THE BOBBSEYS ACT
"Well, I guess the battle is over now," said Bert, after a while. The
cannon had stopped firing, and the "soldiers" no longer "shot" at each
other with their rifles.
"See, the men on horses have captured the other men," spoke Harry. And
he pointed to where the cavalry had surrounded a number of the foot
soldiers, or infantry, as they are called, and were driving them over
the fields toward some log cabins.
"They must have built those log houses on purposes for the moving
picture play," said Uncle Daniel. "For they weren't here the other
day, when I was over in this valley."
"Very likely they did," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. "It takes a great deal of
work to make a moving picture play now-a-days, and often a company
will build a whole house, only to set fire to it, or tear it down to
make a good picture."
"If they set a house on fire," broke in Freddie, "I could put it out
with my fire engine, and I'd be in the movies then."
"Oh, you and your fire engine!" laughed Bert, ruffling up his little
brother's hair. "You think you can do anything with it."
"Well, I stopped the turkey gobbler from eating up Snoop," Freddie
cried. "Didn't I?"
"So you did!" exclaimed Harry. "You and your fire engine are all
right, Freddie."
The soldiers who had fallen off their horses, or who had toppled over
in the grass, to pretend that they were shot in battle, now got
up--"coming to life," Bert called it.
The battle scene was over, but the men were not yet done using the
cameras, for they took them farther down the valley toward the log
cabins. The soldiers were now grouped around these buildings, and Bert
and Harry could see several ladies, in brightly colored dresses,
mingled with the soldiers in uniform.
"I wonder what they are doing now?" asked Bert.
"Oh, taking a more peaceful scene for the movies," answered his
father. "They have had enough of war, I guess."
"That would suit Flossie," remarked Uncle Daniel with a laugh.
The valley was now quiet, but over it hung a cloud of smoke from the
cannon. The wind was, however, blowing the smoke away.
"Can we go up to the log cabins and watch them make more pictures,
father?" asked Bert.
"Well, yes, I guess so; if you don't get in the way of the cameras. Do
you want to come?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of Uncle Daniel. "You don't often
get a chance to see moving pictures out here, I guess. Better come."
"No, not now, thank you," was the answer, "I must get back and look
after my tomatoes. They need to be picked. But you can go on with the
boys."
So Mr. Bobbsey took Bert and Harry up to where other moving pictures
were being made. The boys did not understand all that was being done,
but they watched eagerly just the same.
They saw men and soldiers talking to the ladies, who were members of
the moving picture company. Then they saw soldiers, who pretended to
have been hurt in the sham-battle, being put on cots, and bandaged up.
"This is a make-believe hospital," Mr. Bobbsey explained to the boys.
"They want it to look as natural as possible, you see."
The boys watched while "doctors" went among the "wounded," giving them
"medicine," all make-believe, of course. Then one of the ladies,
dressed as a nurse, came through the rows of cots which were placed in
the open air, under some trees.
"How do you like it?" asked one of the moving picture men of Mr.
Bobbsey, coming over to where Bert's father was standing. The man had
been turning the crank of one of the cameras, but, just then, he had
nothing to do.
"It is very interesting," said Mr. Bobbsey. "We heard your firing and
came over to look on. Are you going to be here long?"
"Only a few days. But there will be no more battle pictures. They cost
too much money to make. The rest of the scenes will be more peaceful."
"That would suit my little girl," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a laugh. "She
didn't like the cannon and guns."
"Oh, have you a little girl?" asked the moving picture man, who seemed
to be one of those in charge of the actors and actresses.
"Yes, I have a little girl," Mr. Bobbsey replied.
"And these two boys?" asked the camera man.
"No, only one of the boys is mine," and Bert's father nodded at his
son. "The other is my nephew."
"Do you live around here?" the man went on. "Excuse my asking you so
many questions," he continued. "My name is Weston, and I have charge
of making these moving pictures. We need some children to take small
parts in one of the scenes, and, as we have no little ones in our
company, I was wondering whether we could not get some country boys
and girls to pose for us, or, rather, act for us, for we want them to
move, not to just stand still. And I thought if you lived around
here," he said to Mr. Bobbsey, "you might know where we could borrow a
dozen children for an hour or so."
"I don't live here," Mr. Bobbsey replied, "but I am staying on my
brother's farm. What sort of acting do you want the children to do for
the moving pictures?"
"Oh, something very simple. You see, one of the ladies in our company
is supposed to be a school teacher before the war breaks out. We have
taken the war scenes already--that sham battle you looked at was all
we need of that.
"The school teacher goes to the front as a nurse, but before she goes,
we want a scene showing her in front of the school surrounded by her
pupils."
"I see," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"Now we have the schoolhouse," said Mr. Weston, "or, rather, there is
an old schoolhouse down the road that will do very nicely to
photograph. We have permission to use it, as this is vacation time. We
also have the lady who will act as the teacher, and, later as the Red
Cross nurse. But we need children to act as school pupils.
"I thought perhaps you might know of some children who would like to
act for the movies," the man went on. "It will take only a little
time, and it will not be at all unpleasant. They will just have to act
naturally, as any school children would do."
"Well, I have four children of my own," said Mr. Bobbsey, as he
thought of his two sets of twins, "and my brother has a boy. There are
also several children in the village. Perhaps it could be arranged to
have their pictures taken."
"I hope it can!" exclaimed Mr. Weston. "I'll talk to you about it in a
few minutes. I must go see about this hospital scene now."
He hurried away, while Bert and Harry looked at one another.
"Do you want to be in the movies?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
"I don't mind," spoke Harry, smiling.
"Neither do I," added Bert. "Freddie would like it, too, but Flossie
wouldn't come if they shot any guns."
"They wouldn't shoot guns where children were," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"I'll see what your mother, and Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah say."
Later that day the moving picture man explained just what was wanted,
and as Mrs.
Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah had no objections, it was decided to let the
Bobbsey twins, as well as Harry, take part in the moving pictures. Tom
Mason, Mabel Herold and some others of the country village were also
to be in the scene.
It was taken, or "filmed," as the moving picture people say, the next
morning. Down to the old schoolhouse, on the country road, went the
children, laughing and talking, a little bit shy, some of them.
But the actress who was to pretend to be a school teacher was so nice
that she soon made the little children feel at ease. Flossie and
Freddie loved her from the first, and each insisted upon walking along
with her, hand in hand.
"That will make a pretty picture," said the moving picture man. "Just
walk along the road, Miss Burns," he said to the actress, "with
Flossie on one side, and Freddie on the other. I'll take your pictures
as if you were going to school."
This was done. Flossie and Freddie soon forgot that they were really
"acting" for the movies, and were as natural as could be wished.
"I--I've got a fire engine!" said Freddie, as he trudged along with
the actress-teacher.
"Have you, indeed?" she asked pleasantly. "Don't look at the camera,"
she cautioned Flossie. "Just pretend it isn't there."
"And I've got a doll!" Flossie said, not to let Freddie get the best
of her.
"And my fire engine pumps real water," Freddie went on, "and I
squirted it on our cat and on the old turkey gobbler."
"Oh, but why did you do that?" asked the actress. "Wasn't that
unkind?"
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Freddie, his eyes big and round. "The gobbler was
pinching our cat's tail, and Snoop was scratching the turkey. I had to
squirt water on them to make them stop."
"Oh, I see!" exclaimed Miss Burns with a jolly laugh.
"Well, anyhow, my doll can open and shut her eyes," said Flossie. "So
I don't care!"
"That's enough of that scene," said Mr. Weston. "Now all you children
crowd up around the school steps, as if you were going in after the
last bell had rung. Pretend you are going into school."
The village children were a little bashful at first, but Bert, Nan and
Harry, taking the lead, showed them what to do, and after one trial
everything went off well.
The children grouped themselves about the actress-teacher, who clasped
her arms about the shoulders of as many as she could reach. It made a
pretty scene in front of the old school-house, with the green trees
for a background. The use of the school had been allowed the moving
picture company for the day.
"Now play about, as if it were recess," directed Mr. Weston, after the
first scene had been taken. "Be as natural as you can. And you grown
folks please keep back out of the way," he asked, for Mrs. Bobbsey and
a number of the fathers and mothers had come to see their children
pose for the moving picture camera.
By this time the children had lost their bashfulness, and were acting
as naturally as though they really were at school. They played tag and
other simple games, while the camera clicked their images on the
celluloid film. Miss Burns, as the teacher, took part in some of the
girls' games.
"Now I want a larger boy and girl to walk down the road together, the
boy carrying the girl's books," said Mr. Weston. "You'll do," he went
on to Nan, "and you," to Harry. Soon the two cousins were strolling
along, having their pictures taken.
"I want to go with Nan!" cried Freddie "I want my picture taken some
more."
"Not now, dear," said Miss Burns, who was not in the scene with Nan
and Harry. "Wait a little."
"No, I want to go with Nan now," insisted Freddie, and he broke from
the hand of the actress and rushed after his sister.
"Oh, he'll spoil the picture!" cried Bert, solicitously. "Come back,
Freddie; that's a good boy!"
But Freddie did not intend to come back.
"Nan, Nan! Wait for me!" begged Freddie.
Nan did not know what to do. She had been told to walk down the road,
pretending to talk to Harry, and to take half an apple which he would
hand her, in view of the camera.
"That's all right--let the little fellow get into the picture,"
directed Mr. Weston. "It will make it all the prettier."
So Freddie had his wish, to walk beside his sister. But he had not
gone far before he saw, on the edge of a little brook, a bright red
flower.
"I'm going to get it!" he cried. "I can hold it in my hand. It will
look nice in the picture."
"No, no!" cried Nan. "Stay with me, Freddie."
"Going to get the flower!" he shouted, as he ran on ahead.
And, just as he reached the edge of the brook, his foot slipped, and
down he went with a great splash, into the water.
"Oh, Freddie's fallen in! Freddie's fallen in!" cried Nan, rushing
forward.
"I'll pull him out!" cried the man grinding away at the crank of the
camera.
"No, you stay there and get the moving picture," said Mr. Watson. "It
will make a funny scene, and Freddie is in no danger. The water isn't
deep! I'll get him out!"
"That's the second time Freddie's fallen in," said Bert, as he ran
toward the brook.
"Help me out! Help me out!" sobbed Freddie, splashing about in the
water.