The Moving Picture Girls Snowbound
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Laura Lee Hope >> The Moving Picture Girls Snowbound
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"All the better!" cried Russ, who was making the pictures. "That will
add to it. Keep going, Mr. Sneed!"
"If I go much farther I'll fall off!" cried the grouchy actor. "I can't
hold on much longer!"
"You've got to!" ordered Mr. Pertell. "I'm not going to have this
picture spoiled."
"Please don't fall off, whatever you do!" cried Ruth, who was back of
Mr. Sneed. "That would leave me to do the steering and I don't know the
first thing about it."
"Well, I'll do my best," he said, as graciously as he could. "Certainly
I don't want to make trouble for you, Miss DeVere."
"Thank you," she said, and then as she looked ahead and saw another bump
in the road, she cried:
"Look out! We're going to hit it."
Now Mr. Sneed was still suffering from the effects of the first bump,
and not wishing to repeat it he sought to avoid the second by steering
to one side. But in steering a long and heavy bobsled, well-laden with
coasters, there is one thing to be remembered. That is, it must not be
steered too suddenly to one side, for it has a propensity to "skid"
worse than an automobile.
This was what happened in the case of Mr. Sneed. He turned the steering
wheel suddenly, the bobsled slewed to one side, and, in another instant,
had upset.
"Oh, dear!"
"We'll be killed!"
These two expressions came respectively from Miss Pennington and Miss
Dixon. Some of the men cried out and a number of the girls screamed;
but, after all, no one was hurt, for the snow was soft and luckily the
bob rolled to one side, not hitting anyone.
The moment he realized that it was about to capsize Mr. Sneed let go of
the steering wheel, and gave a jump which carried him out of harm's way,
so the only mishap he suffered was a rather severe shaking up, and being
covered with snow. Considerable of the white stuff got in his mouth.
"Wuff!" he spluttered. "I--gurr--will
never--burr--steer--another--whew--sled!"
By this time he had cleared his mouth of snow, and repeated his
determination, without the interruptions and stutterings.
"Did you get that spill, Russ?" asked Mr. Pertell, who could not keep
from laughing.
"Every move of it; yes, sir!"
"Good. I think we can make use of it, though it wasn't in the scenario.
But we'll have to start over again. I want to get a good close finish."
"What's that you said?" asked Mr. Sneed, as he dusted the snow from his
clothes, and looked at the overturned bob.
"I said," repeated the manager, "that we'd have to do the coasting scene
over again, as I wanted to show a close finish of the two sleds at the
foot of the hill, and now we can't, for one is down there, and the other
is up here."
This was true enough, since Paul had steered his sled properly, and had
reached the foot of the slope, where he and the others waved to their
less fortunate competitors.
"Well, you can have the race over again if you like," said Mr. Sneed,
with decision, "but I am not going to steer. I knew something would
happen if I steered a bob."
"Well, you were right--for once," conceded Mr. Pertell, with a smile.
"And perhaps you are right not to want to steer again. It may not be
safe."
"I'll do it!" offered Mr. Switzer. "In der old country yet I haf steered
sleds bigger yet as dis von."
"All right, you may try," said Mr. Pertell. "Now then, is anyone hurt?"
"I am not, I'm glad to say," laughed Ruth, who was brushing the snow
from her garments. "But it was a narrow escape."
"Indeed it was!" snapped Miss Dixon. "It was all your fault, too, Mr.
Sneed!"
"My fault, how?"
"You steered to one side too quickly. Don't you try that, Mr. Switzer."
"Indeed und I vill not. You can trust me!"
"Get ready then," ordered Mr. Pertell. "Come on back!" he called to Paul
and his companions at the foot of the hill.
As the story in which the coasting race figured would have to be
changed to make the accident fit in, Mr. Pertell had Russ get all the
incidental scenes he could, showing the overturned bob being righted,
the coasters getting ready for the new race, and the other bob being
pulled up hill.
Once more the rival coasters prepared to start off, with Mr. Switzer
replacing Mr. Sneed. This time there was no upset, and the two sleds
went down close together.
Then something new developed. Mr. Switzer spoke truly when he said he
had been used to steering bobs in Germany. He knew just how to do it to
get the best results, and take advantage of every favorable spot on the
hill.
Paul, too, seeing that it was to be a real race, as well as one for the
benefit of the moving picture audiences, exerted himself to get the best
out of his sled. There is little a steersman on a bob can do except to
take advantage of the easiest course. And this Paul did.
On and on went the big bobs, nearing the foot of the hill.
"This is great!" cried Mr. Pertell.
"This will be some picture!" declared Russ, with enthusiasm. "Come on,
Paul, he's going to win!"
"Not if I know it!" avowed the young actor.
"Oh, don't let them get ahead of us!" cried Alice in Paul's ear.
"I'll do my best," he said, with a grim tightening of his lips.
But it was not to be. Either a little more skillful steering on the part
of Mr. Switzer, or a more favorable course enabled his sled to shoot
ahead, just at the finish, and he won the race.
And then a curious thing happened. The sled kept on going, and slid into
a little clump of bushes, from which, a moment later, a man with a gun
sprang.
This man seemed as surprised at being thus driven from his shelter as
were the coasters at seeing him.
"Ha! Vot does dis mean?" demanded Mr. Switzer. "Vos you vaiting for us
mit dot gun?"
Really the man did look a little menacing as he stood there with poised
weapon, looking at the coasters.
"I beg your pardon," he managed to stammer, at length. "I did not see
you coming."
"I guess it's our part to beg your pardon," said Mr. Sneed, who, though
he did not steer the bob, had been obliged to ride on it. "We did not
mean to run into you."
"No harm done; none at all," the man said. "I was hiding here, waiting
for a chance to shoot at a fox that has a particularly fine pelt, but I
guess I may as well give up. I heard the shouts of you folks, but I had
no idea you would coast away down here."
"I didn't haf no idea like dot myself," confessed Mr. Switzer. "But if
dere iss no hart feelings ve vill let comeons be bygones."
"That suits me," laughed the stranger, as he turned aside.
And, as he went away Ruth had a queer feeling that she had seen him
before and under odd circumstances.
The coasting incident was over, the race had been successfully filmed,
and the coasters were turning back up the hill, while Russ was
demounting his camera, for there would be no more scenes taken at
present.
"Did you notice that man, Alice?" asked Ruth, as she went up the hill
beside her sister.
"You mean the hunter who looked as though he wanted to shoot some of
us?"
"Oh, what a way to talk! But that's the one I had reference to. Did you
notice him particularly?"
"Not very. Why?"
"Do you think you ever saw him before?"
Ruth put the question in such a peculiar way that Alice looked at her
sharply.
"You don't mean he was one of the men who tried to get Russ's patent; do
you?"
"No. I can't, for the life of me, though, think where I have seen that
man before, but I'm sure I have. I thought you might remember."
Alice tried to recall the face, but could not.
"I don't believe I ever saw him before," she said, shaking her head. "He
might be one of the many actors we have met on our travels, or in going
around with daddy."
"No, I'm sure he never was an actor," spoke Ruth. "Never mind, perhaps
it will come to me later."
And all the remainder of the day she tried in vain to recall where she
had seen that face before.
Mr. Macksey seemed a trifle disturbed when told of the man being on the
hill with a gun.
"One of those pesky hunters!" he exclaimed. "I've got notices posted all
over the property of Elk Lodge, but they don't seem to do any good. I
guess I'll have to get after those fellows and give 'em a piece of my
mind. I'd like to find out where they are stopping."
The next few days were busy ones for the picture actors, and a number
of dramas were filmed. In one, two snow forts were built, and the
company indulged in a snowball battle before the camera.
"And now for something new," said Mr. Pertell one day, as he called the
company together in the big living room of the lodge, and pointed to
something piled in one corner. "You'll have to have a few days'
practice, I think, so I give you fair notice."
"More coasting?" asked Mr. Sneed, suspiciously.
"No--snowshoes, this time," replied the manager. "I am going to have you
all travel on them in one scene, and as they are rather awkward you had
better take a few lessons."
"Lessons on snowshoes!" cried Ruth. "Who can give them to us?"
"I have a teacher," said the manager. "Russ, tell Billy Jack to come
in," and there entered from the porch a tall Indian, dressed in modern
garb.
Miss Pennington screamed, as did Miss Dixon, but the Indian smiled,
showing some very fine and white teeth, and said in a gentle voice:
"Don't be alarmed, ladies, I have no scalping knife with me, and I
assure you that you will soon be able to get about on snowshoes."
CHAPTER XV
A TIMELY SHOT
Surprise, for the moment, made every member of the moving picture
company silent. That an Indian should speak so correctly was a matter of
amazement. Mr. Pertell smiled quizzically as he remarked.
"Billy Jack is one of the last of his tribe. He is a full-blooded
Indian, but he has been to Carlisle, which may account for some things."
"I should say it would," murmured Paul Ardite. "I'm glad I didn't give a
war whoop!"
"I learned to use snowshoes when I was a boy," went on the Indian, who,
though roughly dressed was cultured. "I have kept it up ever since," he
went on. "I have charge of a gang of men getting out some lumber, not
far from here, and when Mr. Macksey told me there was a company of
moving picture actors and actresses at Elk Lodge I spoke of the
snowshoes."
"And when Mr. Macksey told me of it," put in the manager, "I saw at
once that we could use a scene with some of you folks on the shoes. So I
arranged with Billy Jack."
"Is that your real name?" asked Alice, who had taken a sudden liking to
the rugged son of the forest.
"That's one of my real names, strange as it sounds," he answered. "I
don't much fancy it; but what am I to do?"
"I like it!" the girl announced, promptly. "It's better than being
Running Bear or something like that."
"I had one of those names--in fact, I have it yet," he said, "but I
never use it. Flaming Arrow is my real Indian name."
"Flaming Arrow! How romantic!" exclaimed Miss Dixon. "How did you come
to get that?"
"Oh, when I was a boy an Indian from a neighboring tribe shot an arrow,
with some burning tow on it, over into our camp, just in a spirit of
mischief, for we were friendly. I snatched the arrow out of a pile of
dry bark that it might have set on fire, and so I got my name. I am a
Western Indian," Billy Jack explained, "but of late I have made my home
in New England. Now, if you like, I will show you how to use
snowshoes."
A number of the queer "tennis racquets," as Alice called them, had been
obtained through the good offices of Billy Jack, he having arranged for
them in the lumber camp. Snowshoes, as you all know, consist of a thin
strip of wood, bent around in a curve, and shaped not unlike a lawn
tennis racquet, except that the handle or heel part is shorter. The
shoes are laced with thongs, and the feet are placed in the centre of
the criss-crossed thongs, and held there by other thongs or straps.
The idea of snowshoes is to enable travelers to make their way over deep
drifts without sinking, the shoes distributing the weight over a larger
area. They are not easy to use, and the novice is very apt to trip by
putting one shoe down on top of the other, and then trying to step out.
Billy Jack, or Flaming Arrow, as Ruth and Alice voted to call him, first
showed the members of the company how to fasten the snowshoes on their
feet, allowing for the play of the heel. He put a pair on himself,
first, and stepped out over a stretch of unbroken snow. Instead of
sinking down, as he would have done under ordinary circumstances, he
slipped over the surface as lightly as a feather.
"Now, you try," he told Mr. Sneed, who was near him.
"Who, me? Oh, I can't walk on these things," protested the grouchy
actor.
"Try!" ordered Mr. Pertell. "I have a very important part for you in the
new play."
"All right, if you say so, I suppose I must. But I know something will
happen," he sighed.
It did, and within a few seconds after Mr. Sneed started out. He took
three steps, and then, forgetting that the snowshoes were rather large,
he tried to walk as though he did not have them on. The result was he
tripped, and came down head first in a deep drift, and there he
remained, buried to his shoulders while his feet were up in the air,
wildly kicking about.
He was probably saying things, but they could not be heard, for his head
was under the snow.
"Somebody help him out!" cried Mr. Pertell, trying to keep from laughing
too hard.
In fact everyone was so amused that, for the moment, no one rendered any
aid to Mr. Sneed. But Flaming Arrow finally went over to him, and
succeeded in righting him.
"Take--take 'em off!" spluttered the actor, when he could speak. "I am
through with snowshoes."
He tried to unlace the thongs that bound his feet, but could not manage
it.
"Better try once more," advised Mr. Pertell. "I really need you in the
scene, Mr. Sneed, and you will soon learn to get along on the
snowshoes."
"I never will!" cried the grouch. "Take 'em off, I say!"
But no one would, and finally, after Flaming Arrow had given a few more
demonstrations, Mr. Sneed consented to try again. This time he did a
little better, but every once in a while he would trip. He did not again
dive into a snow bank, however.
Other members of the company had haps and mishaps, and Mr. Bunn stumbled
about so that he lost his new tall hat in a drift, and he refused to go
on with the act until the silk tile was dug out.
But finally after two day's practice, the Indian declared that the
company was sufficiently expert to allow the taking of pictures, and
Russ began to work the camera.
"Could we come over to your lumber camp some day?" asked Alice of
Flaming Arrow, when the little drama was over.
"I would be pleased to have you," he replied, with a smile. "There are a
rough lot of men there, but they are always glad to see
visitors--especially ladies. It is rather dull and lonesome in the
backwoods. This has been quite a little vacation for me."
"Then we'll come and see you; won't we Ruth?"
"I don't know, dear. We'll have to ask daddy," responded Ruth, rather
doubtfully.
"Oh, he'll say yes!" Alice cried. "He likes us to see new sights, and
I've never been in a lumber camp yet."
"Bring your father along," invited Flaming Arrow. "I think he would be
interested."
Alice promised and then the Indian took his leave. He promised to come
another day and bring a pair of skis, those long barrel-stave-like
affairs, on which experts can slide down a steep hill, and make the most
astonishing jumps.
It was a few days after the snowshoe film had been made that Mr. Pertell
decided on getting some scenes farther back in the woods than he had yet
gone for views. Ruth and Alice, with Paul and Mr. Switzer, were alone
needed for those particular acts, and as there was a good road part way
it was decided to go as near as possible in a sled, and use snowshoes
for the rest of the trip, since there had been quite a fall.
Mr. Pertell went along to see that the proper posing and acting was
carried out, and when he reached the place he had Ruth and Alice go on
alone into the woods, Russ filming them as they advanced. Later Paul and
Mr. Switzer were to come into the picture.
"That's about right," said the manager when Ruth and Alice were in a
dense thicket. They were attired as the daughters of lumbermen, and this
particular scene was one in a drama to be called "The Fall of a Tree."
"Begin now," ordered Mr. Pertell, and Ruth and Alice started the
"business," or acting, called for. Russ was grinding away at the crank
of the camera.
Everything went off well and that part of the play came to an end. For
the next act another background was to be selected, and Russ went to it
with his camera, leaving Ruth and Alice standing together in the
thicket.
"We have to wait a few minutes, while Paul and Mr. Switzer go through
their parts," said Ruth. "Then we'll go over."
"All right," Alice said. "Oh, but isn't it perfectly heavenly out here?
I just love it at Elk Lodge!"
"So do I, dear! Hark! What was that?"
A sound came from the bushes behind them--a growling, menacing sound,
and as they heard it the girls drew together in fright.
"It--it's some animal!" gasped Ruth. "Oh, Alice!"
"Look. There it is! It's going to spring at us!" cried the younger girl
and with trembling finger she pointed to a crouching beast not far away.
Its eyes gleamed balefully, and with sharp switchings of its tail it
glared at the girls, ready to spring.
The moving picture girls were faint with fear, and too frightened to
shout for help. But suddenly a voice behind them called:
"Don't be afraid! Stand still. I'm going to shoot!"
The next moment a shot rang out. The beast quivered and then whirled in
its death struggle, while strong arms reached through the floating
powder smoke, and pulled Ruth and Alice back, and out of danger.
CHAPTER XVI
IN THE CAVE
The animal, in its death struggle, bit and clawed at the snow and bushes
about it, and actually came almost to the feet of the shrinking girls;
but they were safe from harm, for the shot had come just in time.
"I guess I'll have to give him another bullet," said the man who had
ended the career of the beast. "I'll put it out of its misery," and he
did so. The shot, so close at hand, caused Ruth and Alice to jump
nervously, and then, for the first time, as the beast stretched out, and
lay still, they took a look at their rescuer.
"Why it's Flaming Arrow!" exclaimed Alice, in delight.
"At your service!" he laughed. "I am glad I happened to be near here."
"So are we!" exclaimed Ruth, with a nervous laugh. "What sort of a beast
is that--a young bear?"
"No, it's a wildcat, and a mean sort of animal, once it attacks you.
This one must have felt that it was cornered, for they are not usually
so bold. It's a big one, though, and the pelt will make a fine rug for
your room. May I have the pleasure of sending it to you?" he asked.
"Oh, can you make it into a rug?" asked Alice.
"Yes, I know something of curing, and I have the materials at my shack
in the lumber camp. I'll make a rug for you, only I'm afraid it isn't
big enough for two," he said, ruefully.
"Oh, Alice may have it!" exclaimed Ruth, generously.
"Then I'll get another for you," offered Flaming Arrow. "They usually
travel in pairs, and the mate of this one is sure to be around
somewhere. I'll get him."
Later the Indian did get another wildcat, whether or not the mate of the
first one he shot could not be determined; but, at any rate, Ruth and
Alice each received a handsome fur rug for their room.
The sound of the shots brought up the others of the moving picture
company, and Paul turned rather pale when he realized the danger Alice
had been in.
"Why didn't you call for help?" he asked.
"We didn't need to. Flaming Arrow was right on the spot when he was
needed," replied Alice.
"I happened to be out on a little hunting trip," the Indian explained,
"and I saw the wildcat sneak in this thicket. I did not see the girls,
though, until just as it was about to jump on them. Then I fired."
"And just in time, too," declared Ruth. "Oh, if that beast had ever
jumped on me I don't know what I'd have done!"
"They're pretty bad scratchers," said Flaming Arrow. "I was clawed by
one once, and I carry the scars yet."
"Will you be able to go on with the play?" asked Mr. Pertell of the
girls, when he had heard the story.
"Oh, yes," returned Alice. "My nerves are all right now. We are getting
used to such experiences," she laughed.
"I am all right too," Ruth agreed. "But it was a trying moment."
Flaming Arrow stood to one side and looked on interestedly while the
remainder of the drama was being filmed, and then he showed the players
the road to his lumber camp. He invited them to come over to it, but as
the hour was late and as Mr. Pertell wanted to get a few more scenes in
a different locality, it was decided to defer the visit to some other
time.
Flaming Arrow said good-bye, and went off with the dead wild cat slung
over his shoulder.
"Isn't he just fine!" exclaimed Alice, as she watched him stalking over
the drifts on his snowshoes.
"I'm getting jealous!" laughed Paul, and there was more of meaning in
his remark than his outward manner indicated.
"Well, I do like him!" Alice went on. "He is so big and strong and
manly. And he can shoot straight!"
"Hereafter I'll bring along a gun every time we come out," vowed Paul.
"And I'm going to take shooting lessons."
"Yah! Dot vould be a goot t'ing," decided Mr. Switzer. "I gets me too a
gun!"
"Gracious! The game around here had better seek new quarters!" laughed
Alice. "Next we'll be having Mr. Bunn and Mr. Sneed taking up the
calling of Nimrod."
Mr. DeVere was rather disturbed when he heard the story of the wildcat,
and once more he spoke seriously of taking his daughters out of moving
picture work.
"I really am afraid something will happen to you," he said. "I think you
had better resign. I can earn enough for all of us now, for Mr. Pertell
has given me another advance in salary."
"Oh, Daddy! We simply couldn't give it up!" cried Alice. "Could we,
Ruth?"
"I wouldn't like to give it up," responded Ruth, quietly. She was always
less demonstrative than her sister. "And really, Daddy, we don't run
into danger."
"I know, my dear, but danger seems to have formed a habit, of late, of
seeking you out," said the actor. "However, we will wait a few days. I
suppose it would be too bad to disappoint Mr. Pertell now."
The next day, owing to a slight indisposition on the part of Miss
Pennington, a drama that included her as one of the cast had to be
postponed, and as no other was ready to be filmed, the players had a
little holiday.
"Who wants to come for a trip to the ice cave?" asked Russ, when he
found that he would not have to use his camera.
"What's the ice cave?" asked Ruth.
"Why, it's a cave made out of ice. There's one about two miles from
here, and Mr. Pertell is thinking of having some scenes made there. I'm
to go out and size up the situation. Want to come?"
"It sounds interesting," observed Ruth. "I believe I would like to go.
Shall we, Alice?"
"Indeed, yes."
"Count me in!" cried Paul.
So a little later the four young people set off for the ice cave. This
was a natural curiosity not far from Elk Lodge. Every year, at a
waterfall in a local stream, the ice piled up in fantastic shapes. The
flow of the water, and the effect of the wind, made a large hollow or
cave at the cascade large enough to hold several persons. Mr. Pertell
had heard of it and had laid one scene of a drama there.
There was a fairly good road almost to the ice cave, and then came a
trip across an unbroken expanse of snow, the snowshoes being used, they
having been carried strapped to the backs of the four.
"Oh, how beautiful!"
"See how the sun sparkles on the ice."
"And what big icicles!"
"Oh, if we could only keep that until Summer!"
Thus the young people cried as they saw the beautiful ice cave. It was
indeed a pretty sight. Nature, unaided, had done more than man could
ever hope to achieve.
"Let's go inside," suggested Russ.
"Will it be safe?" asked Ruth.
"Oh, surely. Why, we have to go in it when we make the moving picture,
so we might as well get used to it. They say this ice lasts nearly all
summer. It's down in a deep hollow, you see. Come on in."
"Go ahead! I'm game!" Paul said, grimly.
The girls hesitated, but only for a moment. Then they followed the young
men into the cavern.
The entrance was rather small, and they had to stoop to get through it,
but once inside the cave widened out until there was room for perhaps a
dozen persons.
"What a lovely place for a dance!" cried Alice, as she slid about. "It's
so slippery that you'd need those new slippers with rubber set in the
sole. Come, on, try a hesitation waltz," she cried gaily to Ruth.
Paul whistled one of the latest popular airs, and Ruth and Alice slid
about.
"Come on!" cried Paul to Russ. "I'm getting the craze, too."
The two young men danced together a moment, and then came an
interruption that caused them all to look at one another.
There was a grinding, crashing sound outside, and the next moment the
entrance to the cave was darkened.
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