re he
could aspire to her hand. And he would make good--out there in the great
open spaces, where the girl would come to him after many adventures and
where they would settle to an untroubled future in the West they both
loved.

He had slept; he knew where--with luck--he could sleep again; and he had
money in his pocket for several more ample meals. At this moment he
felt equal to anything. No more than pleasantly aware of his hunger,
sharpened by the walk in this keen morning air, he made a nonchalant
progress toward the cafeteria. Motor cars were now streaming through the
gate, disgorging other actors--trim young men and beautiful young women
who must hurry to the dressing rooms while he could sit at ease in a
first-class cafeteria and eat heavily of sustaining foods. Inside he
chose from the restricted menu offered by the place at this early hour
and ate in a leisurely, almost condescending manner. Half-a-dozen other
early comers wolfed their food as if they feared to be late for work,
but he suffered no such anxiety. He consumed the last morsel that his
tray held, drained his cup of coffee, and jingled the abundant silver
coin in his pocket.

True, underneath it, as he plumed himself upon his adventure, was a
certain pestering consciousness that all was not so well with him as
observers might guess. But he resolutely put this away each time it
threatened to overwhelm him. He would cross no bridge until he came to
it. He even combated this undercurrent of sanity by wording part of an
interview with himself some day to appear in Photo Land:

"Clifford Armytage smiled that rare smile which his admirers have found
so winning on the silver screen--a smile reminiscent, tender, eloquent
of adversities happily surmounted. 'Yes,' he said frankly in the mellow
tones that are his, 'I guess there were times when I almost gave up
the struggle. I recall one spell, not so many years ago, when I camped
informally on the Holden lot, sleeping where I could find a bed and
stinting myself in food to eke out my little savings. Yet I look back
upon that time'--he mischievously pulled the ears of the magnificent
Great Dane that lolled at his feet--'as one of the happiest in my
career, because I always knew that my day would come. I had done only a
few little bits, but they had stood out, and the directors had noticed
me. Not once did I permit myself to become discouraged, and so I say
to your readers who may feel that they have in them