IMITATION AND REALITY
Perhaps it was almost mechanically that Alec pressed the bulb of his
camera at just the very second when that wall was toppling over. He
had a faint recollection afterwards of doing so, though only filled
with horror at the moment itself.
There was a sudden cessation to all the clamor as the accident happened.
Indeed, the three quick reports from the director's revolver hardly
seemed needed to bring a halt to the proceedings. As the door was
about burst in, anyway, and some of the men could not longer be restrained
from clambering over the top of the walls, it would answer just as
well as though things had proceeded in their regular routine.
Immediately afterwards a new kind of noise burst forth. Women shrieked,
and men shouted. There were also cries of pain intermingled with
the rest, Hugh noticed.
Before the scout master could even give an order he missed one of his
companions. Of course, this was Arthur Cameron. The sight of that
mass of rock toppling over upon several of the motion-picture actors,
and carrying others down amidst a perfect jumble of heaped up stones,
acted on Arthur as a red flag does upon the angry bull in the ring.
Nothing could have kept him back, for his ears would have been deaf
even to an order from the leader, whom he delighted to obey. Arthur's
surgical instincts were aroused, and he saw the path of duty before
him. And Arthur never shirked his duty.
Hugh waited not upon the order of his going, but immediately chased
after the other. Monkey Stallings was not far behind him, with Billy
tagging along of necessity. As for Alec, he only waited to gather
up his beloved camera, even neglecting to turn the last exposure down
as a completed roll.
In fact everyone seemed to be trying to converge upon the spot where
the wall had collapsed. The manager was pushing his way through the
crowd, waving his megaphone, and looking somewhat alarmed, for he
felt dismayed at the idea of having so many of his supers being injured
more or less seriously. It would mean not only pain and suffering
for the poor fellows but a pretty heavy bill of damages to pay by the
company.
And yet, such is the force of education which becomes second nature
with men, that even in the midst of all this confusion the manager
could think to bawl out to the operator not to neglect to get all this
in his reel, as it was going to show what actual perils the actors
ran in making their pictures.
Another queer thing happened that must be set down. Hugh actually
forgot he was only a boy, and had been given no authority over these
men. He saw that the first to arrive on the scene acted as though
ignorant of the best way to go about rescuing the poor chaps who were
partly buried under all that wreckage of the fallen wall.
So what did he do but begin to order them about as though they were
slaves. He told a couple of them off to lift a heavy stone from the
lower limbs of a man who seemed to be unconscious, and then there
came Arthur actually directing them how to raise the wounded super
and carry him to where he could be laid under the nearest tree.
Stranger still the men did just as they were bidden. In moments like
this the stronger mind dominates the situation, regardless of age or
stature. Those supers were in the habit of taking orders, and never
stopped to question when told to follow out a line of work, especially
when the command came in a tone of authority.
That was the remarkable picture that met the eye of the stage manager
when he presently reached the scene. Hugh seemed to be telling the
others what to do as if all his life he had been accustomed to the
position of chief. No wonder the experienced manager stared at the
boy who wore the faded suit of khaki, and even allowed a faint smile
to wreathe his lips; for did he not have a beloved lad like that at
home, and in his heart he felt that perhaps some day, in a time of
desperate necessity, his son might likewise rise to an occasion as
this young chap was doing.
There was no lack of eager workers, and they seemed to fall in with
whatever Hugh told them to do. He pointed this way and that as he
directed them to dig in the mass of debris for any unfortunate who
might be buried quite out of sight. And not once did it enter into
the head of the earnest lad that the machine close by was clicking
away merrily through it all, showing everything that was being done
in the shadow of a real tragedy. Here was realism for fair!
Already three poor chaps had been either carried off or assisted.
There were two of them grunting as though quite badly injured. Arthur,
now joined by the regular doctor who accompanied the troupe of actors
on their many lengthy trips, was busily engaged, endeavoring to ascertain
the extent of the damages. A dozen of the awed actors and actresses
surrounded the impromptu field hospital, and upon every face could
be seen only the deepest sympathy.
Still, after the worst was known and the last of the injured taken
care of, no doubt the task of completing the picture would go on,
just as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. These roving
players become so accustomed to accepting risks in the pursuit of
their calling that a little thing like this cannot be allowed to
interfere with the main object of their business for any great
length of time.
Other supers would be called upon to take the places of those injured,
if there was any necessity for reenforcements, and the work of completing
the drama would proceed apace.
By degrees the mass of fallen material was pulled aside, many hands
making light work. Half a dozen of the agile players had managed to
save themselves, receiving only slight skin abrasions which would
hardly keep them from earning their salaries.
There were just four who had been carried or helped to the "hospital"
under the tree near by in the grounds of the castle. It was when
the pleasing fact had been communicated by one of the workers that
the last victim of the accident was found, with no fatalities to account
for, that the stage manager came up to Hugh with outstretched hand.
He had his megaphone slung over his back as a sportsman might his
fowling-piece. With that everlasting red bandanna he was mopping his
forehead again, and this time it may have been as much anxiety as
action that started the perspiration streaming down his rosy face.
"I want to thank you from my heart, son," he told the pleased scout
master, as he gripped his hand in a warm clutch. "You have proved
yourself a jewel in this emergency. If this is one of the things
scouts learn, I'm glad my boy has taken up the subject. I'm proud
of you all. I don't see, how we could have done things half as well
if you hadn't been on the ground to assist, yes, to take the lead.
Once more, I thank you!"
He glanced to where Arthur, with his coat thrown off, was working
over one of the victims of the near-tragedy. The sight seemed to
affect the stage manager, for he nodded his head violently, and Hugh
believed he could see a moisture in his eyes just then.
"I had another boy some years back, I want to tell you," he said,
softly. "He was drowned while swimming in the river. His companions
succeeded in getting Tad out, but they were utterly ignorant as to
how to go to work to restore him to consciousness---and so my boy
died. I believe before Heaven that if they had been raised in the
knowledge of the things you Boy Scouts learn in these days, my poor
wife and I need not have suffered such a cruel loss. When I learned
something about the education of a scout, I made up my mind that since
I had still one son left to me there would never be a repetition of
that calamity. He is now a patrol leader in his troop in Brooklyn,
and can swim like a duck. Come, let's go over and see what the worst
is going to be."
Hugh gladly accompanied the genial stage manager. His heart burned
within him, not with silly pride, but sincere gratification, on account
of what he had just heard. The boy's mind was so wrapped up in the
glorious possibilities that an aspiring scout ever has at his finger-tips
that commendation like this always pleased him. It was Hugh's ambition
to have the Oakvale Troop embrace every lad of suitable age in and
around his home town. He would not have a single one refused an
opportunity to enjoy those privileges and advantages which membership
with the scouts assures.
So they joined the circle around the temporary "hospital." The doctor
had not allowed the anxious crowd to press in too closely, for he
understood the value of plenty of fresh air and working room when
engaged in cases of this kind. Besides, most of the picture players
knew from former experiences what they must do, and were only eager to
be of any possible help.
Even the women, clad in their strange gowns of a bygone age, and wearing
astonishing head-dresses and shoes, showed remarkable courage. Their
nerves had been steeled by long association with perils of various
types, so that they manifested none of the weaknesses people expect
to find in connection with the gentler sex. One of the leading actresses
was assisting in washing quite an ugly wound that a poor fellow had
received in his arm. He seemed to be bearing his suffering like a
hero, and acted as though he rather enjoyed having one of the heroines
play the part of nurse to a humble understrapper.
Hugh allowed his eyes to fall with pardonable pride upon his chum,
Arthur, for he saw that, as usual, the ambitious amateur surgeon was
doing fine work, of which no one need be ashamed.
And all of this remarkable happening was being faithfully recorded
upon the rapidly shifting thousand feet of film in the hopper of the
machine, to later on astonish gaping crowds with a faithful delineation
of the perils attending the ordinary life of a motion-picture player.