And if I went back to the legitimate, I would have to take you with me,"
he added.

"Never, Daddy!" cried the younger girl. "I am going to remain with the
'movies'! I would be lost without them."

"Assuredly, they have been a great blessing to us," observed Ruth,
quietly. "I do not know what we would have done without them, when you
were stricken the second time," and she looked fondly at her father. She
thought of the dark days, not so far back, when troubles seemed
multiplying, when there was no money, and when debts pressed. Now all
seemed sunshine.

"Yes, it would be a poor return to the movies, to desert them after all
they did for us," agreed Mr. DeVere. "That is, as long as they care for
us--those audiences who sit in the dark and watch us play our little
parts on the lighted canvas. A queer proceeding--very queer.

"I little dreamed when I first took up the profession immortalized by
Shakespeare, that I would be playing to persons whom I could not see. But
it is certainly a wonderful advance."

Down the bay, out through the Narrows and so on out to sea passed the
_Tarsus_, carrying the moving picture players. The day was cold, and a
storm threatened, but soon the frigid winter of the North would be left
behind. This was a comforting thought to all, though Alice declared that
she liked cold weather best.

Mr. Towne came up on deck, again faultlessly attired. His unexpected bath
had not harmed him, in spite of the fact that it was cold, for he had at