OFF FOR THE WEST
Ruth and Alice, taking their places in what might be termed the
"regular" auto, were told just what to do. They were supposed to be
escaping from their pursuers, who were in another auto that was to come
up from the rear.
Then their chauffeur, in an endeavor to make speed, would go too fast,
would not be able to make the turn in the road, and would go over the
cliff. But, at the proper time, the dummies and the old auto would be
substituted.
"All ready now?" asked Mr. Pertell, when he had carefully repeated his
instructions to the girls.
"All ready," answered Alice, and Ruth nodded, though a bit doubtfully.
She was really nervous, although she tried not to show it too plainly.
"All ready here," answered Russ, who was beside the camera.
"Then go!" cried the manager, and the auto started.
In order to give the idea of a long chase Russ had to set up his camera
in several different places. He changed from one stretch of road to
another, the auto being brought to a stop, to wait until he was ready,
and then started up again.
But the public saw none of this when the film was exhibited, for only
motion was shown, the various sections of the celluloid being joined
together in such a way as to preserve the continuity.
"Now ready for the big scene," called Mr. Pertell, after one of these
stops. "It's going very well."
Ruth and Alice who, with Paul, were in the regular auto, had shown or
"registered" all sorts of emotions during the chase. Sometimes the
pursuing auto would be almost up to the one in front, and again it would
lag far behind, in order to conform to the requirements of the script,
or the story of the film play.
"You will run your car up to here," said Mr. Pertell to the chauffeur of
the machine containing Ruth, Alice and Paul. "Then you will stop, and
the substitution will be made. Come on with as much speed as is safe,
right to this mark," and he indicated a stone in the highway.
"And be sure you _do_ stop!" exclaimed Paul, with a short laugh. "That's
rather too near the edge of the cliff to suit me."
"I know it is," agreed Mr. Pertell, "It has to be. I only want a few
feet of the film showing the actual smash. If it runs too long the
public may see the dummies too plainly. I want this as real an accident
as it's possible to have it."
"It seems like tempting Providence," murmured Ruth.
"Don't get 'Sneedified'," was the retort of Alice.
Russ had set up his camera to get views of the auto coming down the
steep slope, and now, at his signal that all was in readiness, the
chauffeur of the car started it again.
"Business! Business!" called Mr. Pertell to the moving picture girls and
Paul, meaning that they were to use the proper gestures, and register
the desired emotions to coincide with the play.
On rushed the auto, straight toward the dangerous turn in the road.
Paul, who had risen to his feet, was talking vigorously to Ruth and
Alice, as called for in the scenario. Now and then he would look back,
as though to see if the other car was coming.
Suddenly, as the auto was dashing down hill, there came a snap as if
some metal part had broken, and the car's speed was quickly increased.
"What is it? Oh, what has happened?" cried Ruth, springing to her feet.
But she was at once tossed back on the seat, owing to the swaying of the
car, which was going very fast.
"Something's broken!" cried Paul.
"Yes, the foot brake. But I have the emergency one still!" the chauffeur
yelled.
"Is there any danger? Shall we jump?" demanded Alice.
"No! Sit still!" the chauffeur cried. "I'll stop her in time, I think."
It was evident the car was beyond control. There was no need of
pretending this.
"Look out!" warned Russ, who in his excitement did not forget to work
the camera.
"Stop! Stop!" yelled Mr. Pertell. "You're going too far--you'll go over
the cliff!"
The chauffeur realized this as well as any one, and he was pulling with
all his strength on the emergency brake lever.
"I've got to stop her!" he panted through his clenched teeth. "I've got
to stop her!"
Ruth and Alice were in a frenzy of fear now, and Paul, standing up in
the swaying auto, and holding to the back of the front seat, was trying
desperately to think of some plan whereby he could save the girls.
The car was now at the turn. Now it was beyond the marking stone
specified by Mr. Pertell.
"They'll go over the cliff!" shouted Mr. Sneed, who was to take part in
the play later.
Mr. Pertell rushed forward as though he would halt the auto by getting
in front and pushing it back, and for one wild moment it looked as
though there would be a veritable tragedy. But with a last desperate
pull on the brake lever, while the metal bands shrilly protested against
such strenuous work, the car came to a slow stop.
And so near was it to the fence railing off the descent over the
cliff--which fence was, later, to be crashed into by the make-believe
auto--so near was the girls' car to this fence that the front wheels
bent one of the rails.
"A close call!" said Russ, and his voice was unsteady as he stepped away
from the camera.
Ruth and Alice were pale, and Paul, too, had lost some of his color. But
it was Alice who first relieved the strain of the situation.
"A miss is as good as a mile," she said, and tried to laugh, but it was
not easy.
"There must be some defect in that brake connection," the chauffeur
said, as he got out to look at it.
"Well, as long as we're all right, the film will be so much the better,"
observed Paul, as he alighted from the car. "It will look realistic
enough; won't it, Russ?"
"Indeed it will. I thought sure you were goners; but I kept on grinding
away. It will be realistic enough for even Mr. Pertell, I think," and he
glanced at the manager.
"I'm awfully sorry this occurred," declared the latter. "I assure you
ladies that I never would willingly have let you run such a risk."
"Oh, we know that," responded Ruth, quickly. "It was no one's fault.
Only I'm glad daddy wasn't here to see us," she added in a low voice to
her sister.
"So am I!" was the reply.
"Now then, you had better get back to New York," went on Mr. Pertell.
"This ends the scenes in Jersey, and your nerves must be pretty well
shattered," he said, looking at the two girls.
"Oh, I want to stay and watch the other auto go to smash," Alice cried.
"That will be something worth seeing, especially as no one will be hurt,
except the dummies."
"I'll stay, too," said Ruth. "It will be novel to see ourselves as
stuffed figures."
Preparations were now made for having the second auto plunge over the
cliff. This car was set in the exact position the other had occupied
when brought to a stop. The dummy figures were put in, veils effectually
concealing the faces. Then the motor was started.
Meanwhile Russ had taken his camera to the foot of the cliff where he
could get a view of the car plunging over, and smashing.
"All ready!" came the signal. By means of long wires, which would not
show in the finished picture, the gears were thrown in, and the brakes
released.
"There she goes!" cried Russ.
The car containing the dummies started off at a fast rate. It crashed
through the fence, just as the other car might have done, and the next
instant was hurtling through the air.
It turned partly over, one of the dummy figures--that of Ruth--toppled
out--and a moment later, with a crash that could be heard a long
distance, the auto was crumpled into a shapeless mass at the foot of the
cliff.
Russ got every detail of this, and when the wrecked auto caught fire
from the burst gasoline tank it added to the effectiveness of the scene,
though that feature had not been counted on.
Then several men came rushing up. They had been stationed in readiness
for just that purpose, and they picked up the figures of the dummies.
That ended the scene, for the next act took place in a hospital, whither
Ruth, Alice and Paul were supposed to be carried. That would be a studio
scene, and filmed later.
"Well, that's over," said Mr. Pertell, with a sigh of relief, as he and
his company of players prepared to return to New York. A throng of
curious bystanders, attracted by the actors and actresses, gathered
about the burning auto at the foot of the cliff. As it was of no further
service it was left there.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen," announced Mr. Pertell to his assembled
company a few days after the auto film had been made, "I am ready now to
tell you something of my plans for the Western trip. Arrangements have
been about completed, and we leave in a few days."
"Where are we going?" asked Mr. DeVere.
"Our first destination will be a place called Rocky Ranch," the manager
went on. "It is a typical Western place, with some broad prairie
stretches, and yet near enough to the mountains for diversified scenes.
There will be cowboy and Indian pictures to be made, and----"
"_Wild_ Indians?" Mr. Sneed wanted to know.
"Not wild enough to scalp you," returned the manager.
"And can I have a gun?" little Tommy cried.
"Indeed and you won't!" said his grandmother, quickly.
"Well, you can be cowboy and have a lasso," promised the manager.
"Oh, goodie!" Tommy exclaimed, dancing about in delight.
"In this play," went on Mr. Pertell, "I want to get scenes showing our
progress West, so we will be rather longer on the trip than otherwise.
We will wait over on some trains, to make views in particularly good
spots. So you may get ready for the journey. Our Eastern scenes are all
made, and I want to thank and congratulate you all on their success. It
was the good acting of all of you that made the films what they are."
Preparations for the big trip went on apace. Properties and baggage were
gotten in readiness, and Ruth and Alice spent days going over their
clothes, to decide what to take and what to leave behind.
"Though if I'm to be a cowgirl, and ride ponies, I don't suppose I'll
want this," said Alice, holding up a filmy white dress.
"Better take it," advised Ruth, who was seated tailor-fashion before a
trunk, which she was packing.
"It crushes too easily," objected the other.
"Fold it around some heavier things," suggested Ruth, "and don't put it
in the trunk until the last thing. Oh, I believe I've put my suede
slippers in the bottom, and I'll want them to-night. Well, I'll have to
dig 'em out, I guess," she sighed.
"No, there they are!" cried Alice, fishing them out from under a pile of
stockings. "What have you in them?" she asked her sister, as she saw the
slippers were filled with something.
"I always stuff the toes with old stockings," said Ruth. "It keeps them
out almost as well as if I used shoe-trees."
"Good idea," laughed her sister.
The packing was over, the trunks were at the station and also was
gathered there the moving picture company.
"Ho, for the West!" cried Russ, who was standing with Paul, Ruth and
Alice.
"All aboard!" called Mr. Pertell. And, as they moved off toward the
train Russ, turning, saw a man staring after the players.
"Look!" said the young operator, in a low voice to Mr. Pertell, "that
International Film Company spy--Wilson--is keeping tabs on us!"