Jenny Wren - "Lazy Thoughts of a Lazy Girl"

Annie Fellows Johnston - "Ole Mammy's Torment"

Mark Twain - "Mark Twain: Tri Noveloj"

George O. Draper - "School, Church, and Home Games"

Laura Lee Hope - The Moving Picture Girls Under the Palms

L >> Laura Lee Hope >> The Moving Picture Girls Under the Palms



The
Moving Picture Girls
Under the Palms

OR

Lost in the Wilds of Florida


BY

LAURA LEE HOPE

AUTHOR OF "THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS," "THE MOVING PICTURE
GIRLS AT OAK FARM," "THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES,"
"THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES," ETC.




_ILLUSTRATED_


THE WORLD SYNDICATE PUBLISHING CO.
CLEVELAND NEW YORK


Made in U.S.A.


Copyright, 1914, by
GROSSET & DUNLAP


PRESS OF
THE COMMERCIAL BOOKBINDING CO.
CLEVELAND




CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I Overboard 1

II To the Rescue 11

III A Disquieting Item 18

IV Fire on Board 28

V Disabled 37

VI By Wireless 46

VII In Port 54

VIII St. Augustine 63

IX In the Dungeon 70

X The Motor Races 80

XI On to Lake Kissimmee 88

XII A Warning 96

XIII Out in the Boat 104

XIV Under the Palms 113

XV In Peril 119

XVI A Strange Attack 129

XVII Out of a Tree 139

XVIII The Animated Logs 147

XIX Into the Wilds 157

XX Lost 164

XXI The Long Night 172

XXII Ashore 180

XXIII The Palm Hut 186

XXIV The Lost Are Found 195

XXV Out of the Wilds 203




CHAPTER I

OVERBOARD


"All ready now! In position, everyone!"

Half a score of actors and actresses moved quickly to their appointed
places, while overhead, and at the sides of them hissed powerful electric
lights, and in front of them stood a moving picture camera, ready to be
operated by a pleasant-faced young man.

"Ready?" came in questioning tones from Mr. Pertell, the stage director,
as he looked sharply from one to the other.

A tall, well-built man, with iron-gray hair, nodded, but did not speak.

"Let her go, Russ!" Mr. Pertell exclaimed.

"Vait! Vait a minute!" called one of the actors, with a pronounced German
accent.

"Well, what's the matter now, Mr. Switzer?" asked the director, with a
touch of impatience.

"I haf forgotten der imbortant babers dot I haf to offer mine enemy in
dis play. I must have der babers."

"Gracious, I should say so!" said the manager. "Where's Pop Snooks?" and
he looked around for the property man, who had to produce on short notice
anything from a ten-ton safe to a hairpin.

"Hi, Pop!" called Mr. Pertell. "Make up a bundle of important,
legal-looking papers, with seals on. Mr. Switzer has to use 'em in this
play. I forgot to tell you."

"Have 'em for you right away!" cried the property man, and a little later
Mr. Switzer had his "babers."

"I guess we're all right now. Start up, Russ," ordered the stage
director, who was also the manager of the troupe.

"That was a mistake on the part of Mr. Pertell; wasn't it, Ruth?" asked
one of the young actresses--a pretty girl--of her sister, who stood near
her in the mimic scene.

"Yes, indeed, Alice. But it isn't often he makes one."

"No, indeed. Oh, we mustn't talk any more. I see him looking at us."

"Begin!" called the manager, sharply, and the play proceeded, while the
young moving picture operator clicked away at the handle of his camera,
the long strip of film moving behind the lens with a whirring sound, and
registering views of the pantomime of the actors and actresses at the
rate of sixteen a second.

The above was done several times a day in the New York studio of the
Comet Film Company, which was engaged in making moving pictures.

The play went on through the various acts. Only part of it was being
"filmed" now--the interior scenes. Later, others would be taken outdoors.

"Time out--hold your positions!" suddenly exclaimed the operator. "Film's
broken. I've got to mend it."

Everyone came to a standstill at that. In a few seconds the damage was
repaired, and the play went on. It was, in the main, a "parlor" drama,
and there were to be only a few outdoor scenes.

"That will do for the present," said Mr. Pertell. "You may all take a
rest now. This will be our last New York play for some time--that is,
after we get the outdoor scenes for this."

"Where are we going next?" asked the elderly actor before mentioned. He
spoke in very hoarse voice, and it was evident that he had some throat
affection. In fact, it was the ailment which had forced him to give up
acting in the "legitimate," and take to the "movies."

"We are going to Florida--the land of the palms!" announced the manager.
"You know I spoke of tentative plans for a drama down there when we were
in the backwoods. Now I have everything arranged, and we will leave on a
steamer for St. Augustine one week from to-day."

"Hurrah for Florida!" exclaimed a young actor, with a strikingly
good-looking face. "There's where I've always wanted to go."

"So have I!" exclaimed a young girl who stood near him,--a girl with
merry, brown eyes. "Will you take me out after oranges, Paul?" she asked,
mischievously.

"Certainly, Alice," he answered.

"Why don't you say orange blossoms while you're about it?" inquired
another actress, with a pert manner.

Alice blushed, and her sister Ruth looked sharply at Miss Laura Dixon,
who had made the rather pointed remark.

"I'm willing to make it orange blossoms!" laughed the young fellow. "That
is, if they're in season."

"Ah, stop all this nonsense!" exclaimed Alice. "I want to ask Mr. Pertell
a lot of questions about where we're going, and all that. Oh, to think we
are really going to Florida!"

"Yes, we are all going," went on Mr. Pertell. "I think--"

"One moment, if you please!" interrupted a middle-aged actor whose face
seemed to indicate that he lived more on vinegar than on the milk of
human kindness. "We are not _all_ going, if you please, Mr. Pertell."

"Who is not going, Mr. Sneed, pray?" the manager wanted to know.

"I, for one. I have gone through many hardships and dangers acting in
moving pictures for you, but I draw the line at Florida."

"Why, I think it's perfectly lovely there!" exclaimed Miss Pearl
Pennington, a chum of Miss Dixon.

"Do you call alligators lovely?" asked Mr. Pepper Sneed, who was known as
"the actor with the grouch." He was always finding fault. "Lovely
alligators!" he sneered. "If you want to go to Florida, and be eaten by
an alligator--go. I'll not!"

Some of the younger members of the company looked rather serious at this.
They had not counted on alligators.

"Now look here!" exclaimed Mr. Pertell. "That's all nonsense. We are
going where there are no alligators; but I'll pay anyone who is injured
in the slightest by one of the saurians a thousand dollars!"

"Then I'll go!" cried Mr. Sneed, who was rather "close," and fond of
money. "But I'm not going to stand a very big bite for that sum!" he
stipulated, while the others laughed.

"I'll grade the payments according to the bites, at the rate of a
thousand dollars a big bite," declared the manager, also laughing.

"Now then, you may make your plans accordingly. As I said, we leave by
steamer for St. Augustine by way of Jacksonville this day week."

"And will all the scenes be taken in St. Augustine?" asked one of the
company.

"No, we shall go into the interior. I expect we may go to a place near
Lake Kissimmee, and there--"

"Lake Kissimmee!" exclaimed Alice DeVere, in surprise.

"What about it?" asked Mr. Pertell. "Are you afraid to go there?"

"No, but two girls whom we met on the train going to Deerfield, when we
were preparing to make the ice and snow dramas, were going to a place
near there. We may meet them."

"That's so!" agreed Ruth.

"I hope you will," went on Mr. Pertell. "Lake Kissimmee, however, is only
one of the interior places we shall touch. I will tell you more detailed
plans later."

"I--ah--er--presume we shall have a little time to--er--see the sights of
St. Augustine; will we not?" asked one of the actors, in affected,
drawling tones.

"Oh, yes, plenty of time, Mr. Towne," answered Mr. Pertell. Claude Towne
was a new member of the company, rather a "dudish" sort of chap, and not,
as yet, very well liked. He dressed in what he considered the "height of
fashion."

The week that followed was a busy one for every member of the Comet Film
Company. Not that they were required to do much acting in front of the
camera; for, after the outdoor scenes in connection with the current
play were made, Russ Dalwood, the operator, packed up his belongings
ready for the Florida trip.

The others were doing the same thing, and Mr. Pertell was kept busy
arranging for transportation, and hotel accommodations, and for the
taking care of such films as he would send back from the interior of
Florida, since none would be developed there. This work would have to be
done, and positives printed for the projecting machines, in New York.
This custom was generally followed when the company went out of town.

"Well, are we all here?" asked Mr. Pertell one morning as he reached the
steamer, which lay at her dock in New York, ready for the trip to the
land of the palms.

"I think so," answered Russ, who had with him a small moving picture
camera. He had an idea he might see something that would make a good
film.

"No one missing?" went on the manager. "That's good. Oh, by the way, did
Mr. Towne arrive? He 'phoned to me that he might be a little late."

"Yes, he's here," answered Russ. "The last I saw of him he was looking in
a mirror, arranging his necktie."

"Humph! He's too fond of dress," commented the manager, "but he does well
in certain society parts, and that's why I keep him."

The confusion of the passengers and late freight coming aboard gradually
grew less. Whistles sounded their bass notes, and gongs clanged.

"All ashore that's goin' ashore!" came the warning cry, and there was a
hurried departure of those who had come to see friends or relatives off
on the voyage.

The moving picture company were gathered together in one place on the
deck, and they waved to other members of the company who were not to
make the trip, for Mr. Pertell employed a large number of actors, and
only a comparatively few of them were going to Florida. The others would
continue to work in New York.

The steamer moved slowly away from the dock, in charge of a fussy tug,
but presently she began forging ahead under her own steam, moving slowly
at first. Soon, however, the vessel was well down the harbor.

Alice and Ruth DeVere, with Russ Dalwood and Paul Ardite, were standing
amidships, on the port side, looking down into the water. A little in
advance of them stood Mr. Towne and Miss Pennington. The latter had been
much in the new actor's company of late.

"They seem quite interested in each other," remarked Russ, in a low tone.

"Yes, they have something in common," added Alice--"a love of good
clothes."

"I like nice things myself," put in Ruth, straightening a bow she wore.
"You shouldn't say such things, Alice."

"Oh, but you like them in the right way--so do I, for that matter. But I
don't go to the extremes they do, and neither do you."

"Hush! They'll hear you," cautioned her sister, for Alice was very
impulsive at times.

Indeed the dudish actor and Miss Pennington were glancing rather
curiously in the direction of our friends. Then Miss Dixon came along,
whispering something that caused the other to laugh.

"Fawncy that now! Only fawncy!" exclaimed Mr. Towne, in his exaggerated
English drawl. "That's a good joke--on them!"

"I wonder if they mean us?" spoke Paul. "If I thought so I'd go ask them
what the joke was, so we could laugh, too."

"Oh, don't," begged Ruth, who disliked "scenes."

The mirth of Miss Dixon and Miss Pennington seemed to increase rather
than diminish, and Mr. Towne was now fairly roaring with merriment. He
laughed so hard, in fact, that he coughed, and leaned back against the
rail for support.

And then something happened. Just how no one could explain, but Mr. Towne
went overboard, his arms and legs wildly waving, and his cane flying far
out into the river. He struck the water with a splash, just as one of the
deckhands yelled:

"Man overboard!"




CHAPTER II

TO THE RESCUE


"Lower a boat!"

"Throw him a life preserver!"

"Stop the ship!"

Wild and excited were the cries that followed the accident. Russ and Paul
were among the first to act, the former getting a life preserver from one
of the racks, while Paul caught up one of the round, white life rings and
tossed it far out toward a commotion in the water that indicated where
Mr. Towne had disappeared. They had to throw the articles toward the
stern of the steamer, as she was in motion, and Mr. Towne was soon some
distance astern.

"Stop the ship!" repeated scores of voices, when the nature of the
accident was understood.

Discipline and boat drill were at a high state of perfection aboard the
steamer, and soon, with a warning blast of her whistle, the craft
trembled under the power of her reversed engines.

"Lower away a boat! Smartly, men!" called one of the officers, as he ran
up to the davits whence hung a life-boat.

And while preparations are under way to rescue the unfortunate actor, may
I take just a few moments to acquaint my new readers with something of
the former books of this series?

The initial volume was entitled "The Moving Picture Girls; Or, First
Appearances in Photo Dramas." In that was related how Hosmer DeVere, a
talented actor, suddenly lost his voice, through the return of a former
throat ailment. He was unable to go in his part in a legitimate drama,
and, through the suggestion of Russ Dalwood, who lived in the same
apartment house with the DeVeres, in New York, Mr. DeVere took up moving
picture acting.

His two daughters, Ruth, aged seventeen, and Alice, aged fifteen, also
became engaged in the work, and later they were instrumental in doing
Russ Dalwood a great service in connection with a valuable patent he had
evolved for a moving picture machine.

The second volume was called "The Moving Picture Girls at Oak Farm; Or,
Queer Happenings While Taking Rural Plays." In that book was told how the
acquaintance was made of Sandy Apgar, who ran a farm in New Jersey. As
Mr. Pertell was looking for some country scenes to use in connection
with his moving picture dramas, he took his entire company out to Oak
Farm, hiring it from the Apgars.

A curious mystery was solved by the girls, and other members of the
company--a mystery that involved the happiness of the old couple who
owned Oak Farm, but were on the verge of losing it.

"The Moving Picture Girls Snowbound; Or, The Proof on the Film," was the
title of the third book. As its name indicates, the girls and other
members of the company were really snowbound. After the summer at Oak
Farm, and the fall spent in New York, Mr. Pertell decided to make some
dramas in the backwoods of New England, where there was much snow and
ice. And for a time there was almost too much snow, for Elk Lodge, where
the company of players was housed, was almost buried by a blizzard.

Before going to the backwoods, Mr. DeVere had been much annoyed, and
alarmed, by an unjust demand, and how a certain illegal suit against an
electric car company was called off, through a discovery made by Ruth and
Alice, you may read of in the book.

Russ got "the proof on the film" and when this moving picture was shown
privately it caused Dan Merley's lawyer to say:

"You win! We are beaten!" And Mr. DeVere was at ease after that.

Many beautiful films were made at Elk Lodge, and some wonderful pictures
of snow and ice scenes resulted from the trip to the backwoods. Then the
company returned to New York, and now we find them _en route_ for
Florida, when the accident to Mr. Towne occurred.

Mr. DeVere and his two daughters lived in the Fenmore Apartment house, in
New York City. Across the hall lived Mrs. Sarah Dalwood, and her sons,
Russ and Billy, the latter aged about twelve. The Dalwoods and the
DeVeres became very friendly, and Russ thought there never was a girl
like Ruth. Paul Ardite, the younger leading man of the Comet Film
Company, thought the same thing of Alice.

Frank Pertell was the manager and chief owner of the film company. He had
a large studio in New York, where all indoor scenes of the plays were
enacted, and where the films were made for rental to the various chains
of moving picture theaters throughout the country.

He engaged many actors and actresses, but only the principal ones with
whom the stories are concerned will be recounted.

Wellington Bunn and Pepper Sneed were the ones who made the most trouble
for the manager. Mr. Bunn was an former Shakespearean actor. With his
tall hat and frock coat--which costume he was seldom without--Mr. Bunn
was a typical tragedian of the old school.

Mr. Sneed was different. He had no particular ambition toward stardom,
but he disliked hard work, and he was rather superstitious. Then, too, he
was always looking for trouble and often finding it. In short, he was the
"grouch" of the company.

Mrs. Margaret Maguire was a motherly member of the troupe. She played
"old woman" parts with real feeling, perhaps the more so as her two
grandchildren, Tommy and Nellie, were dependent upon her. The youngsters
usually went with the company, and were taken on the Florida trip.
Occasionally they acted small parts.

Carl Switzer was the German comedian, and was a first-rate actor in his
line. His jollity proved an offset to the gloom of Mr. Sneed.

Pop Snooks, the efficient property man, has already been mentioned. His
work was easier when the company was on the road, as there the natural
scenery was depended on to a great extent.

Pearl Pennington and Laura Dixon were former vaudeville actresses who had
gone into the "movies." Some said it was because they failed to longer
draw on the stage. Whether or not this was so, it was certain that the
two had very large ideas of their own abilities. They cared little for
Ruth and Alice, and the latter had few interests in common with Miss
Pennington and Miss Dixon. Paul Ardite has been mentioned. With the
exception of Mr. Towne the players had been associated together for some
time.

But, just at present Mr. Towne was "disassociated" from the others.

"Oh, can you see him?" cried Ruth, as she clung to Alice. "I--I can't
bear to look!"

"Of course I can see him!" Alice returned. "He's trying to swim. Oh, he
has grabbed the life ring!"

"That will keep him up," spoke Paul. "Are they lowering the boat?"

"There she goes!" cried Russ. "Ha! I've got an idea. I'll film this, and
Mr. Pertell may be able to use it in some drama."

He hurried to where he had set down the small moving picture camera, and
while the boat was being lowered by the sailors Russ got views of that.

Then he moved closer to the rail, and took more views as the small craft
was sent away under the force of the sturdy arms of the rowers.

"This will be great!" Russ cried.

"Oh, but it seems so cold-blooded!" murmured Ruth. "To take a picture of
a drowning man."

"I don't think he is drowning," Paul observed. "He has the ring, and that
will keep him up until the boat reaches him. They are almost to him, and
he seems able to swim well."

"That's good," declared Alice. She had not turned her head away as had
her sister. In fact, in spite of being two years younger than Ruth, Alice
often showed more spirit. She was of an impulsive nature, and Mr. DeVere
used to say she was very like her dead mother. Ruth was tall and fair,
and of a romantic nature. Alice was more practical.

"There! They've got him!" cried Paul, as the boat came up to the actor in
the water.

"That's good!" sighed Ruth. "Oh, I was _so_ alarmed. I think I will go
below, Alice, when they bring him on deck."

"You don't need to," said her sister. "He's probably all right, except
that his fine clothes are spoiled."

"That's so!" chuckled Russ, who was industriously grinding away at the
handle of the camera.




CHAPTER III

A DISQUIETING ITEM


"Man the falls!"

This order was given by one of the officers as the boat containing the
rescued actor came close to the ship's side. The sailors stood ready to
hoist the boat to the davits again, when the tackle blocks should have
been made fast by the hooks to the ring bolts at bow and stern.

"Best chance I ever had to get a rescue picture," remarked Russ, as he
reeled away at the film.

The young operator even managed to get in a favorable position, and take
views as the blocks were being made fast to the boat. Then, as it was
hoisted up, he pictured that.

"Is he all right?" asked Mr. Pertell of the sailors in the boat, when the
craft was raised to the level of the rail.

"Aye, aye, sir," answered the steersman. "Only a bit wet."

But Mr. Towne was more than a bit wet. He was completely soaked, and a
more bedraggled-looking specimen of humanity would be hard to find.

"Oh, the poor man!" exclaimed Ruth, who had thought better of her
determination to go below.

"It's his own fault," snapped Miss Pennington. "He should not have
carried on so."

"Well, it was partly our fault," interposed Miss Dixon, who was perhaps
more just. "We were laughing with him."

"Don't go too close!" cautioned Miss Pennington, as she saw her friend
advancing toward the group of sailors, and others who surrounded the
rescue party. They were helping Mr. Towne out of the boat.

"Why shouldn't I go close?" Laura wanted to know.

"You might get your dress wet. Mine spots terribly."

"Oh, so does mine. I forgot; and sea water stains so badly!"

So the two actresses drew away.

"There, I guess that will do," remarked Russ, as he saw that there was no
more film left in the camera. "Now, Mr. Pertell, you'll have to get some
story written around these scenes. Add more to them, and you'll have a
good reel."

"I'll do it, Russ. I'm glad you were here to take them, so long as it did
not turn out seriously."

"Do you--er--ah--mean to say that you _filmed_ me?" demanded the dudish
actor, who had overheard this colloquy.

"I got some pictures of you--yes," admitted Russ. "I couldn't resist the
temptation."

"I demand that those pictures be destroyed!" cried Mr. Towne, who seemed
to have recovered rapidly from his unexpected bath.

"What for?" asked Mr. Pertell, in surprise. "I haven't seen them, of
course--can't until they're developed, and that won't be for some time.
But I should say the rescue pictures would make a fine film."

"But I want it burned up. I won't have it shown!" insisted Mr. Towne.

"Why not?"

"Do you suppose for one instant--er, ah--that I am going to let the
public see me like this?" and Mr. Towne glanced at his wet and dripping
garments--garments that, but a short time ago, had been a walking
testimonial of the tailor's art. Now they were wet and misshapen.

"Why, you can't expect a man who has just been rescued from New York Bay
to look as though he came out of a band-box; can you, dear man?" asked
Mr. Pertell. "Of course you look wet--the public will expect to see you
wet--dripping with water, in fact. Water always comes out well in the
movies, anyhow. Of course the public wants to see you wet!"

"But I don't want them to!" protested the actor. "I have never been shown
in pictures except when I was well dressed, and I do not propose to begin
now. I will pose for you as soon as I get dry clothes on, but not
in--these!" and he made a despairing motion toward his ruined garments.

"Oh, you are too fussy!" laughed Mr. Pertell. "Those pictures will have
to go. The scene was too good to spoil, as long as you were not drowned."

"I was in no danger of drowning," returned Mr. Towne, coldly. "I am a
good swimmer. I was taken by surprise, that is all."

"Well, it made good pictures," declared the manager, indifferently.

"Too bad I couldn't get you just as you went overboard!" sighed Russ. "I
was taken by surprise, too; but I did the best I could. We can have you
do that part over."

"Never!" cried Mr. Towne, angrily. "I will never be seen in an
undignified position again, nor in clothes that have not been freshly
pressed," and he stalked away toward his stateroom.

"I can sympathize with you, my dear fellow," murmured Mr. Bunn, who was
as careful of his dignity, in a way, as was the other. "They have made me
do the most idiotic things in some of the dramas," the older man went on.
"I have had to play fireman, and ride in donkey carts, slide down hill
and all such foolishness--all to the great detriment of my dignity."

"Yes, this moving picture business is horrid," agreed Mr. Towne, who was
dripping water at every step. "But what is a chap to do? I tried the
other sort of drama--on the stage, you know; but I did not seem to have
the temperament for it."

"Ah, would that I were back again, treading the boards in my beloved
Shakespeare, instead of in this miserable moving picture acting," sighed
the tragedian.

The excitement caused by the mishap to Mr. Towne soon subsided. The
steamer got on her way again, once the small boat had been hoisted up,
and several tugs and motor craft that had gathered to give aid, if
needed, went on their courses.

Copyright (c) 2007. topmasterworks.com. All rights reserved.