The temperature was rising rapidly, the wind
+had gone down, and their experience of the night before seemed very far
+away. Rivulets of water were starting to run down the streets and before
+nightfall the gutters would be full of the melting snow and slush.
+
+Janet found a multitude of little things to do around home to help her
+mother and the first interruption came with the ringing of the telephone.
+Her mother answered, but then summoned Janet.
+
+"It's the Times," said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+Janet took the instrument and recognized the voice of the city editor of
+the local paper.
+
+"I need a good first person story of what took place inside the bus,
+Janet," said Pete Benda. "Can you come down to the office and write a
+yarn? You've had enough experience with your high school page to do the
+trick and do it well."
+
+"But it all seems so far away and kind of vague now," protested Janet.
+
+"Listen, Janet, I've got to have that story." Pete was cajoling now.
+"Haven't we done a lot of favors for your high school page?"
+
+"Yes, but--."
+
+"Then come down and write the story. I'll save a good spot on page one
+for it."
+
+Janet hung up the telephone, feeling a little weak and limp. Pete Benda
+was insistent and she would have to go through with it.
+
+"The Times wants me to come down and write a first person story of what
+happened last night," she explained to her mother. "I didn't want to, but
+Pete Benda, the city editor, just insisted. He's been so good about
+helping us out on the school page when we've been in jams that I couldn't
+say no."
+
+"Of course not, and you'll do a good piece of writing. No don't worry
+about it. Run along. I'll have a little lunch ready when you get back."
+
+Janet put on her coat, but paused at the door and called to her mother.
+"If Helen comes before I get back, tell her I'll be along soon."
+
+Janet enjoyed the walk to the Times office for the air was invigorating.
+
+The Times was housed in a narrow two-story building with its press in the
+basement. The news department was on the second floor with the city
+editor's desk in front of a large window where he could look the full
+length of the main business street of Clarion.
+
+Pete Benda, thin and too white-faced for his own good health, saw Janet
+come in.
+
+"Here's a desk and typewriter you can use," he said. "I'm counting on
+having that story in less than an hour. You'll have to come through,
+young lady."
+
+Janet flushed at Pete's appellation, for the city editor of the Times was
+only a little older than she. Oh well, perhaps Pete was twenty-two, but
+she could remember when he had been in high school, playing football, and
+one of the best ends in the state.
+
+Janet rolled some copy paper into the typewriter and looked rather
+blankly at the sheet. It was hard now to concentrate on the events which
+had been so tragically real the night before. If she could only get the
+first sentence to click the rest would come easily. She tried one phrase.
+That wouldn't do; not enough action in it. Ripping the sheet of paper
+from the typewriter, she inserted another and tried again. This was
+better. Perhaps it would do; at least she had started, and the words came
+now in a smooth flow for Janet could type rapidly, thanks to a commercial
+course in her junior year.
+
+Pete Benda, on his way to the composing room, looked over her shoulder
+and read the first paragraph but Janet, now engrossed in the story,
+hardly noticed him. Pursing his lips in a low whistle, a trick that he
+did when pleased, Pete went on about his work.
+
+Janet finished one page and then another. Even a third materialized under
+the steady tapping of her fingers on the keyboard. Then she was through.
+Three pages of copy, three pages of short, sharp sentences, of adjectives
+that caught and held the imagination, that gave a picture of the cold and
+the apprehension of those in the bus, of the relief, almost hysterical,
+when rescue came.
+
+Janet didn't read it over. It was the best she could do. If Pete wanted
+to change it that was all right with her. She put the three sheets of
+copy paper together and placed them on his desk. Then she slipped into
+her coat and went down stairs. She had finished the story well within the
+limit set by the city editor and she turned toward home and the rehearsal
+she and Helen had planned for the afternoon.
+
+
+
+
+                              _Chapter IX_
+                                BIG NEWS
+
+
+Janet had gone less than half a block when she heard someone calling to
+her. Looking back she saw Pete Benda leaning from an upper window of the
+Times office. He was waving Janet's story in his hand.
+
+"Great story, Janet," he shouted. "I'll send you a box of candy. Thanks a
+lot."
+
+Janet smiled and waved at Pete. It was just like the impetuous city
+editor to lean out his window and shout his thoughts at the top of his
+voice to someone down the street. But she was glad to know that the story
+met Pete's approval. But as for the candy. Well Pete was always making
+promises like that. If he had kept them all he would have needed a
+private candy factory.
+
+Helen was waiting when Janet reached home and she waved a letter at her
+friend.
+
+"It's from Dad," she cried. "He says he's about through on the picture
+he's making at present and will be home without fail for my graduation.
+Wants me to send him the dates of the play, of the banquet and of
+everything. Also wants your Dad to make sure the fishing will be good and
+to line up a good plot where he can find plenty of worms."
+
+"That's splendid news. I'm so happy," said Janet, who knew how much Helen
+missed her father's companionship at times, for when he was in Clarion
+they were almost inseparable. But Janet realized that Mr. Thorne was
+exceedingly smart in keeping Helen in Clarion rather than taking her west
+with him to the movie city where she would be subject to all of the
+tensions and nervous activity there. Here in Clarion she was growing up
+in entirely normal surroundings where she would have a sane and sensible
+outlook on life and its values.
+
+"I phoned your Dad, and he says he'll have to start hunting good creeks
+just as soon as the snow's off."
+
+"That kind of puts Dad on the spot, for he's got to deliver on the worms
+and the fishing," smiled Janet.
+
+"Oh, well, Dad doesn't care so much about getting any fish. He just likes
+to get out and loaf on a sunny creek bank and either talk with your Dad
+or doze. He calls that a real holiday."
+
+Janet went upstairs and got the mimeographed sheets with the synopsis of
+the play and the part she was to try out for. After the drama of last
+night, that of "The Chinese Image" seemed shallow and forced.
+
+The rôle of Abbie Naughton, who was more than a little light-headed and
+fun loving until a crisis came along, was comparatively easy for it
+called for little actual acting ability and Janet was frank enough to
+admit that she was no actress.
+
+Helen, trying for the straight lead, carried by Gale Naughton, had always
+liked to think that she had real dramatic talent and Janet was willing to
+admit that her companion had more than average ability. At least Helen
+was pretty enough to carry the rôle off whether she had any dramatic
+ability or not.
+
+Coaching each other, they gave their own interpretations of the parts
+which they were trying for. An hour and then another slipped away. The
+brightness faded from the afternoon and Janet turned on a reading light.
+
+"I think we've done all we can for one day. If we keep on we'll go stale.
+Let's forget the tryouts for a while."
+
+"You can," retorted Helen, "but I've simply got to win that part. What
+would Dad think of me if I didn't?"
+
+"I don't believe he'd think any the less of you," smiled Janet, "but I'll
+admit it would be nice for you to win the leading rôle and I'll do
+everything I can to help you."
+
+"Of course, I know you will. It was awfully small of me to say that."
+
+The doorbell rang and Janet answered it. A boy handed her a package.
+
+"It's for Miss Hardy. She live here?"
+
+"I'm Janet Hardy."
+
+"Okay. I just wanted to be sure this was the right place."
+
+"This looks interesting," said Janet, returning to the living room with
+the large box. Her mother, who had heard the doorbell, joined them.
+
+Janet tore off the wrapping, opened the cardboard outer box, and pulled
+out a two pound box of assorted chocolates. On top of the box was a
+clipping torn from the front page of the Times.
+
+Janet stared hard at the clipping, hardly believing her eyes. There was
+her story with her name signed to it.
+
+"Why Janet, your name is on this front page story!" exclaimed her mother.
+
+"What's all the mystery?" demanded Helen, and Janet explained, rather
+quickly, about her summons to the Times office.
+
+"Pete Benda said he liked the story and was going to send me a box of
+candy, but I thought he was joking. You know he's always telling people
+he's going to send them candy."
+
+"This is no joke," said Helen as Janet opened the box and offered candy
+to her mother and to Helen. "In fact, I'd like a joke like this about
+once a week."
+
+"Yes, but I wouldn't like an experience like we had once a week,"
+retorted Janet.
+
+Helen's mother phoned that they were having an early supper and Helen
+picked up the tryout sheets, put her coat over her shoulders, and started
+for home.
+
+"If I disappear, it's just that I've been swept away in the flood," she
+called as she hurried out.
+
+Janet looked after her. Helen wasn't far from wrong. With the rapidly
+rising temperature, the afternoon sun had covered the sidewalks and
+filled the street with rushing torrents of water. Another day and there
+would be no sign of the storm of the night before.
+
+Mrs. Hardy called and Janet went into the kitchen to help her mother with
+the preparations for the evening meal.
+
+"I heard you rehearsing this afternoon," said her mother, "and I wouldn't
+set my heart too much on winning one of those parts."
+
+"I won't," promised Janet. "Of course I'd like to be in the senior play,
+but I won't be heart-broken if I don't win a part."
+
+"Perhaps I was thinking more about Helen than you," confessed Mrs. Hardy.
+"She's so much in earnest that failure would upset her greatly."
+
+"I know it, but I can understand why Helen wants a part and I'm afraid
+I'd be just as intent if my father were the ace director for a great
+motion picture company. I suppose I'd think that I should have dramatic
+ability to be a success in his eyes."
+
+"That's just it," said Mrs. Hardy. "Helen doesn't need to get a part in
+the play. When he comes home, he likes nothing better than being with his
+wife and Helen. You know he never goes any place."
+
+"Except fishing with Dad."
+
+"Oh, pshaw. They don't fish. They dig a few worms and take their old
+fishpoles along some creek that never did have any fish. It just gets
+them outdoors and away from people who might want to bother Henry
+Thorne."
+
+"Well, no matter, Helen has set her heart on winning the leading rôle and
+I'm going to do everything in my power to help her along."
+
+
+
+
+                              _Chapter X_
+                           VICTORY FOR HELEN
+
+
+The rest of the week slipped away quickly. The harrowing experience in
+Little Deer valley became a memory and the seniors concentrated upon
+winning rôles in the class play.
+
+By Saturday morning the snow had vanished, the temperature was above
+freezing and the grass was starting to turn green--such are the miracles
+of the early spring.
+
+Janet and Helen rehearsed their tryout parts so many times that Janet
+found herself mumbling her lines in her sleep.
+
+Most of the seniors assembled promptly at 9:30 o'clock that morning for
+the tryouts. A few of them, feeling that they had no chance, did not
+come, but Janet noticed that Margie and Cora were well to the front of
+the room where Miss Williams would be sure to see them.
+
+"I want you to do your best this morning for on your work now depends
+whether you will have a place in the play," she warned them, and Janet
+felt a little twinge. School was near an end and the senior play was her
+last chance. Of course it wasn't as important to her as it was to Helen,
+but it would be nice to have the part of Abbie, for Abbie was such a
+delightfully irresponsible character.
+
+Miss Williams called for tryouts for minor rôles first and Helen sent an
+anxious glance toward Janet and nodded toward the hall.
+
+They slipped out of the assembly quietly and Helen voiced her fears.
+
+"Perhaps I'd better try for one of these minor parts as well as for the
+lead. Then if I don't get to play Gale Naughton, I may win another rôle."
+
+"I wouldn't," counseled Janet. "Concentrate on the main part. I think
+you'll make it all right."
+
+"I wish I had your confidence."
+
+"I'm not confident about winning a part myself, but I'm sure you will,"
+replied Janet. "Let's go back and watch the tryouts."
+
+"Perhaps I ought to go over my lines again?"
+
+"Nonsense. You can even speak them backwards. If you work on them any
+more you may do that, which would be fatal. Let's see the mistakes of the
+others and then we'll know we aren't the world's worst actresses."
+
+Miss Williams was conscientious. She wanted every boy and girl who felt
+he had a chance to have the utmost opportunity and she worked with them
+carefully. At noon she was fairly well down the cast, but the four major
+rôles remained, two for the boys and two for the girls, including the
+parts of Gale and Abbie Naughton which Helen and Janet sought.
+
+"We've been at this long enough," announced Miss Williams as the noon
+whistles sounded down town. "Everyone take a rest, have lunch, and be
+back here at one o'clock. Then we'll go on until we finish. For those who
+have been assigned parts, the first rehearsal will be Monday night at
+7:15 o'clock. I'll expect you to have your first act lines memorized."
+
+The group broke up, some of them going home to have lunch and others
+stopping at the luncheonette of a nearby drug store. Janet and Helen were
+among this group, which included Cora and Margie. The latter, seated with
+two companions, appeared confident that they would win the leading rôles,
+but Janet overheard a spiteful remark by Cora.
+
+"Of course, I haven't the pull Helen has, for her father's a famous
+director," she said, and Janet saw Helen's face flush.
+
+"That's isn't fair," said Helen. "You know Dad wouldn't use any influence
+to get a part for me."
+
+"So does Cora. She's saying that just to be mean."
+
+When they reassembled it was a small group, Jim Barron, Ed Rickey and two
+other boys who were trying for the male leads, Cora, Margie, Helen, Janet
+and Miss Williams.
+
+The instructor worked with the boys first and it was evident that Jim and
+Ed were to have the major parts. In less than half an hour they were
+assigned, Ed getting the lead and Jim the second rôle. If Janet won the
+part of Abbie, Jim would be playing opposite her. That would be fun, for
+Jim was wholesome and pleasant.
+
+After the boys had departed, Miss Williams turned to the girls.
+
+"Now we're down to the two major parts, for the play hinges on the
+characters of Gale and Abbie." She looked at the four hopeful, anxious
+faces.
+
+"I want Cora and Margie first. Take your places and give me an
+interpretation of the action you think should go with the lines you have
+memorized."
+
+Cora, dark-eyed and confident, stepped to the platform. Margie, a wispy,
+blonde girl, followed. Both girls used excellent diction, spoke clearly
+and with feeling, but somehow Cora's work lacked a convincing touch.
+Perhaps she was trying too hard and Janet felt her spirits rising.
+
+Helen should walk away with the rôle unless she got scared when she
+stepped on the platform. But Janet was more than a little concerned about
+Margie. The blonde senior was doing an excellent job, putting just the
+right amount of enthusiasm into the rôle. There was nothing forced. Every
+word and gesture seemed spontaneous and lines that had sounded silly in
+their own rehearsals were very logical and convincing when they came
+tumbling from Margie's lips.
+
+Janet smiled grimly. Of course she wanted the part, but even more, she
+wanted Helen to win the rôle of Gale.
+
+Cora and Margie finished the part Miss Williams had assigned, and looked
+anxiously toward the dramatics teacher.
+
+"That was very nicely done," said Miss Williams. "Janet and Helen next
+and put plenty of feeling into your interpretations."
+
+From the platform Janet could look down on Cora and Margie. There was a
+thin sneer on Cora's lips and Janet felt Helen, standing close beside
+her, tremble.
+
+"Ready?" she asked. Helen nodded.
+
+Janet's lines opened their brief tryout rôles. She spoke them clearly,
+but somehow the spark needed to add vigor and brilliance was lacking. She
+was thinking too much about Helen.
+
+The lines and action snapped to Helen and she picked them up instantly.
+Janet thrilled. Helen had forgotten Cora and Margie. She had forgotten
+even Miss Williams. She was living her part. She was Gale Naughton, the
+dark, lovely heroine of "The Chinese Image." The lines came smoothly and
+without effort.
+
+Then they were through, a little breathless, their hearts beating
+rapidly. Janet was the first to turn toward Miss Williams and before the
+instructor spoke, she knew Helen had made a deep impression with her
+interpretation of Gale.
+
+"Splendid. I liked that very much," said Miss Williams, who was not given
+to compliments. "If you'll be good enough to wait a few minutes, I'll be
+back."
+
+"Will you announce the winners then?" asked Cora, her dark cheeks flushed
+with excitement and her brown eyes glowing.
+
+"Yes," promised Miss Williams, hurrying from the room.
+
+"Why do you suppose she left to make her tabulations?" asked Helen, her
+voice low.
+
+"Probably didn't want us to know just how she rated us. She's got a
+percentage system all her own she uses in casting parts. It won't be long
+now," said Janet.
+
+"The sooner the better. I'm all fluttery inside."
+
+"Maybe you think Cora and Margie aren't. They can't even sit still."
+
+Which was true. Cora and Margie were walking restlessly up and down the
+far side of the assembly, looking anxiously toward the double doorway
+through which Miss Williams would return.
+
+Five minutes slipped away. Then another five and it stretched out into
+fifteen minutes before the quick footsteps of the dramatics instructor
+could be heard in the hallway. Involuntarily Cora and Margie joined Janet
+and Helen at the front of the large assembly room.
+
+Miss Williams came in briskly, a slip of paper in her right hand, and
+Janet, who was nearest, saw two names written on the slip.
+
+"Sorry I kept you so long, but I'm trying to be very fair in making the
+final selections," explained Miss Williams.
+
+"Go on, go on," burst out Cora. "Who won?"
+
+Miss Williams frowned.
+
+"Well, I'm sorry, Cora."
+
+The dark-haired senior interrupted her sharply.
+
+"You mean I didn't win?"
+
+"I mean that Helen gave a more convincing interpretation of the part. She
+gets the leading rôle."
+
+Cora's eyes flashed.
+
+"I might have known that. Too bad I don't have a father with some
+influence."
+
+Cora picked up her coat. "Come on, Margie. We've just wasted our time."
+
+"I'd stay if I were you, Margie," said Miss Williams. "What I have to say
+should interest you."
+
+And in those words Janet knew the decision. Helen had the lead and Margie
+was to get the second rôle. She was out, but at least she could take it
+without creating a scene like Cora.
+
+
+
+
+                              _Chapter XI_
+                       A FAMOUS DIRECTOR ARRIVES
+
+
+Miss Williams looked at the three girls remaining and she spoke slowly,
+choosing her words with care.
+
+"I regret that Cora took that attitude," she said, "for there was no
+influence used in my selection of Helen for the lead. She was much better
+in the tryout than Cora."
+
+Then the instructor turned to Margie.
+
+"You did a nice bit as Abbie," she went on, "and I want you to take that
+rôle. Janet was practically as good as you were on the lines, but you
+seem a little more like the character. You're thinner and you flutter
+around more than Janet, and Abbie is a very fluttery sort of a person."
+
+Margie grinned. "In other words, Abbie is a dizzy sort of a gal and I'm
+that type."
+
+"Call it that if you want to," smiled Miss Williams. "Do you want the
+part?"
+
+"And how!"
+
+"Very well. I will expect you and Helen to have your lines for the first
+act well in hand by Monday night."
+
+Miss Williams, followed by Margie, left the room and Helen turned to face
+Janet.
+
+"I'm sorry it turned out this way. I'd rather you had won a part."
+
+"I'm not," said Janet, and she said it honestly, for a part in the senior
+play had meant so much more to Helen. She knew she had done her best, but
+she had to admit that after all Margie was better suited to the rôle than
+she.
+
+The air softened. April came and went, and the senior play neared its
+final rehearsals. Miss Williams drove the cast without mercy for on the
+success of the play would depend her own opportunity for advancement.
+
+Helen, working every spare moment, became tired and irritable.
+
+"I'll be glad when it's all over," she said. "I never dreamed it would be
+so hard."
+
+"You'll be well repaid when the play is given," said Janet, who had been
+assigned to the stage crew. In this capacity she attended almost every
+rehearsal and she couldn't help watching Margie go through the lines of
+Abbie. It was a delightful part, easy to handle, and so breezy and
+irresponsible.
+
+Costuming took several nights, for Miss Williams was meticulous. Then
+came the dress rehearsals, the first on Monday night. The play would be
+given Friday. On the following week came the junior-senior banquet and
+then graduation and the end of school days.
+
+Janet, watching the play in rehearsal each night, came to know the lines
+of almost everyone in the cast for the lighting of the show was in her
+charge. It was up to her to get just the right amount of amber in the
+afternoon scene and just the right amount of blue to simulate moonlight
+for the evening scene from the rather antiquated banks of lights on each
+side of the stage.
+
+Brief letters and a telegram or two had come from Helen's father,
+assuring her that he would arrive in ample time for the presentation of
+"The Chinese Image." Janet's father had found a small plot at the rear of
+their own large lot which yielded an ample supply of worms at almost
+every spadeful and Indian creek, two miles north of Clarion, was said to
+abound with bullheads that spring.
+
+On Wednesday night, after a long and tiring rehearsal, Janet and Helen
+walked home through the soft moonlight of the late May evening.
+
+"I haven't heard from Dad today. He was going to wire what train he would
+arrive on. It looks like he won't be in until the morning of the play."
+
+"That will be plenty of time. He can stay on longer after the play's
+over," said Janet.
+
+"It won't be plenty of time if he has to do any more retakes on his last
+picture. His letters have sounded awfully tired."
+
+"Let's walk on down to Whet's for an ice cream soda. The walk will do
+both of us good and the soda will be refreshing," said Janet.
+
+Helen agreed and they walked leisurely, breathing deeply of the
+flower-scented air; for it was a perfect evening. From far away came the
+rumble of heavy trucks on a through street, but on their own there was an
+air of peace and contentment.
+
+"Dad will like this when he finally gets here. He always seems to throw
+off his cares when he's back home."
+
+"Which is why he anticipates coming home so much," added Janet.
+
+"But it can't go on this way forever. He needs mother and I'll be going
+away to school next fall."
+
+"I wouldn't worry about that until after graduation. There'll be plenty
+of time to discuss those matters then." Janet felt somewhat like a very
+fatherly old man giving advice to a very young girl and she smiled to
+herself.
+
+At the neighborhood drug store they dawdled over their sodas, thoroughly
+relaxing after the strenuous hours of rehearsal. On the way home they
+again walked leisurely, discussing little things about the play that
+appealed to them.
+
+Helen's mother, waiting on the porch, called to them the moment they came
+in sight.
+
+"Hurry up, Helen. I've a telegram from your father."
+
+Helen ran across the lawn with Janet close behind.
+
+"He's coming, isn't he, mother?" And to Janet there was something pitiful
+in Helen's extreme anxiety for she was so desperately intent upon having
+her father see her in the leading rôle in the class play.
+
+"He's coming tonight, dear. He wired saying that he would be on the
+transcontinental plane which stops at Rubio at midnight. Janet's father
+and mother are going to drive us over. You girls had better clean up a
+bit. We're leaving right away."
+
+"I'm so happy," said Helen. "I was afraid it was a message saying he
+wouldn't be able to come."
+
+Janet hurried on home. Her father had the large sedan out in the driveway
+and her mother was bustling about the kitchen, making stacks of thin
+sandwiches.
+
+"Why the sandwiches?" asked Janet.
+
+"I've never known the time when Henry Thorne wasn't hungry. He's been
+that way ever since he was a little boy and his wife is too excited to
+think about that. We'll have them all over for lunch after we get home."
+
+"But it will be late. Way after one o'clock and Helen ought to be in bed.
+She has been keeping terrific hours with the rehearsals."
+
+"It won't do her a bit of harm this time. Being with her father will do
+her more good than anything else. Wrap these sandwiches up and put them
+in the breadbox so they'll keep good and moist. Then slice some lemon for
+the ice tea and put the slices back in the ice box. We'll stop and get
+some ice cream on our way in to town."
+
+They hurried around the kitchen until Janet's mother noticed the disarray
+of her daughter.
+
+"For land's sake, Janet, you're a sight. Working with the scenery and
+lights again at school? Well, hurry upstairs and clean up. Then slip into
+that pale green print that makes your hair look golden. We'll be ready in
+five minutes."
+
+Janet forgot her fatigue and raced upstairs, splashed water on her
+flushed cheeks, followed that with a few hasty dabs of a powder puff to
+take the shine off her skin, and then went to her own room where she put
+on fresh, sheer hose and the green print that was so becoming.
+
+Her hair, with its natural curl, needed only a quick brushing to bring
+out the highlights.
+
+Down in the driveway her father pushed the horn button and her mother
+called.
+
+"We're ready, Janet."
+
+But so was Janet and she hastened downstairs and joined them. The sedan
+was one of those extra-broad stream-lined cars with room for three in the
+front seat.
+
+"You and Helen can sit up front with me while your mother and Mrs. Thorne
+are in the back seat," said her father. "Coming back we'll put the
+Thornes in the back where they can visit to their heart's content."
+
+The car rolled down the drive and her father turned and stopped the
+large, low machine in front of the Thorne home. Half a dozen lights were
+turned on downstairs and the house fairly glowed with light.
+
+Helen and her mother came down the walk, Helen in a pink, fluffy creation
+that set off her dark coloring to its best effect.
+
+"You're pretty enough to look like a would-be movie star trying to make
+an impression upon a famous director," whispered Janet.
+
+"Maybe I am," smiled Helen as she slipped into the front seat.
+
+"Everybody ready?" inquired Janet's father. "I don't want to get half way
+to Rubio and have one of you women remember that you've left something
+important at home."
+
+"You do the driving and we'll worry about what's been left at home,"
+replied Mrs. Hardy with a chuckle.
+
+The big machine rolled away smoothly and when they turned onto the main
+state road to Rubio, John Hardy stepped on the accelerator and they
+fairly flew down the straight, white ribbon which unrolled before their
+blazing lights.
+
+The speedometer climbed steadily, fifty, sixty and then seventy miles an
+hour, and the needle hung there except when they swung around one of the
+broad, well-banked curves. Then it dropped to fifty.
+
+The rush of cool air was refreshing and Janet and Helen sank back in the
+broad, comfortable seat.
+
+When the lights of Rubio glowed ahead Helen spoke.
+
+"It hardly seems possible that Dad will be here in a few minutes. It's
+been months since I've seen him."
+
+"Then you'll enjoy seeing him all the more. What fun you're going to have
+the next few days."
+
+"I hope it will be several weeks for I think Dad needs a good rest. He's
+done three big pictures in the last year."
+
+They rolled through Rubio to the airport, which was just beyond the city
+limits. The clock over the hangar pointed to 11:50 and Janet's father
+guided the sedan to a stop in the parking area behind the steel fence.
+
+"I'll find out if the plane's on time," he said, and went over to the
+office.
+
+Janet thought she could hear the faint, faraway beat of an airplane, but
+the noise of another car turning into the parking space drowned it out.
+
+"Come on folks. The plane will be here in a minute," called Mr. Hardy.
+
+They hurried out of the car and followed John Hardy through the gate and
+onto the ramp. In the west were the red and green lights of an incoming
+plane.
+
+Suddenly the field burst into a flood of blue-white brilliance as a great
+searchlight came on. Like a ghost, the huge, twin-motored plane glided
+down its invisible path and settled easily onto a runway, little clouds
+of dust coming up from the crushed rock as the machine touched the
+ground.
+
+With its motors roaring a lusty song of power, the monoplane waddled
+toward the concrete ramp. The pilot swung it smartly about and the ground
+crew blocked the wheels and rushed the landing stage up to the cabin door
+as the pilot cut the motors. The propellers ceased whirling just as the
+stewardess opened the door.
+
+"There's Dad!" cried Helen and she ran toward the plane with Janet at her
+heels.
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter XII_
+                              ON THE STAGE
+
+
+Henry Thorne was the first passenger to alight from the east-bound plane.
+Tall, well-built, with a close-clipped mustache and iron gray hair that
+curled a bit around his temples, he was a man's man.
+
+Helen threw her arms around her father and he gave her a tremendous hug.
+
+"Golly, I'm glad to see you, hon," he said. "Where's mother?"
+
+"She's coming. She couldn't run as fast as I," explained Helen,
+breathless with excitement.
+
+Mrs. Thorne, her face flushed with happiness over her husband's coming
+arrived and they embraced affectionately.
+
+Then Mr. Thorne saw John Hardy and Janet and her mother.
+
+"Say, this is great of you to come over. I feel like a visiting
+celebrity, or something."
+
+"You're very much a celebrity," smiled Janet.
+
+"Not to you," he replied. "Well, let's start home. I've only this light
+traveling bag."
+
+"Does that mean you won't be able to stay long?" asked Helen anxiously.
+
+"I should say it doesn't. I can live for six months out of a traveling
+bag. Oh, of course, I wouldn't look like Beau Brummell, but I'd be
+acceptable in average circles."
+
+The Thornes occupied the back seat and Janet and her mother sat in front.
+The big car purred smoothly and Janet's father sent it humming away on
+the trip back to Clarion.
+
+Janet got only snatches of the conversation that was going on in the rear
+seat. She was anxious to listen, but it wouldn't have been very polite to
+have done so obviously. Anyway, Helen would tell her most of the news the
+next day.
+
+From the few remarks she overheard, she realized that Henry Thorne was
+exceedingly happy to be home, and that the last year had been a strain
+even though all of his pictures had been money makers.
+
+The lights of Clarion were in sight when he leaned forward and spoke to
+Janet's father.
+
+"Get any worms located, John?"
+
+"Plenty of them and right in my own back yard. You can dig to your
+heart's content."
+
+"How about the fishing?"
+
+"I haven't tried it myself, but the boys say there are lots of bullheads
+in Indian creek. Remember it?"
+
+"I'll never forget the time we were hunting rabbits and walked across the
+ice of the creek. It wasn't frozen thick enough and we dropped through
+into water waist deep. Going home was the longest, coldest walk I've ever
+taken."
+
+"It wasn't very pleasant," nodded Janet's father. "Did you hear about the
+experience of the girls?"
+
+"Haven't read a paper for weeks. I've been going day and night on retakes
+for the last picture. What happened?"
+
+They slowed down for the edge of Clarion and Janet's father, briefly and
+vividly, recounted the events of that harrowing night in the storm and
+bitter cold of Little Deer valley.
+
+"I should have known about this," said Henry Thorne quietly. "Why didn't
+someone wire me?"
+
+"I thought of it," said Helen's mother, "but it all happened so quickly.
+Then, after the girls were safe at home I thought wiring you would only
+prove disturbing and I knew you were going to the limit of your strength
+and endurance anyway."
+
+"Perhaps you're right," he conceded, sinking back in the rear seat. "My,
+but it's great to be home."
+
+John Hardy swung the car into the drive and they rolled up the grade to
+the porch.
+
+"Pity you couldn't take a man to his own door," chided his friend.
+
+"All right, I will if you want to miss the lunch that's waiting."
+
+They bantered good naturedly, for John Hardy and Henry Thorne had been
+companions since boyhood. Now their correspondence was haphazard and
+infrequent, but each anticipated their visits together.
+
+Janet hastened to the kitchen to help her mother with the lunch, placing
+the delicious, thinly cut sandwiches on a large silver platter. There was
+a heap of them, but it was late and they were all hungry.
+
+Her mother stopped halfway to the dining room, a stricken look appearing
+on her face.
+
+"I completely forgot to stop on the way home and get ice cream."
+
+Janet looked at the clock. It was 1:15 a. m.
+
+"I'm afraid it's too late to find any place near here open. We'll make
+out anyway with sandwiches, cheese wafers and tea."
+
+"There's some chocolate cake left over from yesterday," said her mother.
+
+"Then I'll put that on. We'll have plenty."
+
+They bustled about and almost before they knew it Janet was out on the
+porch announcing that lunch was ready.
+
+The Hardys sat on one side of the table and the Thornes on the other, the
+conversation shifting back and forth. The pile of sandwiches dwindled
+rapidly, tea cups were refilled two and three times and Henry Thorne was
+noticed taking at least two slices of the thick, delicious chocolate
+cake. John Hardy accused him of taking three slices, but this he denied
+strenuously.
+
+"If I'm to be accused of eating three slices of cake, I'm going home," he
+announced. "And I won't be back until there's more cake."
+
+"I'll get up early and bake a fresh one. It will be ready by noon," said
+Janet's mother.
+
+"That'll be just about the time I'm getting up. Come on folks. We've got
+to get some sleep tonight."
+
+Goodnights were said quickly and with Henry Thorne in the lead, the
+visitors departed for their home.
+
+Janet helped her mother clear away the dishes. It was too late to wash
+them and they were hastily stacked in the sink.
+
+"How do you think Henry looks?" asked John Hardy coming into the kitchen.
+
+"He's too tired and looks like he's been going on nervous energy for
+simply days," replied Janet's mother.
+
+"I got the same impression. If we can manage to make him forget that
+strenuous business of his, of making successful motion pictures he'll be
+able to build himself up."
+
+"He'll find plenty to interest himself in the graduation program," said
+Mrs. Hardy, "and if you take him on some fishing and loafing expeditions
+along the creek he'll get a fine chance to relax."
+
+"Unless they send a rush call from the coast for him to return at once
+like they did a year ago just after he had settled down to a fine
+vacation. Well, staying up and talking doesn't help the situation. Scoot
+for bed, Janet. It's a good thing you aren't in the class play, what with
+keeping such late hours as this."
+
+Up until the afternoon of the play Janet saw very little of Helen's
+father. He was over to the house once, but Helen informed her that he had
+been sleeping and taking long drives around the countryside with her
+mother.
+
+"They have so very much to visit about," explained Helen, who was worn
+thin by the strain of the last rehearsals. The night before it had been
+midnight before they rang down the curtain. Janet had been up equally as
+late for her work on the meager lighting equipment kept her on the job as
+long as the cast rehearsed.
+
+On Friday afternoon they made a final check of sets and lights and
+costumes and Miss Williams rehearsed one or two of the minor characters
+who had been causing more trouble than the leads in getting their lines
+in just the way she wanted them.
+
+The gymnasium was filled with row upon row of chairs. The old curtain
+which shielded the stage had been refurbished and looked quite
+presentable in spite of the landscape scene which it depicted. Someday
+Janet hoped the school would be able to buy adequate stage equipment. The
+stage was large enough, but the sets were pitifully few in number and all
+of them several years old. They had been changed a little here and there
+by the stagecraft class, but underneath you could detect the same flats
+and doors and windows of other years.
+
+It was five o'clock before they finally straggled away from the gym and
+the call for the entire cast and stage crew was 6:30 o'clock for Miss
+Williams wanted everyone on hand early. Janet had seen the instructor
+conferring with a rather distinguished looking man that afternoon and
+guessed that he was the representative of the producing company, there to
+see the production and make the final decision on offering a job to Miss
+Williams.
+
+Janet, in spite of the fact that she was only a member of the stage crew,
+found it hard to eat even though supper that night was especially
+delicious and her mother, although silent, looked at her reprovingly.
+
+Helen arrived before supper was over and Janet was surprised to see her
+so calm. Perhaps her father had been coaching her on composure.
+
+Janet folded up a clean smock, tucked it under one arm, and joined Helen.
+
+"Good luck, girls," said her father. "We'll wait for you after the show
+and all have a lunch down town to celebrate the event."
+
+"Do you know where your folks are going to sit?" asked Janet.
+
+Helen shook her head. "Dad wouldn't tell me; thought if I knew I would be
+looking for them and it might make me nervous."
+
+"This is the first time a high school class has ever performed before a
+famous Hollywood director," said Janet.
+
+"Oh, don't think of Dad in that way. Now that he's back home he's just a
+neighbor and he wants to be thought of in that way."
+
+"All right, but you can't keep the cast from remembering that an ace
+director is in the audience tonight."
+
+"I suppose not. I only hope it won't make them too excited and upset."
+
+"How about yourself?"
+
+"I had been wondering up until tonight. But now I've made myself realize
+that he's just Dad and that makes all of the difference in the world.
+Sort of gives me the confidence that I need for I know that if I make
+mistakes he'll understand. I wish you were going to be Abbie."
+
+"Well I'm not, and you'll get along all right with Margie. I think she's
+really been working hard."
+
+"Oh, she's worked hard enough, but somehow she doesn't seem real in the
+character."
+
+"You mean I'm just crazy and silly enough to make a very real Abbie?"
+chided Janet.
+
+Helen's face flushed quickly.
+
+"You know better than that. Margie is light-headed enough for the rôle of
+Abbie, but she lacks some spark of sincerity that's needed, for after
+all, you know, Abbie finally solves the riddle of the Chinese image and
+pulls out the string of priceless pearls which saves the fortunes of the
+Naughtons."
+
+The cast and stage crew reported on time and Miss Williams checked each
+of them in. She devoted her own energies to making up the principals
+while several other teachers, fairly adept in dramatics, helped with the
+makeup of the minor characters.
+
+Janet put on her smock and checked the lighting instructions which had
+been mimeographed and placed it beside the small switchboard. Actually
+she knew them all by heart, but she wanted to be sure there would be no
+mistake; no dimming of the lights when they should be brightened nor a
+sudden blackout in the middle of a love scene.
+
+Margie Blake came up from one of the dressing rooms. She was glorious in
+salmon-hued taffeta and golden slippers.
+
+Margie, fully aware of the striking picture she made, walked slowly
+across the stage, which had been set for the opening scene, the garden of
+the Naughton home.
+
+Ed Rickey was standing nearby and Janet saw his eyes widen as they took
+in the beauty of Margie and her costume. And Janet felt her own heart
+tighten. Here she was in a smock, with her hands none too clean, no
+wonder that Ed had eyes only for Margie.
+
+One of the sky drops was hanging unevenly and Miss Williams sent one of
+the boys in the stage crew up into the loft to adjust the lines and even
+the drop. The dramatic instructor stood in the middle of the stage
+motioning for first one end of the drop and then the other to be lifted
+or lowered.
+
+Suddenly there was a cry from the loft and Janet, looking up, saw one end
+of the heavy drop sagging. It hung there for a moment. Then there was the
+sound of rending wood and the drop hurtled down toward the stage.
+
+Miss Williams leaped backward instinctively, but Margie, seated on a
+garden bench, didn't have a chance.
+
+Janet tried to shout a warning, but the cry jammed in her throat. Margie
+looked up and Janet caught one terror-stricken look on her face. Then the
+drop thudded to the floor, a tangle of painted canvas enveloping Margie.
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter XIII_
+                             JANET STEPS IN
+
+
+Ed Rickey was the first to reach Margie. With desperate hands he tore
+away the pile of canvas, splintered wood and snarl of rope. Jim Barron,
+who had rushed from the dressing room with his makeup only half on,
+helped Ed lift Margie to a nearby bench.
+
+Then Miss Williams took charge. Margie was breathing regularly, but her
+eyes were closed. There was a nasty bump over her forehead and her dress
+looked like it might have been run over by a ten-ton truck, for a mass of
+dust and grime had come down with the drop.
+
+The boy who had been in the scene loft scrambled down.
+
+"The pulleys let go!" he cried. "Honestly, Miss Williams, I couldn't help
+it."
+
+"Of course not, and I don't think Margie is badly hurt. She'll come
+around in a minute or two."
+
+Someone brought a glass of water and Miss Williams raised Margie's head
+and forced some water between her lips.
+
+After a time Margie opened her eyes.
+
+"Where was the storm?" she mumbled. Then, recognizing the anxious faces
+of the members of the cast about her, struggled to sit up.
+
+"What hit me?" she demanded thickly.
+
+"The pulleys gave way and a drop came down," explained Ed.
+
+Margie tried to stand up, but sat down abruptly.
+
+"My head," she moaned. "It feels ten sizes too large."
+
+"Carry her downstairs," Miss Williams said to Ed and Jim. While the boys
+were obeying instructions, Miss Williams went to a telephone and summoned
+a doctor.
+
+It was 7:15 o'clock then and the curtain was set for eight. In just
+forty-five minutes the show must go on and Margie had a splitting
+headache and her costume was ruined at least for the night.
+
+When Doctor Bates, the school physician arrived, it was 7:30 o'clock and
+Margie, stretched out on a couch in the girls' dressing room, was holding
+cold cloths on her head.
+
+Doctor Bates' examination was quick but thorough.
+
+"Mild concussion, I'd say. She must go to bed at once and remain there,
+perfectly quiet, for at least twenty-four hours."
+
+Margie struggled to her feet and was as promptly returned to the couch by
+the doctor, who forced her to choke back her words.
+
+"Sure, I understand," he said. "You've got a part in the play and you've
+got to go on. That's the tradition of the theater. But this isn't a
+theater. This is a high school play and young lady you're not going to
+risk serious injury to yourself by doing any such thing as attempting to
+appear in this play. I'm going to take you home right now."
+
+Doctor Bates, who usually had his way, helped Margie out to his car. It
+was a tearful and protesting Margie, but Miss Williams joined in
+insisting that she go home and there was nothing else for her to do.
+
+By the time Margie was on her way home the first rows of the gym were
+filling with spectators and Miss Williams, a look of desperate intent
+upon her face, called the cast together on the stage.
+
+"We've got to go on for this means so much to me and to you. Try and
+forget, if you can, what has happened to Margie. Do everything you can to
+help the girl I'm going to push into Margie's rôle. If she stumbles on
+her lines or forgets them, fake until you can pick it up again."
+
+Then she swung toward Janet.
+
+"Can you get anything from home you can wear for the first act--something
+very light and pretty. You'll be able to wear the costumes intended for
+Margie in the other two acts."
+
+"You mean you want me to step in and take Margie's rôle?" asked Janet.
+
+"That's exactly what I mean. You've got to do it. You're the only one who
+knows the lines."
+
+"But I'm afraid I'll make a terrible mess of things; I'll spoil the whole
+show."
+
+"You can't, Janet, you can't." There was desperate entreaty in Miss
+Williams' words. "I've heard you repeating Margie's lines to yourself at
+rehearsal. You know them all and you know the action. Just imagine that
+you were originally picked for the rôle. You can handle it, I know."
+
+"Come on, Janet. This is our chance. We'll be playing together tonight. I
+need you to steady me." It was Helen speaking, saying she needed Janet to
+steady her.
+
+Janet smiled to herself. She would be the one who would need bolstering.
+
+Miss Williams came up.
+
+"I've found one of the boys with a car. He'll take you home and bring you
+back with a costume for the first act. I don't want to hold the curtain
+unless absolutely necessary."
+
+"I'll make it," promised Janet.
+
+There was no one at home and she rushed upstairs and dove into the large
+wardrobe in her room. She had been wondering all the way home what to
+select. Probably that pale green silk print. She'd only worn it once or
+twice, and never to anything at school.
+
+Janet seized the dress, slipped out of the smock and everyday dress she
+had worn under that, and wiggled into the cool, crisp silk. Stockings and
+shoes were changed in a flash. Pausing just a moment before her mirror,
+she brushed her hair vigorously until the light caught all of its natural
+golden glints. Then she ran down stairs, breathless from the rush.
+
+It was two minutes to eight, just two minutes before the curtain was
+scheduled to go up, when Janet reached the stage. Miss Williams was
+pacing nervously when she hurried on, but she stopped instantly and eyed
+Janet approvingly.
+
+"Splendid, dear, splendid. We'll start on time. If you forget some of the
+lines, just make up a few sentences until you can recall them. The rest
+of the cast will help you carry along."
+
+Helen, dark and radiant, came out of the wings.
+
+"You need a little more color on your cheeks. You look as pale as a
+ghost."
+
+"I feel pretty much like a ghost," confessed Janet as they slipped into a
+dressing room where Helen adeptly applied a touch of rouge, used an
+eyebrow pencil sparingly, and then finished the makeup with just enough
+lipstick to accentuate the charm of Janet's lips.
+
+"Everybody ready?" It was Miss Williams, calling the cast together for a
+final checkup.
+
+Fortunately Janet would not go on until the middle of the first act. It
+would give her an opportunity to regain her full composure, to get into
+the swing of the play, and to brush up on any lines she was afraid she
+might forget.
+
+The music of the high school orchestra, which was playing in the pit out
+front, reached a crescendo and died away. Janet faintly heard a wave of
+applause for the efforts of the orchestra. Then the girl who had taken
+her place at the switchboard dimmed the house lights, shoved the switch
+that sent the electricity surging into the footlights, and the curtain
+started up.
+
+There was that little breathless pause before the action of the play
+began. Then Helen, the first character on the stage, started her lines.
+Clearly, confidently, she spoke, and Janet's fears for the play, fears
+for any mistakes of her own, melted away. Helen was going magnificently,
+perfectly at ease and seemingly living the very rôle of Gale Naughton.
+
+Janet slipped into the mood of the play. It wasn't hard for she had
+attended every rehearsal and knew the lines of almost every character.
+
+On the other side of the stage Miss Williams, the prompt book in her
+hands, was obviously pleased.
+
+Then came a cue that awoke Janet from the pleasant glow. She was on next.
+With hands that fluttered just a little she picked up a mirror on the
+tiny dressing table in the wings and made sure that her hair was right.
+
+It was time for her to go on, a rollicking, bouncing sort of entrance
+that one would expect from gay, light-hearted Abbie Naughton, and Janet
+did it perfectly.
+
+The blaze of light from the footlights shielded her from the audience.
+She didn't need to care what they were thinking. All she needed to do was
+to go through her part, playing it to the utmost. Later she would know
+what the audience thought, but then it would be too late to matter.
+
+Janet and Helen had a fast exchange of lines, Helen reproving Janet for
+her gayety when the family funds were so low. They carried that hard bit
+of repartee off successfully and when the conversation swung to another
+character, Helen whispered under her breath.
+
+"You're grand, simply grand. Keep it up."
+
+"Double the compliment for yourself," replied Janet, her lips barely
+moving yet the words were audible to Helen.
+
+The first act was over suddenly. The curtain came down, smoothly,
+silently, and as it bumped the floor a gathering wave of applause echoed
+throughout the gym. Miss Williams nodded and the curtain went up again,
+the members of the cast smiling and bowing.
+
+Then came the rush for the second act. The stage must be reset and the
+girls, especially, had to put on new costumes. Miss Williams stopped
+Janet in the wings.
+
+"Margie's costumes for the last two acts are laid out in the dressing
+room. I'm sure they'll fit." Then she laughed. "They'll have to, Janet.
+We can't stop for a costume, can we?"
+
+"Not after the first act," replied Janet.
+
+But Margie's costumes did fit. It was as though they had been made for
+Janet.
+
+The action of the play moved more rapidly, swirling closer and closer
+around the Chinese image on its pedestal in the garden.
+
+Finally came the third act with Janet, clumsy, jubilant Janet,
+accidentally knocking over the image, which burst open when it struck the
+stage floor and there, inside the figure of clay, was the secret of the
+image and the continued comfort of the Naughtons--a ruby, so perfect, so
+beautiful, that it was worth an exceedingly large fortune.
+
+Before Janet knew it the curtain came down for the final time and on its
+echo came a sustained wave of applause. First the cast, then Miss
+Williams, and then the cast, answered the steady calls for their
+appearance. When Janet and Helen, coming out hand in hand, took a bow,
+the applause reached a new peak and then died away as the audience,
+satisfied as having paid tribute to the two stars of the show, prepared
+to leave the spacious gymnasium.
+
+There was the usual crowd on the stage, parents and friends rushing up to
+congratulate members of the cast and over in one corner Janet saw Miss
+Williams signing her name to a paper that looked very much like a
+contract. Without doubt the dramatics instructor had earned her contract
+with the producing company.
+
+"I'm tired," announced Helen, in a very matter-of-fact manner.
+
+"I suppose I am, too, but I'm still far too excited to realize it,"
+replied Janet. "Here come the folks."
+
+Her father and mother, closely followed by Helen's parents, were pushing
+their way through the crowd.
+
+"I'm mighty proud of you two," said John Hardy as he gave each of them a
+hug.
+
+"I'm more than that," chuckled Helen's father. "I'm tempted to sign them
+to contracts and take them back to Hollywood with me."
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter XIV_
+                              JUST FISHING
+
+
+Henry Thorne's words echoed in Janet's ears as the girls changed their
+costumes in the dressing room. Of course he must have been saying it
+lightly, paying them a pleasant compliment for their work. She forced
+herself to dismiss it from serious consideration.
+
+They changed quickly, hung up their costumes, and hurried out to join
+their parents for Henry Thorne was entertaining at dinner down town.
+
+"What was the idea of telling us you were in charge of lighting when you
+actually played the second lead?" Janet's mother asked after they had
+left the gym and were rolling down town in the car.
+
+"But mother, I told the truth. I was in charge of lighting until about
+twenty minutes before the curtain went up. Then one of the drops broke
+away and fell on Margie. She suffered a minor concussion and it was up to
+someone to step in and take the part or the show would have flopped right
+then and there before the curtain went up."
+
+"You mean you stepped in cold and handled the second lead?" asked Henry
+Thorne, turning around in the front seat to gaze incredulously at Janet.
+
+"But it wasn't hard. You see I tried out for that rôle and then I
+attended every rehearsal. Of course I sort of lived the character I tried
+out for. I missed some of the lines tonight, but the others knew I might
+and they covered up for me."
+
+"Well, I'll be darned. I thought you had been rehearsing it from the
+first and had told us you were on lights just to surprise us," said the
+famous director. "Anyway, you did a swell job. Maybe I will take you back
+to the coast with me."
+
+"Now Henry," protested his wife, "don't start saying things you don't
+mean. You'll get the girls all excited and then you'll have to rush away
+to start work on another picture and you'll forget all about your
+promises to them."
+
+"Probably you're right mother, but they're smart, good looking girls,
+even if one of them is my daughter, and heavens knows we could use some
+really smart, level-headed girls in one of my companies."
+
+Janet's father wheeled the car in to the curb in front of the restaurant
+where they were to have dinner and in the bustle of getting out of the
+car conversation switched to another topic, but Henry Thorne's words
+persisted in sticking in Janet's mind.
+
+Henry Thorne had planned and ordered the supper himself. It was a man's
+meal and Janet and Helen, now tremendously hungry after the strain of the
+play, enjoyed it to the utmost.
+
+First there was chilled tomato juice and in the center of the table a
+heaping platter of celery, olives and pickled onions that they ate with
+relish through all of the courses of the dinner.
+
+Then came great sizzling steaks, thick and almost swimming in their own
+juice, french fried potatoes, a liberal head lettuce salad, small
+buttered peas, hot rolls and jam. And after that there was open-face
+cherry pie and coffee for those who cared for it.
+
+"So this is your idea of a meal, Henry?" asked his wife, surveying the
+welter of dishes on the table.
+
+"Well, perhaps not every day and every meal, but once in a while I'd say
+yes. This is my idea of a meal."
+
+"I think it's been grand," spoke up Janet's mother, "especially since I
+didn't have to do any work toward it."
+
+"That does make a difference," conceded Mrs. Thorne, "but I'd hate to
+think of Henry's waistline if he had a meal like this every day."
+
+Conversation turned to neighborhood issues and talk of the town, for
+Henry Thorne maintained a tremendously active interest in the affairs of
+his home city.
+
+When they finally started home, it was well after one o'clock, but
+routine school days for Janet and Helen were at an end. Exams were over
+and there was only the junior-senior banquet and then commencement.
+
+Janet slept late the next morning and it was after ten o'clock when her
+mother finally awakened her.
+
+"Helen and her father just phoned they are coming over. I thought you
+might like to go with them. After they get some worms out of the back
+yard they're going fishing. I'll put up a lunch."
+
+Janet hurried into her clothes and met Helen and her father as they
+arrived. Henry Thorne was armed with an ancient cane fishpole, had on a
+venerable straw hat, cracked but comfortable shoes, old overalls and a
+blue shirt.
+
+"I think he's thoroughly disreputable looking," said Helen, laughing at
+her father.
+
+"Granted, my dear, but I'm most thoroughly comfortable, which is the main
+thing. I wouldn't trade this old fishing outfit for the best suit of
+clothes in the world."
+
+Janet showed them a corner of the back lot that promised to be productive
+of worms, and then went in the house for her own breakfast. She ate on
+the kitchen table while her mother packed a basket of lunch to be taken
+by the anglers.
+
+It was a grand morning for a fishing expedition and especially if those
+going fishing really didn't care whether they caught any fish or not.
+Just before they left Janet's father arrived and hastily changed into old
+clothes.
+
+"Want to go to the creek in the car?" asked John Hardy.
+
+"Not on your life. We're walking, both ways," grinned Henry Thorne, and
+the men, the cane poles over their shoulders, started for the creek.
+Helen carried the can of worms and Janet took the lunch basket.
+
+Indian creek was a pleasant stream, meandering through the rolling hills
+north of Clarion. Its waters were clear, alternating in quiet pools and
+swift little riffles over its gravel bed.
+
+The air was mild and there was scarcely a cloud in the sky. They went up
+the creek for more than a mile before Henry Thorne found a pool that
+looked like it might have a few bullheads. The foliage overhead was thick
+and the water here looked almost turgid, far different from the clear
+stream which danced along its bed farther down.
+
+The men baited their hooks and Janet and Helen sat down to watch the
+fishermen.
+
+Helen's father got the first bite, but he failed to land his fish. After
+that there was a long interval when the fishermen failed to talk and the
+fish failed to bite. Then the bullheads all seemed hungry and Janet's
+father was the first to land one, but Henry Thorne was right behind him
+with a larger catch.
+
+"Cut a willow stick for a stringer," said Helen's father, tossing a knife
+to her, and Helen, knowing exactly what was needed, found a forked willow
+and trimmed it down.
+
+In less than an hour they had eleven bullheads on the willow stick.
+
+"That's plenty," decided Janet's father. "There's no use spoiling the fun
+by taking more than we need. Shall we have them for supper tonight at my
+place?"
+
+"Nothing doing. We'll have them right here. Remember when we were kids
+and used to clean them along the creek, put them on a stick, and try and
+cook them over a fire?"
+
+Janet's father nodded.
+
+"That's what we're going to do right now. We'll clean the fish while the
+girls get some dry sticks and build a fire."
+
+Thus they had their noon meal, bullheads off the spit, crisp and hot,
+with just a sprinkle of salt on them, sandwiches and fruit from the
+basket, and cool, sweet water from a nearby spring.
+
+Henry Thorne, his appetite appeased, his mind and body relaxed, stretched
+out on the grass and looked meditatively into the creek.
+
+"What a life this would be--no strain, no thoughts of tomorrow, no
+temperamental stars to worry about, no stories to doctor, no budget to
+watch."
+
+"But after what you've had this would tire in a few weeks. Why, you're
+thinking about getting back into the harness right now," said Janet's
+father.
+
+Henry Thorne flushed guiltily.
+
+"Caught that time," he admitted. "Sure I was thinking about getting back
+on the job. I'm too much of a work horse, I guess."
+
+"But you'll stay until after graduation, won't you?" asked Helen
+anxiously.
+
+"That's one thing you needn't worry about," promised her father. "I'm
+thinking now of what's going to be best for you after high school days
+are over; whether you and mother will prefer to stay here in Clarion or
+would like to come west with me. You're pretty much of a young woman now,
+Helen, and from the play last night, quite a capable little actress."
+
+"Not much of an actress, I'm afraid, Dad, but I did want to be in the
+class play because you were coming home and I wanted you to be proud of
+me."
+
+"I was very proud of you, dear. Just how proud you'll never know, and
+I've been trying to think of something I could do that would show you
+just how pleased I was over the work you and Janet did in the class
+play."
+
+They were silent for a time, all of them enjoying the quiet charm of the
+afternoon. Henry Thorne puffed slowly on a venerable pipe while Janet's
+father dozed, his hat pulled down to shield his eyes from the sun. The
+embers of their fire turned black and then grey as they cooled.
+
+Janet thoroughly enjoyed relaxing on the creek bank. School days were
+almost over and she couldn't help wondering what the summer and the
+coming year would hold in store for her. Of course there would be college
+in the fall, but just where had not been determined. It was generally
+understood at home, though, that she would be allowed to make her own
+choice providing it was anywhere near within reason.
+
+Janet knew that Helen's plans were very uncertain. Her friend wasn't even
+sure that they would continue to make their home in Clarion.
+
+Just then Henry Thorne knocked the ashes out of his pipe and squinted at
+the sun.
+
+"Better be starting home," he said. He picked up a small stick and tossed
+it at Janet's father, who awoke with a start.
+
+"Come on sleepy-head. Time to go."
+
+Janet finished packing the few utensils that went back into the lunch
+basket while the men wound up the lines on their fishpoles.
+
+They started home, walking leisurely in the warm afternoon, the men
+leading the way.
+
+Half a mile down the creek they came upon a farm boy, riding bareback.
+The horse was a beautiful, spirited animal, and the lad rode with amazing
+grace. They paused for several minutes to watch the horse and rider until
+they finally disappeared over a nearby hill.
+
+"Can either of you girls ride?" Henry Thorne asked the question almost
+sharply.
+
+"A little, but not much nor very well," confessed Janet.
+
+"I belong in the same class," added Helen.
+
+"Is there any place in town where we can find good horses and a good
+instructor?" Helen's father shot the question at John Hardy.
+
+"Hill and Dale farm keeps a fine string of horses. I'm sure I could
+arrange for instruction there."
+
+"I'll go with you this evening and we'll see what can be done. I want the
+girls to become proficient at riding as soon as possible."
+
+"But what's the idea?" asked Helen.
+
+"Just another quirk of mine," smiled her father.
+
+As soon as they reached home Henry Thorne urged Janet's father to
+accompany him to see about riding lessons for the girls and just before
+dinner returned.
+
+"Your first lesson will be at eight o'clock to-morrow morning," he
+announced. "Look up some old duds that won't be hurt if you fall off."
+
+"But how about the girls?" demanded his wife.
+
+"They'll have to take a chance on that," he smiled.
+
+
+
+
+                              _Chapter XV_
+                            HOLLYWOOD BOUND
+
+
+Janet remained awake for some time that night, wondering what the
+significance of Henry Thorne's decision to have her and Helen learn to
+ride, and ride well, could be. Finally she gave it up as a bad job,
+realizing that he would tell them in his own good time.
+
+Graduation week passed in a mixed whirl of events, with the junior-senior
+banquet and actual graduation exercises interspersed between the long
+hours passed at Hill and Dale farm where Janet and Helen underwent an
+intensive series of lessons on horsemanship. Both girls were agile and
+anxious to learn, and both soon came to enjoy the riding thoroughly.
+Their instructor, an older man, found them eager pupils and Helen's
+father encouraged them at each lesson, for he went with them on every
+trip to the farm.
+
+Like the senior class play, the graduation exercises were held in the
+gymnasium and Helen stopped for Janet. They were going on ahead of their
+parents for they had to be at school half an hour before the start of the
+program.
+
+"I hope I don't smell like a stable," smiled Helen, radiant in her crisp,
+white organdie dress. "We've been at the farm so much I almost say
+'Giddap' every time I start to do anything."
+
+"I feel almost the same way. One good thing, though, I can sit down
+comfortably now and I couldn't after the first two days."
+
+When they came down from Janet's room, Helen's father and mother were
+there.
+
+"We're early, but I want to talk to your folks," Henry Thorne told Janet.
+"You youngsters run along and we'll be there in plenty of time."
+
+When they were on their way to school, Helen spoke.
+
+"Dad's been acting so mysteriously the last two days and mother seems to
+be unusually happy about something. This morning Dad put in a call for
+Hollywood, but he wouldn't talk from home; went down to a pay station. I
+asked mother what was up, but she said not for me to worry as long as she
+wasn't."
+
+"Perhaps he isn't going back west," suggested Janet.
+
+"You don't know Dad. I heard him mumbling just this afternoon about some
+kind of a story idea. You know he usually sits in on the final drafting
+of all of the stories he produces. I expect that as soon as graduation is
+over he'll start back."
+
+"Has he said anything more about taking you with him?"
+
+"Not a word lately and that's what I'm puzzled about. Neither Dad nor
+mother have talked about what I'm to do next fall. You know I'd like to
+go to school with you."
+
+"And I'd like to have you, Helen. I'll be lost if we aren't able to hit
+it off together. We've had such good times through high school and
+especially this last year."
+
+The final meeting of the seniors, as a class, was held in the assembly,
+the girls in their snow-white dresses and the boys all in their dark
+suits made a pleasing contrast. Some of them were visibly nervous while
+others remained unusually calm. To some it was a momentous event while
+others took it as the last step in a tiresome school career.
+
+Margie Blake, still white and feeling none too strong, was near the door
+when Janet and Helen entered.
+
+Janet started to speak, but Margie deliberately turned her back, and
+Janet, shocked and hurt, looked at her sharply.
+
+"Now why do you suppose she did that?" she asked Helen.
+
+"I wasn't going to tell you, but you might as well know," said Helen.
+"Margie is hinting around that she suspects you had something to do with
+the injury she suffered."
+
+"You mean that I contrived to have that piece of scenery fall on her just
+so I could get her part in the play?"
+
+"That's exactly what Margie's hinting. Of course she isn't saying that
+openly, but she doesn't give you much room to guess what she means."
+
+"Then I'm going to have a word with Margie right now. That's one thing I
+won't stand for." Janet's face was flushed and she was furiously angry
+when she confronted Margie.
+
+Margie's eyes widened and Helen thought she saw her hands tremble just a
+little. Perhaps she surmised that Janet was on the warpath and that she
+was the cause of it.
+
+"Margie, I've been told that you are insinuating I was responsible for
+the accident which forced you out of the play and gave me your place. Is
+that so?"
+
+Janet's words were low enough so that only Margie and Helen could hear,
+but there was a compelling force in them that would not be denied.
+
+"Why, no, that's not so. I never said you caused the accident." Margie
+stammered and flushed hotly.
+
+"You've no right to accuse me of this thing," she added defiantly.
+
+"I've a very good right if you are dropping hints about me and the
+accident the night of the play. If you've been doing that all I've got to
+say is that you're smaller than I ever dreamed you could be. You're
+simply below contempt."
+
+Janet whirled and left Margie with tears in her eyes. Helen paused a
+moment for Margie seemed about to speak.
+
+"I'm sorry about what I've said," Margie managed to say. "I guess I was a
+little indiscreet, but you tell Janet I won't say anything else."
+
+"I'll tell her and I think you'll be a very wise girl if you decide to
+let the whole thing drop," advised Helen, turning to rejoin Janet, who
+had gone to the other side of the room.
+
+The principal was giving his final words of instruction.
+
+"As your names are called for the presentation of diplomas, each of you
+will come from your places to the platform, receive a tube of paper, and
+return. After the exercises are over come to me in this room and I will
+present your real diplomas. If you can not come here after the close of
+the exercises, call at my office tomorrow."
+
+He paused a moment, then added, "and I should like to say that I am
+extremely proud of this class. I think it is the finest to graduate from
+Clarion High in the eight years I have been principal."
+
+"Which," whispered Helen, "is quite a compliment, if you ask me. It's the
+first he ever paid this class."
+
+"He sort of made up for the lack before by these last words," smiled
+Janet.
+
+Again they went onto the stage of the gymnasium, but this time not as
+actors and actresses in a play of make believe, but in the very serious
+business of graduating from high school.
+
+The gymnasium was filled with parents and friends of the seniors. The air
+was close, portending the storm that was to break later. Fortunately the
+program was simple, the address by the superintendent of schools lasting
+only fifteen minutes. Then the names were called and one by one they went
+forward and when they came back their high school days were over.
+
+It had been grand, being in school, decided Janet, and now she felt just
+a little scared. Life was ahead and life was so vast and uncomprehending
+and she knew it could be cold and cruel and merciless.
+
+They bowed their heads at the benediction, there was a final swell of
+music from the orchestra and the lights in the gymnasium glared. It was
+over and Janet, in that moment, felt years older. She was a high school
+girl no longer....
+
+Parents and friends of the graduates crowded around them and Janet saw
+her father beckoning.
+
+"Get your diplomas," he called. "We'll meet you outside."
+
+Janet and Helen went up to the assembly where they turned in the paper
+scrolls which had been presented to them at the program. In return they
+received their real diplomas.
+
+Outside they found their parents.
+
+"We were tremendously proud of both of you," said Janet's mother. "You
+were by far the prettiest girls on the stage."
+
+"I'll cast my vote in support of that statement," put in Helen's father,
+"and that's from someone who should know a pretty girl when he sees one."
+
+They had planned a light supper at Thorne's and all of them enjoyed the
+walk home for the air was close. Dark banks of clouds, illuminated once
+in a while by flashes of lightning, were mounting higher and higher in
+the west.
+
+"Looks like we'll get a real one tonight," said Janet's father, and the
+others agreed.
+
+"Do you realize that the folks haven't given us anything for graduation?"
+whispered Helen.
+
+"Well, not exactly any concrete gift just now, but they've given me a lot
+of character and a sense of realization of the finer and honest things of
+life."
+
+"Oh, silly, of course I realize that, but Dad has been so mysterious
+today I know something is in the wind."
+
+When they reached Helen's home they sat down to an informal supper in the
+dining room.
+
+On two plates were envelopes, one marked "Janet" and the other "Helen."
+Helen's father was puffing rather furiously at his pipe as he watched the
+girls, their fingers clumsy from their haste, rip open the envelopes.
+
+Long green slips of paper, looking very much like railroad tickets, came
+out of the envelopes. Helen was the first to read hers.
+
+"Why, Dad," she cried. "It's a round trip ticket by airplane to Los
+Angeles."
+
+"So is mine," gasped Janet. "What does this mean?"
+
+Her father chuckling, nodded toward Henry Thorne.
+
+"I'd say that it meant a round trip to Los Angeles. Also, if you'll dig a
+little further into your envelopes, you'll find reservations for the
+westbound plane out of Rubio just one week from tonight."
+
+"But Dad, we didn't know anything about this," gasped Helen.
+
+"Of course not. It wouldn't have been a surprise," chuckled her father.
+
+"Seriously though," he added, "I liked your performances in the high
+school play and I've talked it all over with Janet's folks and with
+mother here. You're going back to Hollywood to spend the summer with me
+and this morning I contracted the production unit of our company which
+makes cowboy films and both of you are to have a chance in the cast of
+that picture. You're Hollywood bound, girls."
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter XVI_
+                            THRILLING HOURS
+
+
+Janet was speechless and Helen was the first to give vent to her thoughts
+in words.
+
+"Oh, Dad, it's grand of you, but it doesn't seem possible." She looked at
+the ticket again, feeling it to see if it actually was real.
+
+Tears brimmed into Janet's eyes.
+
+"I'm so happy I could cry," she confessed. Then added quickly, "But I
+don't know how I can thank you."
+
+"Don't try now," smiled Henry Thorne. "I'll be more than repaid if you
+two make good in the western pictures I'm going to try to put you in."
+
+"But Dad, we've never had any experience like that," protested Helen.
+"We'll probably be awful flops."
+
+"Nonsense. It doesn't take much acting ability to get by in the 'horse
+operas' as we call them. You just act natural, look pretty, and you'll
+have all of the cowboys in the cast asking you for dates."
+
+Janet looked at her mother, wondering just how she had been won over to
+letting them go to Hollywood, even though Helen's father would be there
+to oversee things in general.
+
+Just then Mrs. Thorne spoke, pulling an envelope from a pocketbook.
+
+"You're not the only lucky ones," she reminded Janet and Helen. "I'm
+going along and see that you are properly chaperoned when these dashing
+cowboys ask you to go places with them."
+
+That explained to Janet why her mother had consented for with Mrs. Thorne
+along she would have little to worry about.
+
+"Does that mean we're going to leave Clarion for good?" asked Helen.
+
+"Well, hardly," boomed her father. "I'd be lost if I didn't have Clarion
+to come back to for a rest when I get fagged out and I don't know what
+the bullheads out in Indian creek would do without me. We're going to
+keep the place here for you never know when even a famous Hollywood
+director will start turning out poor pictures and once you hit the
+toboggan out there, it's hard to come back. I've been at it so long now,
+that another year will just about see me through. Then I'll want to
+retire to some quiet city and Clarion suits me."
+
+"I'm glad of that, Dad, for I've grown up here and it would be so hard to
+think of cutting all of the ties of friendship at just one sweep."
+
+"You won't have to do that, Helen, and maybe, if you two youngsters can't
+make the grade with our western company, you'll be back here before you
+know it."
+
+"But we're leaving in just a week. It doesn't seem possible," said Janet,
+half to herself and half to the rest.
+
+"The time will go before you know it," said her mother, "what with the
+packing we'll have to do and the new clothes to buy."
+
+"Now let's stop right there," put in Helen's father. "Packing is all well
+and good, but let's cut out the new clothes. Instead of loading the girls
+up with things here, we'll give Mother the money and she can let them
+have it in Hollywood when they see a dress in the shops out there that
+they want. I think they'll feel a little more in style in Hollywood
+clothes than in Clarion clothes in Hollywood."
+
+"I suppose they would," confessed Janet's mother, "but I'm afraid the
+money for Janet's summer clothes allowance won't go very far."
+
+"She'll be getting a regular salary each week and the company will
+furnish whatever costumes are needed for each picture."
+
+"Each picture," smiled Helen. "I like that Dad. How long does it take to
+make a picture?"
+
+"When I'm directing anywhere from six weeks to three or four months, but
+the western company moves pretty rapidly. They'll grind the average one
+out in two weeks or three at the most. They're after action and plenty of
+scenery."
+
+"Which explains why we were carted off to Hill and Dale farm and hoisted
+up on horses and jogged up and down for hours until I thought every bone
+in my body would be broken," said Janet.
+
+"Good guess. I've had this idea in mind ever since the night of the class
+play," confessed Helen's father. "If you think you're going to get out of
+the riding class the rest of the time you're in Clarion you'll be sadly
+mistaken. I'm certainly not going to show up on the lot and ask Billy
+Fenstow to take on a couple of girls who can't ride."
+
+"Who's Billy Fenstow?" asked Helen.
+
+"He runs our western unit. Billy writes most of the stories, does the
+supervising and directing and just about everything else about the
+picture. You'll like him. He's fat, forty, bald and lots of fun and if he
+likes you, he'll invite you to the Brown Derby for dinner."
+
+"What fun that would be," exclaimed Janet. "Why that's where all of the
+stars go."
+
+"You usually find a few of them eating there," admitted Helen's father.
+
+They talked for another hour, the girls, in their excitement, planning
+things that could never come true, but their fathers and mothers,
+indulging them the sheer joy of their mood, let them ramble on.
+
+It was nearly midnight when they finally pushed their chairs away from
+the table and the Hardys started for home.
+
+"I'll see you first thing in the morning," said Helen, "but I don't
+believe I'll sleep a wink."
+
+"I'm afraid I won't either," replied Janet, "but I'm so excited I don't
+care."
+
+On the way home she linked her arm with her father and mother and they
+walked slowly.
+
+"Happy?" her father asked gently.
+
+"Gloriously happy," replied Janet softly, squeezing her mother's arm. "Of
+course I want to go to Hollywood, but I'm going to miss both of you
+terribly."
+
+"We'll miss you, too. You know that," replied her father, "but it's an
+opportunity that comes to few girls. Don't be too disappointed if you
+fail to remain in the cast of that western picture. You're going out
+there for a lark and not with the serious intent of becoming a motion
+picture actress."
+
+Janet bit her lips. Of course her dad was right. She couldn't seriously
+hope to be a motion picture actress, but for just a moment she had found
+herself dreaming of real fame and fortune in Hollywood. Why it WAS just a
+lark, a sort of super vacation that only Helen's father could make
+possible for them.
+
+In the fall, after the summer on the film lots, they would probably come
+back to the middle west for Janet knew her father favored her entering
+the state university, Janet resolutely set her mind right. She must
+realize that it was to be only a vacation lark. Then she could come back
+happy and without regret when the summer was at an end.
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter XVII_
+                         ON THE WESTBOUND PLANE
+
+
+The week following graduation was a hectic one for Janet and Helen. There
+were the riding lessons each day, their wardrobes to be gone over, new
+shoes and hose to be purchased and they finally decided that each of them
+needed at least two new dresses to last until they could get into the
+shops in Hollywood and select things they desired there. It was fortunate
+that Janet's father was a successful lawyer and Helen's a famous director
+or their personal pocketbooks would have been much thinner at the end of
+the shopping expeditions.
+
+Neither Janet nor Helen told their friends of their plans, but somehow
+the story got around that they were going to Hollywood and had already
+signed for rôles in a new picture. Some said they were to have parts in
+Henry Thorne's next production while others claimed the girls were going
+to be bathing beauties in a series of comedies.
+
+"Now wouldn't that make you boil," said Helen, as she related a
+conversation between Cora Dean and Margie Blake which she had overheard.
+"I was half way minded to step in and tell them the truth, but then I
+realized that was just what they wanted."
+
+They were sitting on the Hardy's front porch and the telephone summoned
+Janet inside. She called Helen to her a few seconds later.
+
+"It's Pete Benda of the _Times_. He says he's heard the story and if we
+won't confirm it he will print all of the rumors going the rounds,
+including the one that we're going to be bathing beauties. What shall I
+tell him?"
+
+"Tell him we're going to Hollywood with Dad for a vacation and if we get
+in any pictures we'll send him an autographed picture," suggested Helen,
+which Janet promptly did.
+
+"Pete isn't satisfied, but I guess he won't print all of the rumors,"
+reported Janet as she hung up the telephone.
+
+"You can just bet that Cora and Margie ran up to the _Times_ office and
+filled Pete full of hot air," said Helen. "I thought maybe after we were
+out of high school things would be different. I'd like to be friendly
+with them for they can be delightful when they want to be, but both of
+them are still carrying a chip on their shoulders."
+
+There was only one more afternoon of fishing and loafing along the banks
+of the creek and John Hardy went with Janet, Helen and Henry Thorne on
+the outing. Their luck was with them again and they hooked a fine mess of
+catfish and fried them over an open fire. Through the late afternoon
+Janet and Helen talked incessantly of their hopes and plans while at a
+distance their fathers dozed along the creek bank.
+
+It was dusk before they started home, walking slowly through the
+twilight.
+
+"This is the last night at home," Janet's father reminded her. "Tomorrow
+night we go to Rubio and you take the west-bound plane for Hollywood."
+
+"It hardly seems possible, but it must be so," said Janet. "Everything is
+like a dream."
+
+"It will be until you actually arrive and start work in the studio."
+Janet's father was silent for several minutes. When he spoke again his
+voice was so low that it could not be overheard by Helen and her father,
+who were walking a short distance ahead.
+
+"I'm not expecting you to turn into a motion picture actress, but I want
+you to do your best out there. The change will be a fine vacation and
+when you're actually on the lot working before the cameras, give it
+everything you've got. That will add to the pleasure you'll have in later
+years when you look back on this summer."
+
+"I'll do it, Dad. I'll do the best possible job."
+
+"Sure, I know you will. It's going to be lonesome here," he added, "but
+the break had to come sooner or later."
+
+"But I'm not going away for good, Dad. Only for the summer."
+
+"Of course. You'll be home in the fall and we'll make plans for school
+then. Have you thought anything more about the university?"
+
+"Too bad I wasn't a boy, Dad, then I could have tried for football
+there." There was just a note of seriousness in Janet's voice for her
+father was an All-American halfback at Corn Belt U. and she knew he had
+always secretly been a little disappointed when she proved to be a girl,
+for there was no chance of a girl becoming an All-American halfback.
+
+"Football isn't everything," replied her father. "I'm satisfied," and he
+said it with a conviction that brought joy to Janet's heart.
+
+Through the evening hours Janet and her mother checked over the last
+minute packing. Trunks had been sent ahead by express and only the
+essentials were going to be carried in the bags they would take on the
+plane.
+
+Janet's luggage was attractive, but not expensive, for her father had
+never believed in undue waste of money.
+
+That night Janet found it difficult to get to sleep. Tomorrow night they
+would be winging westward at three miles or more a minute and by the noon
+of the second day would be landing at the Grand Central airport at
+Glendale, from where they could motor over to Hollywood.
+
+Finally sleep came and Janet dropped into the dreamless slumber of youth.
+It was mid-morning when she finally awakened as her mother shook her
+shoulders.
+
+"Time to get up," said Mrs. Hardy, "for there's much to be done today
+before you start for Hollywood."
+
+Janet leaped out of bed for in spite of all of the preparations they had
+been making through the last week there were a hundred and one small
+things that remained to be done.
+
+The hours fairly melted away. She made three or four trips down town on
+hurried errands and as many over to Helen's, where the same hurry and
+bustle prevailed.
+
+At dinner time her mother made her slow down.
+
+"Everything's done," she announced. "Of course you may have forgotten one
+or two things, but they aren't important, and they can be sent on later.
+Now you take it easy and enjoy dinner for this is the last one you'll
+have with your father and me for some weeks. My Janet, but we're proud of
+you," she added, with a happy smile.
+
+"I'm just afraid I won't make good; that's the only thing that scares
+me," confessed the usually self-reliant Janet. "Everything out there is
+going to be so strange and as actresses, I'm fearful that Helen and I
+will be about the worst that ever struck Hollywood."
+
+"Impossible," smiled her mother encouragingly, and after Janet mentally
+reviewed some of the pictures she had seen, she decided that quite likely
+her mother was right.
+
+Her father arrived home promptly and they passed more than an hour at a
+leisurely dinner, visiting about a score of different incidents, none of
+them important in themselves, but all of them important in that they kept
+them around the dinner table, prolonging their last dinner hour.
+
+Janet's father finally looked at his watch.
+
+"You'd better dress, dear. The westbound plane leaves Rubio at eleven
+o'clock and there's no reason to rush the trip over there."
+
+He reached into his coat pocket and drew out a small case which he handed
+to Janet.
+
+"Here's a little present mother and I want you to have."
+
+Janet opened the case with hands that shook visibly. Inside was a tiny
+wrist watch with a thin, silver chain to go around her wrist. It was a
+beautiful creation of watchmaker's skill and Janet looked up with just a
+trace of a tear in her eyes.
+
+"It's wonderful, but you shouldn't have done this after giving me the
+trip to Hollywood."
+
+"You'll have to have something to keep time by so you can get to the
+studio on time. Maybe I should have gotten you an alarm clock," grinned
+her father.
+
+"I packed one in her trunk," smiled Mrs. Hardy. "Now hike and get into
+your things."
+
+Janet, tremendously happy and so thrilled she felt she was walking on
+air, hurried up to her room. After a quick bath, tapered off with a cool
+shower, she started dressing. Her outfit was new from the silken
+underthings to the sensible but attractive summer linen suit. The skirt,
+snug and well tailored, fitted beautifully and a small but bright blue
+tie added a note of color to her heavy, white silk shirtwaist.
+
+The night air was warm and Janet decided to carry her coat. There was no
+use in putting it on and getting it mussed until necessary.
+
+Standing in front of her dressing table, Janet looked around her room and
+a queer little lump caught in her throat. It was such a pleasant room;
+she would miss it, she knew, in the months to come.
+
+Then her father called and she caught up the small traveling bag she was
+to carry on the plane, snapped out the light, and hurried down stairs.
+
+"Step right along," her father warned, and they hastened into the car and
+rolled around in front of the Thorne home down the block.
+
+Henry Thorne, pacing up and down the porch, called to his wife and Helen,
+who appeared almost immediately. Both carried small overnight cases. As
+they came down the walk to the street, Henry Thorne turned off the lights
+in the house, locked the door, and followed them.
+
+Now that the time of departure was near there seemed little to say. They
+had talked of it for so many hours it hardly seemed possible that they
+were on their way.
+
+John Hardy sent his big car over the road at a smooth, effortless pace.
+The lights of Clarion dropped behind and they sped through the open
+country where there were only the occasional lights from farmhouses to
+mark the blackness of the night. Later there would be a moon.
+
+Tonight they were in the heart of the mid-west and to Janet it was almost
+incredible that by noon tomorrow they would be in the city made famous by
+the movies.
+
+When they reached the airport at Rubio several hundred cars were parked
+near the entrance for the coming and going of the night planes always
+brought out a crowd if they arrived before midnight.
+
+Henry Thorne, who had their tickets, took them into the office to have
+them validated. When he returned he announced that the plane would arrive
+in 25 minutes.
+
+"There's a good tail wind up high tonight and they're stepping right
+along," he explained.
+
+A field attendant took their bags and stowed them on a small luggage
+cart.
+
+They talked almost aimlessly and Janet suddenly felt very empty and more
+than a little afraid of what her reaction would be when she got into the
+plane and the ground started dropping away from her.
+
+Then a ripple of excitement ran through the crowd and she heard someone
+call.
+
+"Here comes the plane!"
+
+Out of the east twin stars suddenly appeared, coming rapidly and very
+low, and then she heard the steady beat of two powerful motors. Like some
+great bird of prey, a-wing in the night, the silvery monoplane swung over
+the field, circled sharply, and dropped down far out on the runway and
+rolled smoothly toward them, its propellers flashing in the bright rays
+of a floodlight which bathed the entire field in a mantle of brilliant
+blue.
+
+Janet watched the scene with fascination. The ground crew rolled a small
+platform up to the door of the passenger cabin and a girl, not much older
+than herself and dressed in a smoke grey suit with a jaunty overseas cap
+perched on a mass of brown curls, stepped out. After her came several
+passengers, alighting for a bit of air and to stretch their legs before
+settling down for the long flight over the plains and into the higher
+altitudes that would take them over the Rockies.
+
+Janet's mother hugged her hard.
+
+"We'll miss you, dear. Write often and remember to do your best if you
+get a chance in any pictures."
+
+"I will, mother," she promised.
+
+"Goodbye, Dad."
+
+"Goodbye, Janet. Hit the line hard."
+
+"I'll tackle it with all I've got."
+
+"I know you will," he said with a confidence that Janet wished she could
+have felt.
+
+Then Helen's father touched her arm.
+
+"Time to go," he said, and Janet and Helen walked toward the plane while
+the Thornes said a final word of goodbye to their old neighbors.
+
+"You have seats four and five on this side," said the stewardess as the
+girls reached the plane.
+
+Helen went in first with Janet close at her heels. The interior was much
+like a bus, thought Janet, and she found her seat unusually comfortable.
+
+Helen's father and mother took seats across the aisle from the girls and
+the stewardess came along and snapped on the safety belts.
+
+"You can take them off as soon as we're away from the field," she
+explained.
+
+The landing stage was pulled away, the starters hummed deeply as though
+struggling with stubborn motors, and finally the mighty engines burst
+into a deafening roar, but were soon throttled down.
+
+Lights in the cabin were turned low and Janet, pressing her face close to
+the small, round window, could see her father and mother standing on the
+ramp. She waved, and they waved back. Then the plane started forward,
+rolling smoothly along the concrete. When it came to the crushed rock
+runway it bumped slightly, but before Janet knew it they were in the air
+and when she looked down again, the field was several hundred feet below.
+She was actually on her way to Hollywood.
+
+
+
+
+                            _Chapter XVIII_
+                           HELLO, HOLLYWOOD!
+
+
+Janet and Helen found that by leaning close together they could converse
+but with the steady beat of the engines in their ears, a sense of
+drowsiness soon overtook the girls and they relaxed in their chairs.
+Janet dropped into a deep sleep that was not broken until their plane
+dropped down at Cheyenne well after midnight to change pilots and refuel.
+
+Here the stewardess offered them a selection of fruit and Janet ate
+several oranges with relish. Then they were off again, meeting the
+sunrise east of Salt Lake City with the most glorious panorama Janet had
+ever seen unfolding beneath her eyes.
+
+After that they swung southwest in an almost direct line for Los Angeles,
+climbing dizzily over the Sierras and then dropping down into lower
+California.
+
+Helen glanced at her watch and Janet, still unused to her own, followed
+suit. They would be at the Grand Central airport in less than half an
+hour.
+
+Helen, leaning back, cried, "We're almost there," and Janet nodded
+happily.
+
+It seemed almost on the echo of Helen's words, although it was actually
+minutes later, when the plane wheeled and settled gently down on the
+runway of a huge airport.
+
+Janet, looking eagerly from the window, saw a group of cameramen standing
+at the gate which led to the field. There must be some celebrity on their
+own plane or on a ship due in soon. She scanned the passengers in their
+own cabin. None of them appeared unusually famous and she decided the
+cameramen were there to meet some other plane.
+
+A landing stage was rolled up the moment the plane stopped and the
+stewardess opened the door.
+
+"Take your time," said Helen's father. "We'll all be a bit stiff after
+this long ride. You girls want to look your best."
+
+Janet stood up and smoothed out her skirt. It had remained remarkably
+fresh and the heavy silk shirtwaist showed only a few wrinkles. Her
+jacket would cover that up and she got that garment down from the rack
+over her head. Helen, who had worn a brown silk suit, had fared almost as
+well, and after a hurried glance into the mirrors in their handbags, both
+girls pronounced themselves ready to see what Hollywood looked like.
+
+Helen's father and mother were out of the plane first with the girls
+close behind them.
+
+A uniformed airport employee nodded to Mr. Thorne.
+
+"I've had your bags put in your car," he said, and Janet saw the famous
+director hand over a bill.
+
+The cameramen were still clustered at the gate and instead of looking for
+the arrival of another plane, seemed to be watching them as they
+advanced.
+
+"Hi, Mr. Thorne," greeted one of them, a chunky little fellow half hidden
+behind a huge camera. "Have a nice trip?"
+
+"Fine, Joey. Couldn't have been better."
+
+"Get any fish?" another one called.
+
+"You guess," smiled Helen's father.
+
+"That's far enough," said the photographer called Joey. "Just line up
+with the girls in the middle. What's the idea trying to sneak in on us
+like this?"
+
+"What do you mean?" parried Mr. Thorne.
+
+"The Ace publicity office just tipped us off that you were coming in this
+noon with a couple of girls from the midwest and that you think they're a
+couple of great film possibilities. I don't call that playing very fair
+with us."
+
+"So the office phoned and said I was bringing in a couple of new stars?"
+
+"That's right. Now girls, smile a little. We won't bite even if the
+cameras do look big."
+
+Janet and Helen, more than a little perplexed by the sudden turn of
+events, couldn't help smiling while the photographers clicked their
+machines.
+
+Then several reporters, who had remained in the background until the
+photographers were through, pushed ahead.
+
+"Give us the dope, Mr. Thorne--who they are, where you found them, what
+you have in mind for them? Do you really think they're good?"
+
+"Good?" asked Henry Thorne slowly. "Good? They're two of the finest
+possibilities that ever struck Hollywood. Boys, you don't know how
+enthusiastic I am."
+
+"Think they'll be big box office?" one reporter asked.
+
+"As far as I'm concerned, they're box office attractions right now and
+they are going to be under my personal management and supervision."
+
+Janet chuckled quietly for she could see the trend of Henry Thorne's
+conversation.
+
+"Sure, sure, we'll admit they're good," said another reporter, "but who
+are they and where did you find them?"
+
+Henry Thorne paused a moment as though deciding a question of tremendous
+importance.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, of course I hadn't expected the office would tip you
+off on my arrival. I'd rather planned on slipping in quietly and giving
+these girls a chance to get used to Hollywood, but I suppose I might as
+well tell you now. I want you to meet my daughter, Helen, and her friend,
+Janet Hardy."
+
+Reporters and photographers stared.
+
+"You're kidding us!" one of them protested.
+
+"I'm very serious," replied Henry Thorne. "You boys let yourselves in for
+this. I've always played fair with you and you thought I was pulling a
+fast one on you so I let your imaginations run along for a while."
+
+"Then they're not new stars?" asked one photographer, who had taken
+unusual care to get some excellent shots.
+
+"I didn't say they weren't. Now here's actually the story. The girls
+graduated from high school last week and this trip west is a present to
+them. Both of them have brains, better than average looks, and both of
+them can ride. Billy Fenstow is going to put them into his next western,
+but whether they'll be any good is another question. I'm willing to bet
+that they will."
+
+The photographer called Joey looked at Janet and Helen critically.
+
+"I'll string along with you," he decided. "Those girls look like winners
+to me."
+
+"Thanks Joey. I'll remember that."
+
+"Any time you have a picture scoop," Joey retorted.
+
+The Thornes and Janet went on to a waiting sedan where a driver was ready
+to whirl them to the home Henry Thorne maintained in Hollywood.
+
+"That was quite an experience," grinned Helen. "We almost became
+celebrities."
+
+"Just another fool stunt of the publicity office, but I guess it didn't
+do any harm," admitted Helen's father.
+
+Half an hour's ride took them to a comfortable, sprawling bungalow set
+well back on a side street.
+
+"I've been living in an apartment, but when I got the idea of bringing
+you back with me I leased this place," Henry Thorne told his wife and
+daughter. "I've installed George, my negro cook, and there ought to be
+something in the way of lunch ready for us."
+
+The bungalow was delightful with a tremendous living room clear across
+the front and two long wings to the rear, one housing the dining room,
+kitchen and servants' quarters while the other contained a series of
+bedrooms with baths between. At the rear, flanked by a high hedge, was a
+medium sized swimming pool with a diving tower.
+
+"Dad, this is wonderful," exclaimed Helen. "I don't care now whether I
+ever get before a camera. I'll be happy right here, spending my days in
+that pool."
+
+Mrs. Thorne took charge, made instant friends of George, the smiling
+cook, and assigned the bedrooms, Janet and Helen sharing one large room
+with twin beds. It was at the very rear of the house with a door that
+almost opened onto the pool, which pleased the girls.
+
+"Clean up and we'll have lunch. George informs me that it will be ready
+in fifteen minutes," said Helen's mother.
+
+"How about a swim?" asked Helen.
+
+"What in?" asked Janet.
+
+"The pool, silly."
+
+"But I hear it's even against California laws to go in a pool in your
+birthday suit."
+
+"I forgot. Of course we'd put our suits in the trunk and I suppose it
+will be a couple of days before they arrive."
+
+After a more prosaic shower, they felt tremendously refreshed and the
+luncheon which George had prepared was delicious.
+
+"See about a maid at once to do the housework, mother," said Henry
+Thorne, "and with George to do the cooking you can have a little fun,
+too."
+
+"But I want something to do," protested Mrs. Thorne.
+
+"There'll be plenty just keeping track of Janet and Helen."
+
+"How would you like to attend a premiere of a new picture at the Queen's
+Court tonight?" he asked.
+
+"Fine," replied Helen, "but what's the Queen Court?"
+
+"It's the newest of the deluxe motion picture theaters here. You'll see a
+lot of stars. What do you say now?"
+
+"Count us in," declared Janet.
+
+"What'll we wear? Our trunks aren't here?"
+
+"Mother'll take you shopping this afternoon," promised Henry Thorne. "Or
+better, I'll take you around to Roddy at the studio."
+
+"I'm not a mind reader. Who's Roddy?" Helen asked.
+
+Her father looked at her in astonishment. Then grinned. "Sure, you
+wouldn't know Roddy. Well, he's a thin little fellow, almost bald, but he
+creates the most sensational clothes worn by the stars at our studio. His
+credit line on the screen is always signed Adoree, but that's just for
+publicity. Roddy wouldn't be a good name for a creator of ultra
+fashions."
+
+"You mean you'll have Adoree do dresses for us for tonight?" asked Helen.
+
+"You'd better not call him Adoree or he'll stick you full of pins. He's
+just plain Roddy around the studio."
+
+Janet's throat suddenly felt dry. Here, on her first day in Hollywood,
+she was to have a gown created by a famous designer and attend a premiere
+at the Queen's Court.
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter XIX_
+                             GORGEOUS GOWNS
+
+
+Henry Thorne telephoned for an appointment with Roddy and then drove the
+girls to the studio.
+
+The Ace plant, one of the largest in Hollywood, was built in a rambling
+Spanish style.
+
+Where most automobiles were stopped at the main gate, Henry Thorne sent
+his car rolling right on through and the gatekeeper waved and smiled. He
+stopped at a small office and a boy hurried out.
+
+"Mr. Rexler wants to see you at once. It's about your next picture."
+
+Henry Thorne scowled a little as he said, "Tell him I'll be along in a
+few minutes."
+
+Turning to the girls, he explained, "Rexler is the general manager and
+I'll have to see him, but I'll take you to Roddy first."
+
+The creator of famous styles had his office and workshop in a rambling,
+one story white stucco building.
+
+Roddy looked just as Henry Thorne had promised he would and Janet thought
+a good, strong wind might blow the little man away. But she liked him
+instantly, for his eyes twinkled when Henry Thorne explained his mission.
+
+"And you'd like to have them look like real stars tonight?" he smiled.
+
+"That's the idea," grinned Henry Thorne. "Maybe the publicity office
+wasn't wrong in sending out the photographers and reporters this
+morning."
+
+Roddy stepped back and surveyed Janet and Helen with cold, analytical
+eyes.
+
+"Nice hair, even features, not too heavy and not too thin, trim ankles,"
+he said, half to himself and half out loud.
+
+"I'll leave them with you, Roddy. I've got to see Rexler."
+
+"Another picture?"
+
+Henry Thorne nodded.
+
+"I hear they need another of your smash hits," said the designer.
+
+"You mean smash up or smash down?"
+
+"Up. You never do flops."
+
+"But I have."
+
+"That was years ago when I was only a tailor. Go along now," added Roddy.
+"I've work to do with these girls."
+
+He took them back into his private fitting room and called for silks and
+satins by the bolt.
+
+"Something vivid for you," he told Helen, taking a great bolt of crimson
+velvet and fashioning it around her with dexterous hands, pinning it here
+and there. Before Janet's eyes he created a gown, stepped back, shook his
+head, changed a pin or two, and surveyed his handiwork again.
+
+"Not perfect, but it will do for a hurry up job," conceded Roddy.
+
+Then, with a bolt of silver cloth, he quickly fashioned a waist length
+cape.
+
+"Not too much makeup tonight," he told Helen. "Just a touch of color to
+take off the pallor."
+
+Then he turned to Janet.
+
+"This will be a little harder," he told her. "Brunettes are always easier
+to design for than blondes, but I am glad you are not an artificial
+blonde."
+
+Janet smiled, but said nothing and Roddy called for various fabrics,
+finally deciding on a sheer, vivid blue and a cape of gold cloth.
+
+"For you," he told Janet, "more color in your cheeks. It will be needed
+with this blue. Use a blue band to tie your hair, but do not curl it any
+more than the natural wave it now has. Both of you carry white gloves and
+it will be better without bags. I shall be proud of you."
+
+Janet and Helen felt very much like fairy princesses as they left the
+designer's office. In less than an hour they had seen stunning gowns
+created. True, they had to be put together, but they did not doubt that
+this would be done in time, for Roddy had a certain magic in his hands
+and his energy seemed to flow out to the others who worked with him.
+
+They waited for a time for Helen's father to return and when he finally
+arrived there was new enthusiasm in his eyes.
+
+"I'll bet you're assigned to a new picture," said Helen.
+
+"Right, dear. I start work on the script tomorrow. The first draft is
+ready, but I always like to sit in on the finishing touches."
+
+"What's it going to be?" asked Janet.
+
+"The kind of picture I've always wanted to do, an epic of the air, a
+story of the air mail, but on broader, more sweeping lines than anything
+else ever attempted. We need one more big picture to bolster up the
+production schedule for next year and I've drawn the assignment."
+
+Helen's father was as happy as a boy with a new bicycle, and he hummed to
+himself half the way home.
+
+Suddenly he burst out. "I forgot all about your dresses. How did you get
+along with Roddy?"
+
+"He's grand, and we're all fixed up. Mine is crimson velvet and Janet's
+is some divine shade of blue. I have a silver cape and she has a cloth of
+gold cape. Oh, he planned everything for us, even telling us just how
+much makeup to use."
+
+"That's Roddy. He's a fine friend."
+
+They drove on in silence for a time before Helen's father spoke again.
+
+"I must be getting absent minded," he said as they turned into the drive
+at the bungalow. "I ran into Billy Fenstow at the administration building
+at the studio. He said to send you to see him tomorrow morning. He's
+going to start shooting on a new western next week."
+
+"Things," said Janet, "are happening too fast. We only arrived this noon
+and have already been fitted for gowns. Tonight we go to a premiere and
+tomorrow we meet a director who may give us places in his next pictures."
+
+"That's Hollywood for you," grinned Helen's father.
+
+
+
+
+                              _Chapter XX_
+                            AT THE PREMIERE
+
+
+After a leisurely dinner that evening they enjoyed a quiet half hour
+beside the pool.
+
+"There's plenty of time; let's take a swim. The trunks arrived this
+afternoon and mother's found our suits," said Helen, and Janet seconded
+the idea at once. It had been a hectic day and the water would relax
+them.
+
+They had trim one-piece suits, Janet's of cool green and Helen's a sharp
+blue. For twenty minutes they splashed in the water or relaxed and
+floated just as the mood struck them. Finally Mrs. Thorne called.
+
+"It's less than an hour before we must start for the premiere," she said.
+
+Janet and Helen climbed out of the pool, rubbed themselves briskly with
+heavy towels, and hastened into their bedroom.
+
+Large boxes were at the foot of each bed and from them they drew the
+gowns which Roddy had created.
+
+Dressing that night was one of the thrills Janet would never forget. The
+costume was complete for just the right undergarments had been sent by
+the designer. The hose were the sheerest gold, with gold slippers to
+match, while Helen's accessories were silver.
+
+"How do you feel?" asked Helen.
+
+"Something like a fairy princess and it's hard to make myself believe
+that this is all real."
+
+"Then let's enjoy every minute of it. We may wake up and find that it is
+all just a dream."
+
+Janet looked at herself in the mirror. She was sheathed in blue silk,
+ankle length, with just enough of a slit in one side to show her dainty,
+silken ankles. Helen helped her tie a blue ribbon around her hair and
+watched while Janet applied rouge judiciously.
+
+"I imagine the lights will be bright as we go into the theater," said
+Helen, "so remember what Roddy said about the color."
+
+In turn Janet helped Helen, fastening the crimson velvet dress. Like her
+own, it was a sheath of material with Helen encased inside.
+
+"I'm not sure I'll be able to sit down. Dad may have to hire a truck and
+drive us to the theater in it. I'd hate to have this gown all mussed."
+
+"Mine looks awfully tight, but it feels very comfortable," confessed
+Janet. "Oh, I feel grand--simply grand."
+
+"About ready?" called Helen's father.
+
+They caught up their capes and threw them around their shoulders with
+just the right touch of abandon. Even the gloves had been provided in the
+boxes sent by Roddy.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Thorne were waiting for them in the living room, Helen's
+mother looking very beautiful in a brown velvet gown while her father was
+distinguished in his dinner jacket.
+
+Henry Thorne caught his breath as he looked at the girls in Roddy's
+gowns.
+
+"I knew Roddy was a wonder worker, but I didn't know he could perform
+miracles. I'd hardly know you if I saw you any place else."
+
+"That's a real compliment, Dad," smiled Helen.
+
+"Here's something I thought you'd like to see." He handed a copy of one
+of the evening papers to them. On the front page was one of the pictures
+taken at the airport with Janet and Helen between Mr. and Mrs. Thorne.
+
+"Famous Director Brings Daughter and Friend West to start Their Careers
+in Movies," was the caption over the picture. Underneath the story said:
+"Moviedom will get its first chance to see Henry Thorne's daughter,
+Helen, and her companion, Janet Hardy, tonight at the premiere at the
+Queen's Court. Both girls are slated for movie careers if their screen
+tests turn out all right. Their initial rôles will probably be in a new
+western which Bill Fenstow is casting now and plans to put into
+production next week."
+
+"We look pretty much 'midwesternish' in that picture," observed Helen.
+
+"What if you do? There are too many Hollywood types. What we need in
+pictures is fresh faces on girls who have ability. Come on now, we've got
+to hurry or we'll be late."
+
+The big sedan was in the drive and Helen's father had summoned a driver
+he employed when he needed a chauffeur to drive them that evening.
+
+They turned out of the side street on which they lived into a main
+boulevard and whirled rapidly toward the Queen's Court.
+
+Janet, attending a movie premiere for the first time, felt her heart
+quicken as she saw the blaze of light which marked the front of the
+theater.
+
+The whistle of a traffic officer slowed them down and the driver was
+forced to produce a card before they were allowed to go past the police
+lines. The sidewalks were lined with people, anxious for a glimpse at
+some Hollywood notable.
+
+The car fell into line behind several others and Janet caught her first
+glimpse of the theater. It was magnificent white marble, with the
+entrance an open court and down this court the honored guests had to
+walk, running the gamut of the stares of hundreds who backed the police
+lines.
+
+Their car pulled up under a canopy.
+
+"Here we are, girls. Take your time and enjoy it. Don't be stiff. It's
+just like going to the Idle Hour back in Clarion," said Helen's father.
+
+He stepped out first, assisted Mrs. Thorne and then turned to the girls.
+Janet heard the master of ceremonies, standing at the microphone nearby,
+announce, "Henry Thorne, most famous of the directors for Ace
+productions, Mrs. Thorne, their daughter, Helen, and Janet Hardy."
+
+Janet stepped out into the glare of the floodlights. For just a moment a
+terrific wave of stage fright gripped her. Then she saw smiling, friendly
+faces, and she smiled back. Flashlights boomed as the photographers
+worked.
+
+The announcer beckoned to Henry Thorne. "Just a word, Mr. Thorne."
+
+But the director shook his head. "This is the girls' night," he smiled,
+shoving Helen toward the microphone.
+
+"All I can say," gasped Helen, "is that I'm tremendously happy to be
+here."
+
+"Thank you," said the announcer. "And now, Miss Hardy, please."
+
+"I like all of the smiles," said Janet simply, and a burst of applause
+came back from the crowd.
+
+"Well done," whispered Henry Thorne and they started down the long walk
+past the sea of faces.
+
+Janet felt supremely confident, perhaps it was just knowing that her gown
+and accessories were perfection, and more than one compliment on her
+costume came from the packed masses.
+
+In the grand foyer there were film stars on every hand, some of them
+stopping for a moment to talk, and as Helen's father introduced the girls
+to all of these, Janet thought she detected several frankly unfriendly
+stares from some of the actresses, who seemed to be little if any older
+than they were.
+
+Then the picture started. Actually Janet saw very little of it. She was
+too busy drinking in the beauty of the theater and straining to catch
+glimpses of stars who had arrived late.
+
+When they left the theater, various groups congregated in the foyer for
+brief visits and Janet saw a tubby little man, looking ill at ease in his
+dinner suit and mopping his bald head, struggling to reach them. He kept
+his eyes quite frankly on Janet and Helen as he neared them, but there
+was nothing offensive in his stare. He grabbed Henry Thorne's arm.
+
+"Say, Henry, are these the girls?" he demanded.
+
+"Hello, Billy. Sure. I want you to meet my daughter, Helen, and Janet
+Hardy."
+
+"Girls," he explained, "you want to be nice to this scamp. He's in charge
+of the western unit and it will be his decision on whether you get into
+the cast. In other words, meet Billy Fenstow."
+
+"None other and none such," grinned the affable little director. "Why
+didn't you tell me you had a couple of stars in tow?" he chided Helen's
+father.
+
+"Are you willing to take a chance on them and promise them parts right
+now?"
+
+The creator of western pictures looked a little surprised. "Well maybe
+not for sure. Tell you what. I'm going home and make some changes in my
+script. I'll build up some stronger parts for the girls. Can they act?"
+
+"Billy, I don't know. I saw them one night when I thought they could, but
+you'll have to find out for yourself. Now I'm going to take them home and
+see that they get some sleep or they won't be able to act."
+
+"I'm glad I met you tonight," said Billy earnestly. "See you in the
+morning," as Helen and Janet moved toward the car.
+
+He watched them through shrewd eyes, and if Janet could have turned
+around she would have noticed that Billy Fenstow was looking at her in
+particular.
+
+"I think she'll do," whispered the little director. "I think she's got
+just what I want for the new pix. Gosh, I wish this was morning." He
+jammed on his soft, black hat and went out in search of a taxi.
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter XXI_
+                              SCREEN TESTS
+
+
+Despite the excitement of the premiere, Janet and Helen were up early.
+Mrs. Thorne, tired from the trip, decided to remain in bed until later
+and Helen's father had already gone to the studio, but not before leaving
+a note directing them on where to find Billy Fenstow.
+
+Helen scanned a morning paper for an account of the premiere.
+
+"Here's a paragraph about us," she exclaimed. "Listen."
+
+"I am," said Janet.
+
+"Two of the most stunningly gowned girls seen at the Queen's Court last
+night were Helen Thorne, daughter of Director Henry Thorne, and Janet
+Hardy, a friend from the midwest. It is rumored their gowns were special
+creations of Adoree. Both girls are to get film tests."
+
+"I must clip the picture in last night's paper and the story this morning
+and send them to dad and mother," said Janet.
+
+While Janet clipped out the items she wanted, Helen telephoned for a taxi
+and they were soon speeding toward the studio.
+
+The driver looked at them a little suspiciously as he slowed down at the
+main gate of the studio. Evidently he had seen too many girls like Janet
+and Helen get turned away, but Helen produced a note from her father
+which gained them instant admission. They paid the cab driver and a boy
+was assigned to direct them to Billy Fenstow's office.
+
+They found the director of the westerns at an office well to the back of
+the lot and he greeted them warmly.
+
+"We might just as well make a test the first thing," he said. "I've got a
+camera crew over on stage nine where there's an old interior that hasn't
+been struck. You girls any lines you can go through?"
+
+"Only from our senior play," confessed Helen.
+
+Billy Fenstow looked aghast. "That sounds pretty bad, but we'll try it."
+
+Stage nine was one of the smaller sound units on the Ace lot, but the
+director had a camera crew, the sound men and an electrician awaiting
+their arrival.
+
+He tested the lights quickly.
+
+"Just walk onto the set, do your lines and action, and forget about the
+rest of us," he said. "We'll take part of it, maybe."
+
+Janet's knees felt very weak and when she touched Helen's hand it was
+damp with a chill perspiration.
+
+"This is awful," whispered Janet. "I wish your Dad could be here."
+
+"I'm glad he isn't," said Helen fervently.
+
+"Go ahead, girls," urged the director, and Janet and Helen, who had
+already agreed on the scene, started their lines. The action and words
+were simple, but both of them were scared stiff and they acted like
+wooden people.
+
+"Wait a minute," said Billy Fenstow. "I'm human. I won't bite and I don't
+expect you to be world beaters. Now try that over and loosen up."
+
+Janet laughed a little and Helen found a handkerchief and wiped the palms
+of her hands. Both of them felt better. The lights brightened until it
+was impossible to see the camera crew; it was more like being on the
+stage of the gym with Miss Williams over in the wings with her prompt
+book in her hands.
+
+Both girls entered into the spirit of their bit the second time, talking
+and acting as they had the night of the class play. For the moment they
+forgot the camera crew and failed to hear the soft whirring of the camera
+as Billy Fenstow signaled the cameraman to pick up the sequence. They ran
+through the scene and the lights dimmed.
+
+Billy Fenstow stepped forward.
+
+"That was better. We shot it and I'll have it put through at once.
+There's a couple of others have a final word on the casting and they'll
+want to see the test."
+
+"When will it be ready?" asked Helen.
+
+"Tonight. Suppose you bring your father over at eight and we'll send it
+through with rushes of other stuff that's been taken today."
+
+"We'll be here," promised Janet.
+
+On their way out they overheard several electricians talking.
+
+"One of the kids was Henry Thorne's girl," said one. "What did you think
+of her?"
+
+"She's not bad looking, but their skit was lousy."
+
+"Yeh, I thought so too."
+
+Helen looked at Janet and for some reason or other, felt like laughing.
+Why hadn't her Dad warned them about the test? He should have given them
+something to rehearse that would have been impressive.
+
+It was nearly noon when they reached home and after lunch Janet sat down
+and wrote in detail of the things that had transpired since they left
+Clarion. In the letter she enclosed the picture and the newspaper
+paragraph.
+
+In the late afternoon Henry Thorne came home, tired but elated.
+
+"I'm delighted with the first draft of the script for the new picture."
+
+"Haven't you seen Mr. Fenstow?" asked Helen.
+
+"No, why?"
+
+"I'm afraid it wasn't so good."
+
+"Nonsense. You made out well enough. What did he put you through?"
+
+"That's just it," explained Janet. "He had us do a scene from the high
+school play and we felt like awful nit-wits."
+
+"I suppose so," conceded Helen's father. "When will the test be ready?"
+
+"Mr. Fenstow said to come over at eight. He said several others had to
+have a word about the casting."
+
+"Sure. The supervisors always want the last word."
+
+After dinner they drove to the studio, Mrs. Thorne accompanying them.
+
+Helen's father took them directly to the projection room. Billy Fenstow
+was waiting and half a dozen others were in the room. Most of them spoke
+to Henry Thorne and he introduced several to Janet and Helen, but Janet
+couldn't remember their names.
+
+Then the lights went out and they settled back into comfortable
+leather-upholstered chairs.
+
+Scenes from a number of pictures in production flashed before their eyes.
+Suddenly Janet and Helen saw themselves on the screen, moving and
+talking, and Janet dropped her eyes for a minute. To her it looked pretty
+terrible, but her voice was well modulated and pleasing.
+
+After that the lights came on and Henry Thorne went over to speak to
+Billy Fenstow. When he returned a few minutes later Janet couldn't even
+guess what the decision had been.
+
+"The action was punk," Helen's father said frankly, "but the supervisors
+liked your voices. You've got good faces and figures. In other words you
+report Monday morning and both of you go into 'Broad Valley,' Billy's
+next picture."
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter XXII_
+                             WESTERN ACTION
+
+
+In the days intervening Janet and Helen found plenty to do. Billy Fenstow
+sent over scripts of his new western and they had a chance to familiarize
+themselves with the general theme of the play. The story, briefly, was
+the efforts of a band of ruthless men to gain control of "Broad Valley,"
+a great cattle ranch which had been left to young Fred Danvers by his
+father. There was plenty of action, some gunplay, and a love theme in
+which Fred fell in love with the leader of the band of men who sought his
+property. The theme was as old as western pictures, but Billy Fenstow had
+a knack of dressing them up and making them look new.
+
+Janet and Helen reported at stage nine at eight o'clock Monday morning,
+Henry Thorne driving them over himself. He left as soon as they reached
+the lot.
+
+Nearly a score of people were clustered around the chubby little director
+and he nodded as Janet and Helen joined the crowd. Janet nudged Helen.
+
+"There's Curt Newsom, the western star. I'll bet he's got the lead."
+
+"He looks nice," replied Helen, "but older than he appears on the
+screen."
+
+A rather artificial blonde was seated at Billy Fenstow's right, idly
+thumbing through the sheaf of script from which the picture would be
+shot.
+
+Mr. Fenstow spoke sharply. "Attention everybody. All of you have had a
+chance to study the script; all of you should be familiar with the parts.
+We'll make plenty of changes as we go along, but in general you know what
+we're aiming at. We've got two weeks assigned for the shooting and that
+means we'll be done in two weeks, and not three."
+
+He looked around at each of them, then went on.
+
+"Curt Newsom goes into the lead as Fred Danvers and Miss Jackson will
+play the rôle of Ruth Blair, the girl he falls in love with."
+
+He ran on down the list. "The green cousins from the east who come to
+visit Bill will be played by Janet Hardy and Helen Thorne."
+
+Janet felt her heart bound. She actually had a part and it mattered
+little that it was an insignificant rôle.
+
+Bertie Jackson, the blonde in the chair, turned and looked sharply at the
+girls, then sniffed. "I should say they would be well qualified to play
+such rôles."
+
+Billy Fenstow caught the sneer in her voice and turned quickly.
+
+"You know, Miss Jackson, you don't have to work in this picture if you
+don't want to. There are plenty of blondes would jump at the chance to
+play this lead."
+
+"Oh, calm down, Billy. Just because one of the girls is Henry Thorne's
+daughter, you don't need to get on your high horse when I make a harmless
+wisecrack."
+
+But Helen had her own ideas about Bertie Jackson's wisecrack and she
+resolved to watch the pallid blonde. Bertie, if it served her own
+purpose, was quite capable of doing any number of mean tricks.
+
+The morning passed rapidly with costume assignments being made. There
+were a number of interior shots of the ranch house which would be
+necessary and these scenes had already been erected on stage nine.
+
+Janet and Helen would have their first scenes tomorrow, but they remained
+on hand to watch the first shots of the picture and to attempt to get
+acquainted with other members of the company. Most of them were friendly
+enough, but they seemed to feel that the girls had deliberately been put
+into the cast through Henry Thorne's influence and Helen voiced her
+belief quietly.
+
+"We've got to expect that," admitted Janet, "but we don't need to let it
+spoil all of our fun."
+
+Whatever she might have thought of Bertie Jackson from a standpoint of
+personality, Janet had to admit that the actress was a thorough workman
+and she went through her rôle in an easy and screen-appealing manner. In
+makeup Curt Newsom appeared much younger than the forty years he was
+willing to admit.
+
+The next morning Janet and Helen reached the lot early. Although not
+their first scene in the picture, the first one in which they were to be
+shot showed them arriving at the ranchhouse.
+
+Simple travelling costumes had been assigned by the wardrobe department,
+but Roddy stepped in and quietly added a touch or two that made them
+distinctive. Janet could almost hear Bertie Jackson hissing. It was an
+unheard of thing for Roddy to pay any attention to the costume worn by a
+minor character in a western or any other character in a picture of that
+type.
+
+"Your lines are simple, girls. You've just gotten out of a buckboard
+after a long ride from the nearest railroad station. You're tired and
+stiff and a little mad because Curt didn't come to meet you. Janet,
+remember that you're a little giddy and anything crazy you do will fit in
+all right."
+
+"She'll do plenty of that," said Bertie Jackson, under her breath.
+
+Billy Fenstow didn't believe in rehearsals. He told his people what he
+wanted, then asked them to do it, and started the cameras grinding. If it
+was too bad, he had to shoot it over, but if it was fair, he let it go,
+with the result that once in a while he got some exceptional shots.
+
+"All set, girls?" asked the director.
+
+Janet, her mouth dry, nodded.
+
+"Let's go. Camera!"
+
+They stepped into the range of the cameras, Helen in the lead and Janet,
+a rather vacant stare on her face, following. There was a bear-skin rug
+in front of the door and some way her feet became tangled up in it and
+she pitched forward, only the strong arm of Curt Newsom preventing her
+from falling. Curt, a veteran trooper, faked a line and Janet had enough
+presence of mind to come back with a cue. Then they went on with the
+scene, which was extremely brief, ending with a cowboy, laden with
+baggage, trying to get through the door.
+
+"Cut it," waved Billy. "What are you trying to do, clown this?" he
+demanded of the red-faced Janet.
+
+"No, Mr. Fenstow. You see, I slipped. I didn't mean to do it," she
+explained.
+
+"Well, whatever it was, it was a nice bit of action and I think we'll
+keep it. It ought to be worth a laugh or two."
+
+The next morning they left early by bus for a location back in the
+mountains. Billy Fenstow had every ranch possibility listed in a small
+black book and this was one of his favorites. He had used it several
+times, but a studio carpenter crew, by going out several days in advance,
+had changed the barns and corrals enough to disguise them. They arrived
+shortly before noon and a delicious meal was waiting for them.
+
+Janet and Helen had little to do for the next two days, most of the shots
+being confined to action on the range, with the camera, mounted on a
+special truck, racing ahead of the pounding horses while the broad valley
+resounded to volleys of blank shots as the cowboys, led by Curt Newsom,
+chased and were chased by the marauders.
+
+Then Janet and Helen got their chance in a comedy sequence called for
+their first riding. Neither of them felt any qualms until they were
+mounted. Then their horses seemed to explode and both girls hung on for
+their lives, their faces registering surprise in no uncertain terms.
+
+Helen lost her grip and flew through the air to land in an undignified
+position in a cloud of dust. Janet, either more fortunate or a better
+rider, clung on for another minute, then found herself dumped into the
+open water trough. Splashing furiously and sputtering at a great rate,
+Janet got her head above water. Her hair was plastered to her head and
+she was soaking wet. The camera crew, in spite of their roars of
+laughter, had kept grinding away.
+
+"Great stuff, Janet. You've got a natural born sense of comedy," chuckled
+Billy Fenstow as he wiped the tears out of his eyes.
+
+"It looks like I'm all wet as an actress," admitted Janet.
+
+"Oh, I don't know. Getting all wet may make you one," countered the
+director. "Get into some dry clothes. We're through with this sequence,
+anyhow."
+
+The days on location passed swiftly and in the main pleasantly. Curt
+Newsom took an interest in the girls, which only heightened Bertie
+Jackson's jealousy. He taught them several tricks about riding and they
+spent every extra hour in the saddle.
+
+One of the last sequences to be filmed at the ranch was one calling for a
+wild ride by Janet to take news of a raid on the ranch to the sheriff's
+office in a near-by town.
+
+With the camera crew in the truck ahead, the action started. Janet rode
+hard, but was careful to keep in camera range. Suddenly she felt her
+saddle slipping and she grabbed desperately at the mane of the galloping
+horse. Alarmed by the looseness of the saddle, the beast increased its
+stride and Janet, a stifled scream on her lips, plunged headlong. She
+felt the shock of the ground as she struck and then a mantle of merciful
+darkness descended upon her.
+
+
+
+
+                            _Chapter XXIII_
+                             ON THE SCREEN
+
+
+Curt Newsom was the first to reach the unconscious Janet. He picked her
+up, almost without effort, and ran to the car in which Billy Fenstow had
+been following the action.
+
+"Step on it, Billy. This girl's had a bad fall," he said, and the
+director swung the car quickly and sped back toward the ranchhouse.
+Helen, mounted, galloped after them and the rest of the company,
+including the camera crew, trailed along.
+
+When Janet regained her senses she was lying on a bed in the ranchhouse
+with Helen, her face expressing her anxiety, bending over her.
+
+"What happened?" asked Janet faintly.
+
+"Your saddle came loose and you took a header," explained Curt. "How do
+you feel?"
+
+"Let me get up and take a few steps and then I'll tell you," replied
+Janet.
+
+"Better stay quiet for a few more minutes. We've got a doctor coming out
+to look you over," advised Billy Fenstow.
+
+"But I'm sure there's nothing really wrong with me, except perhaps I'm
+clumsy," replied Janet.
+
+Just then one of the cowboys tiptoed in and whispered something to Curt
+Newsom. Janet caught a flash of anger in his face as he turned and
+followed the cowboy outside.
+
+The doctor arrived within a few minutes and made a thorough examination
+for possible injuries.
+
+"Just a liberal supply of bumps and bruises," he decided. "Better take it
+easy for a day or two."
+
+"Well, that's that," Janet managed to smile when the doctor had departed.
+"I'm afraid I spoiled another sequence and you'll have to shoot it over."
+
+"I should say not," replied Billy Fenstow. "The camera got every bit of
+action and I'll work it in somehow. Any time I let a swell shot like that
+go unused you can write 'finished' after my name. Stay in bed the rest of
+the day. The schedule of scenes you were in is practically completed
+anyway."
+
+Helen was in and out the rest of the day for there were several shots in
+which she appeared and it was late afternoon when she came in to stay.
+
+"Curt Newsom is on the warpath," she said slowly as she sat down beside
+Janet.
+
+"Sore about my mussing up that scene?" asked Janet.
+
+"No. He's been looking at the saddle and says someone tried to kill you."
+
+Helen's voice was flat.
+
+Janet sat up in bed.
+
+"Someone tried to kill me?" she demanded.
+
+Tears welled into Helen's tired eyes.
+
+"Oh, this is all a mess," she cried. "We never should have come out here.
+There are too many intrigues and jealousies among those established."
+
+"Tell me just what you mean?" insisted Janet.
+
+Helen waved her hands helplessly. "Curt's found out that the saddle girth
+was almost cut through. That's the reason your saddle came loose and you
+were pitched out."
+
+"Does he have any idea who did it?"
+
+"If he does, he isn't saying anything, but I heard him tell Billy Fenstow
+that this is the last picture he'll work in with Bertie Jackson."
+
+"I wonder if that means he suspects Bertie?" Janet pondered.
+
+"You could take it that way if you wanted to, and personally I think
+Bertie is fully capable of some despicable stunt like that. I'm glad
+shooting on this picture is practically over. I've seen all of Bertie I
+ever want to."
+
+"It doesn't seem as though she would do anything like that, though," said
+Janet. "But, after all, Bertie's determined to get ahead and I expect
+she's wholly unscrupulous when she thinks anything or anyone may be
+blocking her way. But why should she pick on us?"
+
+"Because we came in as absolute greenhorns and got fairly good bits.
+She's afraid we may be pushed ahead too fast because of Dad's position
+with the company. I think it's all plain enough."
+
+"Perhaps you're right," conceded Janet. "I'll certainly watch myself when
+I'm around Bertie from now on."
+
+Janet felt much better the next morning. She was still stiff and sore,
+but was able to walk with only a moderate amount of discomfort.
+
+It was the final day of shooting for "Broad Valley" and a certain
+tenseness gripped the whole company. Billy Fenstow was determined to
+finish on time and they worked like mad through the long, hot hours.
+
+Janet had to do another riding sequence, and she went about it gamely,
+although every bone in her body ached as her horse galloped at a mad pace
+across the broad valley and into the rolling hills behind it. Then it was
+done. The picture was "in the can."
+
+Supper was served at the ranchhouse and after the meal, in the soft
+twilight of the summer evening, they piled into the bus that was to take
+them back to Hollywood.
+
+There was little conversation on the way back to the city. Some of them
+were completely worn out by the strain of working against time for the
+last few days and a number dozed as the bus, striking a concrete road,
+rolled smoothly and swiftly toward Hollywood.
+
+The days had been exciting and even thrilling for Janet and Helen--an
+experience they might never know again and both girls knew they would
+come to treasure the recent days highly.
+
+Janet wondered what would be in store for them in Hollywood. Would they
+win other rôles or were they through? It would depend on the verdict
+after "Broad Valley" had its screening before the studio executives.
+
+The lights of Hollywood glowed and they pulled up in front of the studio.
+Some of the actors and actresses had their own cars; others took busses
+and only a few signalled for waiting taxis. Janet and Helen were among
+these.
+
+Henry Thorne was waiting for them when they reached home.
+
+"All done?" he asked.
+
+Helen nodded wearily. "The picture is and we may be too."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Won't it depend on how our work shows up whether we get any more rôles?"
+
+"Yes, I suppose so," said her father, "but I could push you into some
+minor parts in other films."
+
+"Now you're wrong, Dad. We don't want that any more than you would want
+to do it."
+
+"I guess you're right, dear. I did give you a boost with Billy and if you
+didn't make good on 'Broad Valley' there's little more that I can do."
+
+They were silent for a time. Helen's mother, who had been to a
+neighborhood picture house, came home and they went into the dining room
+where a cold lunch was ready for them.
+
+"I hear you had some unusual experiences," said Helen's father.
+
+"Oh, we had a few falls," admitted Janet. There was no use in voicing
+their suspicions about Bertie Jackson.
+
+The next four days were spent in sight-seeing around Los Angeles, in a
+trip to Catalina Island and several swimming expeditions at Malibu. Then
+came a call from Billy Fenstow.
+
+"We're screening 'Broad Valley' at the studio tonight," he informed them.
+"Better come on out. It's at eight."
+
+This was the news they had been waiting for, but now that the actual
+screening was to take place, both girls felt nervous and upset. Helen's
+father and mother insisted on coming with them, "to enjoy the triumph or
+share the sorrows." Henry Thorne smiled and Janet later wondered whether
+he had advance information on the outcome of the picture.
+
+The small auditorium in which the picture was screened was well filled
+that night with most of the members of the cast on hand, including Curt
+Newsom and Bertie Jackson.
+
+The lights were out and the picture started. Janet read the title:
+"'Broad Valley' with Curt Newsom and Bertie Jackson, directed by William
+Fenstow; produced by the Ace Motion Picture Corporation." Then came the
+cast of characters and well toward the bottom of the list she found her
+name. Her heart leaped and she held Helen's arm close. What a thrill it
+was to actually read her own name in the cast of characters of a film.
+
+Then the action started, the story of Curt Newsom's fight to hold title
+to his ranch.
+
+Almost before Janet and Helen knew it they were in the picture, the
+midwestern cousins arriving for a visit and in spite of herself Janet
+chuckled as she stumbled over the rug. It DID look wholly accidental.
+
+Then for a time they were out of the action, coming back again in the
+riding sequence in which Janet was dumped into the watering trough. This
+entire bit of action had been kept in the film and she heard several
+hearty chuckles as she went headlong into the trough.
+
+After that came the wild ride in which Janet was pitched from her horse
+and the final victory of Curt over his enemies. "Broad Valley" came to a
+close with Curt winning the affections of Bertie Jackson and Janet felt
+her distaste for the actress growing as she watched the final fadeout.
+
+The lights in the projection room flashed up and Henry Thorne turned to
+the girls.
+
+"Nice work," he said.
+
+"Do you really mean it, Dad?" asked Helen.
+
+"Of course I do, honey. I think both of you handled your parts very well
+and Janet added a couple of top notch comedy incidents."
+
+"They weren't intentional," Janet assured him.
+
+"Then that explains why they look so natural. Billy will be a sap if he
+cuts them out in the final version."
+
+"And I'm not a sap," said Billy Fenstow, who had quietly joined them.
+"How about my next western? Think you could stand a few more weeks in my
+company?"
+
+"Are you serious?" demanded Janet.
+
+"Enough so that I'm promising you parts right now. In fact, we'll pay you
+$75 a week instead of the $50 a week you got for this first picture. How
+does that sound?"
+
+"Not enough," put in Henry Thorne, "especially if the girls can give you
+some more comedy as good as the stuff they put into this one."
+
+"Now wait a minute," protested the little director. "I don't work on
+budgets that run up to half a million. I've got to watch my pay-roll."
+
+"I was only kidding, Billy. But honestly, the girls ought to be worth a
+hundred a week. You'll only use them a couple of weeks and that's pretty
+cheap."
+
+"I won't make any promises about a hundred a week," said Billy, "but you
+can count on another job if you want to join the company for my next
+western."
+
+"Then we're in right now," decided Helen, and Janet nodded her approval.
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter XXIV_
+                           "KINGS OF THE AIR"
+
+
+The next morning Janet found an interesting paragraph in one of the
+morning papers, which had been written by a reporter who had attended the
+screening of "Broad Valley."
+
+"One of the pleasant surprises about this latest Billy Fenstow western
+was the work of Helen Thorne and Janet Hardy, two newcomers. Miss Thorne
+is the daughter of the famous director and Miss Hardy is a friend of hers
+from the middle west. Although playing minor rôles, both girls handled
+their parts well with Miss Hardy providing several of the best comedy
+touches seen in a western by this reviewer in some months. It is reported
+that both will be in the next western which the prolific Fenstow will
+produce."
+
+Janet read the brief comment three times, then clipped it out of the
+paper, wrote a brief note home, and sent the clipping to her folks.
+
+Later in the day they received their final vouchers from the studio for
+work on "Broad Valley." Altogether the two weeks work on the picture had
+netted them $100 apiece, more money than either of them had ever earned
+in a similar length of time.
+
+"No wonder girls come to Hollywood," said Helen as she looked at the
+check.
+
+"Yes, but remember that we're lucky. We didn't have to break down any
+barriers; we didn't have to make introductions. The way was all smoothed
+out for us. Look at those poor kids over at the casting office."
+
+Helen turned in the direction Janet pointed. Half a hundred young men and
+women were waiting patiently in a line before the window of the casting
+office. Most of them were rejected; only one or two were allowed inside.
+
+"That's what happens to the average seeker of fame in the films," said
+Janet. "So many, with some beauty and high hopes, come out here expecting
+to make a success, and then almost starve. Of course they get a bit once
+in a while, but it's hardly enough to buy their food much less their
+clothes and all of the other necessary things."
+
+"You're right, of course," admitted Helen. "If it hadn't been for Dad
+we'd never have had a look-in."
+
+They were having lunch that noon at the studio restaurant with Helen's
+father. They were waiting when he arrived. Accompanying him was a
+stranger.
+
+"Girls, I want you to meet Mr. Rexler, general manager of the company."
+
+The general manager, tall, thin and exceedingly nervous, greeted them
+cordially, then seemed to forget that they even existed for he talked
+business from the moment they reached their table until lunch was over.
+But in spite of that Janet and Helen enjoyed the hour. Some of the most
+famous stars on the Ace lot were lunching there that noon and Janet and
+Helen enjoyed watching them come in.
+
+The general manager, a man of quick thought and action, suddenly turned
+toward them.
+
+"I saw 'Broad Valley' the other night. Congratulations on a nice bit of
+work."
+
+The hour passed quickly, with Helen's father and the general manager
+continuing their conference in the executive's private office in the
+administration building.
+
+"Dad and Rexler are having trouble over the story for the new air
+picture," said Helen. "I heard him talking with mother just last night.
+They can't agree on the final version. Dad was going over it last night."
+
+"I'd like to read it," said Janet.
+
+"I'll get it for you if he brings it home tonight."
+
+That night Janet had her chance to scan the script of Henry Thorne's next
+picture. The tentative title was "Kings of the Air." The action was
+fast and stirring, the panorama of the story covering the entire
+transcontinental route of one air mail system and Janet could understand
+that there was material here for a really great picture. But there was
+something lacking--a crashing climax that would make the spectators grip
+their seats.
+
+Henry Thorne, watching Janet as she laid the script aside, spoke quietly.
+
+"If you can suggest a suitable climax you can just about name your own
+ticket on our lot," he said.
+
+"How about a race for a contract?" suggested Helen.
+
+"Too old; it's worn out."
+
+"Then why not have the plane going through with valuable papers which are
+needed for say," Janet paused, "a naval conference at Washington, on the
+outcome of which may hinge the fate of the world."
+
+Henry Thorne started to reject the idea, but halted. "Where did you get
+that idea?"
+
+"Something I read in a paper several months ago suggested it," admitted
+Janet. "Navy planes were racing across country with a naval envoy and
+they got held up somewhere in Wyoming on account of bad weather. You
+could have your mail plane take over there after the navy ship was
+grounded."
+
+"That would give the navy a black eye."
+
+"Some other solution could be worked out then," said Janet.
+
+"You know, that's not a bad idea. It would require some rewriting of the
+script, but we've got to have a terrific air race against time and the
+elements in this thing for a conclusion. I'll talk it over with Rexler in
+the morning."
+
+Then Helen's father changed his mind. "No, I'll talk it over with him
+tonight if he's home."
+
+He phoned the general manager's home, found Rexler there, and informed
+him he was coming over.
+
+"We'll see what he thinks of your suggestion," he flung at Janet as he
+hurried out the door.
+
+"Shall we wait up and learn the outcome of the conference?" asked Helen.
+"Just think if they should decide to work out a climax along the line you
+suggested."
+
+"I'm all for waiting up, but I'm afraid my suggestion is pretty weak,"
+said Janet.
+
+At eleven o'clock Mrs. Thorne decided to retire and urged the girls to do
+likewise, but they insisted upon awaiting the return of Helen's father.
+
+Midnight passed and finally the clock struck one A. M.
+
+"I'm too sleepy to stay up any longer," admitted Helen.
+
+"Oh, wait half an hour more," urged Janet, and Helen agreed.
+
+It was 1:20 when Director Thorne reached home. There were hollows under
+his eyes and he looked unusually tired, but in his eyes burned a spirit
+of elation that fatigue could not beat down. Mrs. Thorne, in a dressing
+gown, joined them.
+
+"What's the decision?" asked Helen.
+
+"We're going to work out the climax along the line suggested by Janet,"
+replied her father. "Rexler called two of the writers down and they're
+working right on through the night on a new treatment for the whole
+script. It must be done tomorrow noon. We're to start shooting next week.
+It means another bouquet for you, Janet."
+
+Janet blushed. "It was just luck."
+
+"No, it wasn't luck. It was good, clear thinking and the ability to
+recall a worthwhile incident. Incidentally, both of you are going into
+the cast of 'Kings of the Air'."
+
+"But, Dad, you can't mean that!" exclaimed Helen.
+
+"I mean just that," retorted her father, "and I wasn't the one who
+suggested it. Rexler insists that you be included. It's his way of trying
+to repay Janet for her suggestion."
+
+"Then that means we'll get another chance in a picture," said Janet, and
+she felt her heart beating like mad.
+
+"Indeed it does and you'll be in the biggest feature the Ace company is
+producing this year," Helen's father assured them.
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter XXV_
+                            THE STARS VANISH
+
+
+Janet and Helen did get rôles in "Kings of the Air" and even though they
+were very minor parts, both girls were elated. They were cast as
+waitresses in the restaurant which served the pilots at the main western
+terminal of the air mail line.
+
+Almost every contract player on the Ace lot was in it, with a good,
+substantial rôle going to Curt Newsom, who was taken out of Billy
+Fenstow's western unit long enough to play the part of a bitter field
+manager. Even Bertie Jackson got a part as a gold-digger who was out to
+get all the information she could from the pilots and was suspected of
+selling secrets to a rival air line.
+
+Janet and Helen saw little of Helen's father for the next few days. He
+was immensely busy on the details of the production and a complete
+airport was set up out in the California desert for one of the major
+sequences would revolve around this lonely outpost on the air mail route.
+
+The sequences in which Janet and Helen were to appear were shot at Grand
+Central at Glendale, actually in the field restaurant and were among the
+first to be taken.
+
+Janet had only four lines and Helen had three. All of them were in a
+brief scene with Curt Newsom and his encouragement helped them through
+for it was hard work under the glare of a brilliant battery of electrics.
+What made it all the harder was that Mr. Rexler was with the company the
+day this particular sequence was shot, but somehow they managed to get
+through with it. After that they were free to stay with the company and
+watch the rest of the shooting schedule until Billy Fenstow called them
+back for his next western.
+
+It was during the second week of shooting that things started to go
+wrong. There were innumerable little delays that were maddening in
+themselves and when a dozen of them came, almost at the same time, even
+level-headed Henry Thorne showed signs of extreme exasperation. The cast
+was large and expensive and a dozen planes had been leased. The daily
+overhead was terrific and each day's delay sent the cost of the picture
+rocketing.
+
+When they went on location out in the desert Curt Newsom, lunching with
+Janet and Helen, gave voice to his fears.
+
+"This outfit is getting jitters," he said. "I heard this morning that one
+of the pilots found several of his control wires half way eaten through
+by acid. That's bad business."
+
+Janet, looking up from a dish of ice cream, spoke slowly. "Then that
+means someone is deliberately trying to cripple the company?"
+
+"It means someone is doing it. That flyer pulled out; refused to take his
+plane off the ground again and some good shots are already 'in the can'
+with his plane in it. Means they'll have to get another plane and fix it
+up like his or shoot over a lot of footage. Either one will be
+expensive."
+
+That night Henry Thorne called the company together. Their location was
+at the edge of the ghost town of Sagebrush, and members of the company
+were sheltered in the three or four habitable houses which remained. All
+of them had grumbled a bit, but there was nothing that could be done
+about it for the nearest town of any size was too far away to make the
+drive back and forth daily.
+
+Helen's father spoke plainly.
+
+"There have been a series of accidents," he said. "These have slowed up
+production and put us almost a week behind schedule. All of you know what
+that means on a picture of this size. I am convinced that someone in the
+company is aiding in this sabotage and I am giving fair warning now that
+this town will be patrolled at night and that all equipment will be
+watched. The guards are armed and have orders to shoot first and ask
+questions afterward."
+
+That was all, but it started a buzz of conversation that lasted nearly an
+hour. When the company finally broke up to go to quarters, Janet happened
+to be watching Bertie Jackson and she saw the blond actress, slip between
+two buildings and vanish into the night.
+
+Helen was some distance away and Janet, playing a hunch, followed Bertie
+at a safe distance.
+
+There was no moon, but the sky was studded with stars. The walking
+through the sand was hard going, but noiseless, and Janet, keeping low,
+could discern Bertie's silhouette.
+
+Suddenly the older actress stopped and whistled softly, a long, a short
+and a long whistle. The sound could not have carried back to Sagebrush
+and Janet, vaguely alarmed, waited.
+
+Almost before she knew it another figure joined Bertie and she could hear
+the two conversing, but she didn't dare move closer. The newcomer struck
+a match to light a cigarette and carefully shielded though it was, Janet
+was close enough to glimpse his face. It was that of a stranger. The
+match went out and the night seemed darker.
+
+Janet wanted to get closer, but as she moved forward she stumbled over
+something in the dark and plunged headlong into the sand.
+
+Before she could regain her feet she heard a muttered exclamation and
+knew she had been discovered.
+
+Then the thin beam from a shielded flashlight struck her face.
+
+Janet knew her only chance was to run for it and she tried to rise, but
+her feet were entangled in a tough creeper.
+
+"Look out! She may scream!" warned Bertie.
+
+Janet opened her lips to cry out, but before she could do it, the man
+with Bertie leaped forward and thrust a heavy hand against Janet's mouth.
+Suddenly the world went black, the stars vanished, and she dropped into
+the sand.
+
+
+
+
+                             _Chapter XXVI_
+                           BOMBS FROM THE SKY
+
+
+It was later in the evening when Janet was missed. Helen thought her
+companion had gone to visit some other member of the company and it was
+well after ten o'clock when she became alarmed and started making
+inquiries.
+
+"Looking for someone?" asked Bertie Jackson, who seemed to be everywhere.
+
+"I haven't seen Janet for several hours."
+
+"Maybe she's got a date with a boy friend in the desert."
+
+"Janet hasn't any boy friend and she wouldn't be dating in the desert,"
+snapped Helen.
+
+"Have it your own way," retorted Bertie, but as she turned away a sneer
+distorted her vapid face.
+
+Helen finally communicated her fears to her father.
+
+"I've gone over the entire camp and no one has seen Janet for at least an
+hour and none of them are sure it was that recent. I'm worried."
+
+Henry Thorne, busy working with one of the writers on a difficult bit of
+script that needed smoothing up half way dismissed Helen's fears with a
+wave of his hand. Then he stopped.
+
+"You're sure she's not in camp?" he asked.
+
+"I'm positive, Dad. Do you think anything terrible has happened?"
+
+"Of course not. She's probably walked out into the desert and has gone
+too far. I'll rout out some of the men and we'll start a searching
+party."
+
+Curt Newsom was one of the first to answer the call and he muttered to
+himself when he heard the news.
+
+"There's trouble brewing," he told Helen. "You stick close to me."
+
+"What do you mean, Curt?" asked Helen, her voice filled with anxiety.
+
+"I mean this picture promises to be too big and someone is trying to
+throw a wrench in the proceedings."
+
+"Some rival company?"
+
+"It could be that. I'm not saying, but I'm certainly going to keep my
+eyes open."
+
+Under the brisk commands of Helen's father, the ghost town awoke. Men who
+had been asleep were routed out, cars commandeered, and parties swept
+away over the desert in search of the missing girl.
+
+Curt Newsom, who had brought several horses with him, preferred to ride
+and Helen went with him. Curt saddled the horses and they swung away into
+the desert together.
+
+Across the almost level floor of the desert they could see the cars
+swinging in great circles.
+
+"They won't find anything," said Curt, and after that they rode on in a
+silence broken only by the steady shuffling of the horses through the
+sand.
+
+At intervals they stopped and Curt's great voice boomed through the
+night.
+
+"We'd better turn back to camp," the cowboy star finally advised. "Maybe
+some of the others have news."
+
+But when they gathered in the ghost town, Helen knew that the search had
+been fruitless.
+
+Each searching party brought back the same report--no trace of the
+missing Janet had been found.
+
+"Everyone try to get some sleep now," said Helen's father. "We'll resume
+the search at dawn."
+
+Helen went to the room assigned to her and lay down, fully dressed, to
+try and rest in the short interval before dawn. But sleep would not come
+and thoughts raced through her head. Something was decidedly amiss and,
+like Curt Newsom, she could now sense impending disaster to the company.
+Just what it was or how it would strike she could not determine, but a
+terrible uneasiness gripped her.
+
+Breakfast was served at dawn. Most of the women in the company were on
+hand to aid in the search, but Henry Thorne called only upon the men.
+
+Half a dozen cars were manned and they swung out again to comb the desert
+floor.
+
+"Let them go," said Curt Newsom to Helen. "We'll ride. If there are any
+tracks, we'll be able to follow them easier."
+
+The tall, well-built cowboy star swung into his saddle and they trotted
+away between two tumbledown houses of the ghost town.
+
+Shadows of the morning were long and heavy, for the sun was just topping
+the mountains, but Helen, riding close behind the cowboy, glimpsed a
+footprint in the sand. She reined in her horse and called to Curt, who
+whirled quickly.
+
+"Someone's been through here," she said, pointing to where the sand was
+fairly hard packed.
+
+"Anyone could have left a print like that," replied the cowboy star.
+"Your nerves are getting the best of you, Helen. Steady up."
+
+She smiled and they turned again toward the desert, riding at a steady
+pace and scanning the sand intently for anything unusual.
+
+They were less than a quarter of a mile from the old town when Curt
+pulled his horse up sharp and leaped from the saddle to bend down and
+scrutinize a tough creeper which had been pulled out of the sand.
+
+"Get down here, Helen. Here's something the others have missed."
+
+Helen dismounted and ran to Curt's side. In his hands he held a tough
+section of the creeper and his eyes were fastened on a brown stain. "What
+is it?" demanded Helen.
+
+"Looks like someone got caught in this and scratched," said Curt, trying
+to pass the remark off lightly.
+
+"You mean it might have been Janet?"
+
+"It might have been," agreed the cowboy star. "Look back toward the
+village. This is in a direct line and although you may not have noticed
+it, we've been following footprints all of the way. Two came out and only
+one returned."
+
+Helen looked at him, her eyes showing her fear.
+
+"Then someone in the company was responsible for Janet's disappearance!"
+she gasped.
+
+"Right," snapped Curt. "The first thing is to find Janet; then we'll
+catch up with whoever was responsible."
+
+"Hadn't we better tell the others?" asked Helen.
+
+"They're not used to tracking; I am." He grinned. "Even if I am a movie
+cowboy most of the time, I know a few tricks about the range and the
+desert. Come on!"
+
+They remounted and Curt led the way, scanning the ground closely. Even
+Helen, as inexperienced as she was, could see the signs now. Someone had
+left deep prints in the sand.
+
+"He was either an awful big man or he was carrying someone," said Curt.
+"One thing, he won't be able to go far."
+
+The trail led toward the hills back of the ghost town and it was evident
+that the man they were trailing had rested frequently. Curt saw another
+of those brown stains, but he made sure that Helen did not see it for
+there was no use in increasing her fears.
+
+The trail led on, perhaps half a mile altogether, and ended suddenly in a
+tiny depression where the sand was smooth and hard.
+
+Curt dismounted and made a minute survey of the bowl. The trail came in
+all right, but there were no tracks going out. In the center were two
+marks, about four inches wide and 12 or 14 feet long, but that was all.
+Beside one of these was a tiny smudge of black and Curt got down on his
+hands and knees and sniffed keenly.
+
+"What is it?" asked Helen.
+
+Curt shook his head. "Can't tell yet and there's no use in guessing."
+
+He mopped his forehead with a large bandana and scanned the heavens. The
+sun was blazing down and shortly the temperature in the little bowl they
+were in would be stifling.
+
+"We'd better get out of here," he said.
+
+"But Janet? Where can she be? We've followed the trail but it's simply
+vanished." The questions tumbled from Helen's lips.
+
+"I wish I could answer them all," said Curt. "Maybe I can later."
+
+They rode back to the ghost town at a brisk trot and Curt cornered Henry
+Thorne and told him of their discovery. Then he led a searching party of
+half a dozen into the hills back of the town while the other members of
+the company assembled for the day's work under the boiling sun.
+
+Helen attempted to join the searching party, but was told it was no place
+for a girl so she went with the company out into the desert where the
+airport had been laid out and a dummy hangar erected.
+
+Shooting went ahead on schedule until just before noon when someone
+shouted an alarm and they turned toward the ghost town. The remaining
+houses were rapidly being consumed by flames and before they could reach
+them there was no hope of saving anything, including a number of valuable
+cameras, sound equipment and hundreds of dollars worth of costumes.
+
+Henry Thorne fairly blazed for he knew now that a deliberate effort was
+being made to stop the production of "Kings of the Air."
+
+But before they had recovered from that disaster, another befell with
+startling swiftness. There was a dull boom from the valley and they
+turned to see a fast, black plane swinging over the set on the desert. A
+cloud of dust was rising near the hangar and as they watched, another
+explosion echoed in their ears.
+
+"That guy's bombing the set!" yelled a cameraman, leaping into a car.
+
+The third bomb was a direct hit and the hangar collapsed. Over to the
+right were half a dozen planes which were being used in the picture and
+the unknown flyer turned his attention toward these.
+
+"If he blows them up, we can figure a hundred thousand dollar loss right
+there," groaned Helen's father.
+
+But the unknown flyer had reckoned without the resourcefulness of Curt
+Newsom. The lanky cowboy, riding hard by in the hills, had heard the
+first explosion and the roar of an airplane motor. They saw him flash out
+into the desert at a mad gallop.
+
+"He's crazy; someone stop him!" cried Henry Thorne, but there was no one
+near enough to reach Curt.
+
+Helen saw him drag a rifle from the scabbard on his saddle. The flyer was
+apparently disdainful of the lone rider for he dropped another bomb. It
+missed the planes by only the narrowest of margins and the pilot of the
+black ship swung around for another try. He swooped toward Curt and waved
+jeeringly as Curt leaped from the saddle.
+
+They were too far away to hear the report of the rifle but they could see
+the little puffs of smoke from the muzzle. Suddenly the black plane
+heeled sharply, its motor sputtering. The pilot shot over the side, his
+chute billowing out and Curt, jumping back into the saddle, rode like mad
+toward the hills.
+
+The plane gyrated uncertainly, then dove toward the ground. It struck
+with a tremendous explosion as the bombs still aboard let go.
+
+Helen saw Curt whirl back into the valley and sweep down on the flyer,
+who had landed in a tangle of cord and silk from the parachute. All
+thought of resistance was gone from the flyer's mind and the cowboy
+captured him easily. By the time the others arrived, Curt had the
+situation well in hand.
+
+"I think a confession out of this guy will solve our troubles," said the
+cowboy star as Henry Thorne stared at the flyer.
+
+"What have you got to say for yourself. Who employed you?" demanded the
+director.
+
+The flyer was sullen. "I'm not talking. I want an attorney."
+
+Curt rocked back and forth on his heels.
+
+"So you won't talk?" He grinned, but it was a mirthless grin that struck
+terror to those who watched. Curt was living in real life the rôle he had
+played so many times on the screen. With a quick jerk his lariat was free
+from the saddle and before the flyer knew it, he was in the coils of the
+rope and his feet had been jerked out from under him.
+
+Curt swung into the saddle, twisted the rope around the saddle horn and
+looked down on the helpless man.
+
+"Going to talk?"
+
+The captive shook his head.
+
+Curt spoke to his horse and the magnificent sorrel moved ahead slowly,
+dragging the captive after him.
+
+After bouncing over the desert floor for a rod, the flyer cried for
+mercy.
+
+"I'll talk; I'll talk. Get this rope off quick."
+
+"And you'll tell us what you did with that girl last night and where we
+can find her?"
+
+The captive nodded emphatically and Curt shook the rope loose.
+
+
+
+
+                            _Chapter XXVII_
+                              THE SHOWDOWN
+
+
+When Janet regained consciousness she was aware of a roaring that filled
+her ears. It was as though a great storm was sweeping down upon her.
+Then, from the motion, she realized that she was in an airplane. Her head
+ached terrifically and she made no attempt to move for several minutes.
+
+As her eyes became accustomed to a dim glow of light ahead she could
+distinguish the figure of a man at the controls in the small cabin they
+were in.
+
+Janet shifted her weight and the man turned instantly, focusing a
+flashlight on her.
+
+"Keep still or I'll crack you again," he warned and from the fierceness
+of his voice Janet knew that he would not hesitate to carry out his
+threat.
+
+The pulse of the motor lessened and she felt the craft sinking, to settle
+smoothly into a little circle of light. It was then that she learned they
+were in an autogiro.
+
+Her captor opened the door and ordered her out.
+
+Still with her head throbbing wildly, Janet managed to get out. There was
+a bad scratch on her left leg that had bled rather freely.
+
+To her anxious questions, the flyer gave only the same answer, "You'll
+find out later, maybe."
+
+Janet was forced to allow her hands to be tied behind her and then was
+led to a small shelter tent. There was a blanket on the ground and the
+flyer tossed another over her.
+
+"Don't make any attempt to escape," he warned.
+
+The portable electric light which had guided the autogiro down into the
+basin was snapped off and Janet passed the remainder of the night in
+desperate anxiety, wondering what was happening back at camp and the
+meaning of her abduction.
+
+With the coming of dawn she hoped to learn more about the camp, but she
+was doomed to disappointment for her captor appeared and dropped the
+canvas fly which covered the front of the tiny tent.
+
+It was well after daylight when she heard another plane approaching. It
+landed nearby and a few minutes later she heard men's voices, one of whom
+she recognized as that of the flyer who had brought her there. Then the
+plane which had just landed roared away and it was shortly after that
+when Janet heard a series of booming explosions.
+
+Suddenly her tent flap was jerked roughly aside and her captor, a stocky,
+heavy-set man with a mass of black hair, ordered her to her feet. Janet
+struggled to get up, but she was numb from being in one position so long.
+The man half cuffed her upright and then hurried her toward the autogiro.
+
+The motor of the queer looking plane responded instantly and they rose
+almost straight out of the valley, which Janet judged must be some
+distance from Sagebrush. As they gained altitude she looked across the
+desert. Although it was several miles away, it seemed almost a stone's
+throw to Sagebrush, hardly recognizable now with the flames still
+consuming the few structures left in the village. Janet saw that the set
+for the desert airport had been destroyed. But what was more important
+was the swarm of planes which were climbing off the desert floor.
+
+Like angry hornets they were buzzing around. Suddenly one of them shot
+toward the autogiro and the rest followed. Janet heard her own pilot
+shouting in anger, but the autogiro was slow and the movie planes were
+around it almost instantly.
+
+In the foremost was Curt Newsom and Janet felt her blood chill as she saw
+the rifle in Curt's hard hands.
+
+Under the warning muzzle of the gun, the autogiro settled toward the
+floor of the valley and in less than three minutes the other planes were
+down around it while cars raced toward them, clouds of desert dust rising
+in their wake.
+
+Bertie Jackson was in the first car and when she saw Janet her face
+blanched. Helen and her father were in the same machine.
+
+"Are you all right?" asked Helen anxiously, for Janet was white-faced and
+deep hollows of fatigue were under her eyes.
+
+"A little tired," confessed Janet. "What happened? Was this something in
+the plot I wasn't supposed to know about?"
+
+"Tell us where you've been and why?" said Henry Thorne, and Janet briefly
+related the events. She didn't like to do it, but there was nothing else
+she could do under the circumstances and her story implicated Bertie
+Jackson.
+
+"She's jealous, that's all," snapped Bertie. "The whole story is trumped
+up."
+
+Then Curt Newsom took a hand.
+
+"Let's look at this thing squarely. How much were you and these two
+flyers paid to slow up production on 'Kings of the Air'?" He shot the
+question at Bertie.
+
+"You're impertinent," she blazed.
+
+"Sure, but you're likely to go to prison. Setting fire to buildings is
+arson, you know." There was no humor in his words and Bertie looked from
+one to another in the group around her. Each stared at her with scornful
+eyes.
+
+Defiant to the end, she flung her head back, "Well, what of it?" she
+demanded.
+
+"Only this. You'll never work in another picture for anybody." It was
+Henry Thorne speaking, quietly and firmly, and Bertie turned away.
+
+The two flyers, the one who had abducted Janet and the one who had bombed
+the set, talked. Janet didn't hear the whole story, but she and Helen
+learned enough to know that another rival company was implicated. It was
+Bertie who had set fire to the dry old houses in Sagebrush and who had
+supplied the flyers with information on the plans of the company.
+
+When they finally returned to what little was left of the village, Henry
+Thorne spoke quietly to the girls.
+
+"Don't worry now," he assured Helen. "There'll be no more delays. We can
+erect another set on the desert without too much loss of time and we'll
+have to live in tents, but that is endurable."
+
+Turning to Janet, he surprised her.
+
+"Janet, I'm going to put you in Bertie's rôle. We'll shoot the scene in
+the field restaurant over again when we get back to Hollywood, but I need
+someone right now to step into Bertie's place and you can handle the
+part. What do you say?"
+
+"I'll do my best," promised Janet.
+
+"I know you will." Then Henry Thorne hurried away to attend to one of the
+hundred details that are the worry of a successful director and Janet and
+Helen faced each other.
+
+"It looks like 'Kings of the Air' is going on to a successful conclusion
+now," said Janet. "I'm so happy."
+
+"And I'm happy that you are getting Bertie's part. Do you suppose we're
+going to be able to keep on in the movies?"
+
+"That," smiled Janet, "is something I couldn't even guess. If we don't
+we'll go home this fall with the memories of the most thrilling summer
+any two girls could have had."
+
+They turned to rejoin the rest of the company, unaware of the further
+adventures in Hollywood and in New York which were to befall them before
+winter came.
+
+
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+--Obvious typographical errors were corrected except for a
+  few amusing ones.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42069 ***