Part 20 (1/2)

All was soon in readiness for the burning-barn scene. Ruth and Alice received the wounded cousin (an inside scene this) and then, when an old colored mammie (Mrs. Maguire) came panting with the news that the Yankees were coming, the wounded Confederate was carried out to the barn. Then came the visit of the Yankees, who, suspecting the presence of the escaped prisoner, made diligent search, but without success.

”Fire the barn, anyhow!” cried the captain.

Then came the spirited scene where Ruth and Alice got their wounded relative out. He was a slim young man, and they could easily carry him, for he was supposed to be overcome by the smoke.

”Ready, Alice?” asked Ruth, as they went through the action called for in the script.

”Yes, ready. You take his head and I'll take his heels. Don't be too stiff,” Alice admonished the young man. ”We can carry you better if you're limp.”

”I'll be limp enough if I swallow any more of that smoke,” choked the actor. ”It's fierce!”

Indeed, Pop Snooks had been very liberal in the matter of smoke bombs.

Great clouds of the black vapor swirled here and there, and Ruth and Alice had to get free breaths whenever they could.

”Come on!” yelled the director through his megaphone. ”Lively!”

Alice and Ruth, half carrying, half dragging, the wounded soldier, staggered out, Russ clicking away at the camera.

”Good! That's good! It's fine!” exclaimed the enthusiastic director.

Ruth was conscious that she was suddenly dragging more of the weight of the man's body than at first. But she thought one of Alice's hands had possibly slipped off, and she did not want to call a halt to get a better hold.

”My! But this is choking!” gasped Ruth.

Finally, she staggered out into the open, dragging the soldier by his shoulders. She slumped down on the ground, in a place free from smoke, and registered exhaustion.

”Where's Alice?” cried Paul, who was holding back in readiness for his appearance in the scene. ”Where's Alice?”

”Isn't she there?” gasped Ruth, rising on her elbow.

”No, she isn't. She must be----”

”Hold that pose, Ruth! Don't stir or you'll spoil the scene!” yelled the director. ”We'll get your sister!”

CHAPTER XV

THE HOSPITAL TENT

”The show must go on!” This is the motto of circus and theatrical performers the world over. No matter what happens, under what strain or pain the player labors, no matter what occurs short of death itself, the public must not be allowed to guess that anything is wrong. And sometimes even death itself has been no barrier--for players have gone through with their parts on the stage when, but the act previous, they have learned that some loved one had pa.s.sed away.

And more than one clown has bounded into the sawdust ring with merry quip and jest, with a smile on his painted face, while his heart was breaking with grief.

And so it was with Ruth DeVere. As she staggered out of the smoke clouds and saw that Alice had not followed, at once the dreadful thought came to her that her sister had been overcome by the fumes. And, although the smoke bombs were harmless as regards fire, the breathing of the chemical fumes for any length of time might mean death.

Thus, as Ruth was about to stagger to her feet to go back into the murky cloud to look for Alice, there came the director's orders to ”hold that pose!”

The show must go on! That meant it would not do to spoil the scene, ruin the film, and necessitate a retake if, by any possibility, it could be avoided.