ly. The girl appeared not to have
heard this bit of pretense.

"On a comedy lot," she said, again becoming the oracle, "you can do
murder if you wipe up the blood. Remember that."

He did not again refer to the beautiful young women who came from fine
old Southern homes. The Montague girl was too emphatic about them.

At other times during the long waits, perhaps while they ate lunch
brought from the cafeteria, she would tell him of herself. His old
troubling visions of his wonder-woman, of Beulah Baxter the daring,
had well-nigh faded, but now and then they would recur as if from long
habit, and he would question the girl about her life as a double.

"Yeah, I could see that Baxter business was a blow to you, Kid. You'd
kind of worshiped her, hadn't you?"

"Well, I--yes, in a sort of way--"

"Of course you did; it was very nice of you--" She reached over to pat
his hand. "Mother understands just how you felt, watching the films back
there in Gooseberry "--He had quit trying to correct her as to Gashwiler
and Simsbury. She had hit upon Gooseberry as a working composite of both
names, and he had wearily come to accept it--"and I know just how you
felt"--Again she patted his hand--"that night when you found me doing
her stuff."

"It did kind of upset me."

"Sure it would! But you ought to have known that all these people use
doubles when they can--men and women both. It not only saves 'em work,
but even where they could do the stuff if they had to--and that ain't so
often--it saves 'em broken bones, and holding up a big production two or
three months. Fine business that would be. So when you see a woman, or
a man either, doing something that someone else could do, you can bet
someone else is doing it. What would you expect? Would you expect a
high-priced star to go out and break his leg?

"And at that, most of the doubles are men, even for the women stars,
like Kitty Carson always carries one who used to be a circus acrobat.
She couldn't hardly do one of the things you see her doing, but when old
Dan gets on her blonde transformation and a few of her clothes, he's
her to the life in a long shot, or even in mediums, if he keeps his map
covered.

"Yeah, most of the doublers have to be men. I'll hand that to myself.
I'm about the only girl that's been doing it, and that's out with me
hereafter, I guess, the way I seem to be making good with Jeff. Maybe
after this I won't have to do stunts, except of course some ri