tify her. When she spoke it was as though she
might have a vague premonition of his confused thoughts.

"But there's no need for my having an apprehension that he will blunder,
is there?" she asked.

"We all make mistakes," he said, conscientiously trying to assure her.
He realized, however, that his answer sounded evasive and fearful of
further questioning he added, hastily, "His election is conceded by
everyone."

They rose from the table. To "Mother" Graham, perched on a stool behind
a cash register near the door, he paid for their dinner and they stepped
out into the street. Night had descended quickly. The cool, refreshing
breeze from the ocean that tempers the warmth of the day was coming in
gently, caressingly, soothingly from the west, and worries fled away
with it like dead leaves whisked from the trees.

During the pre-view, which lasted an hour and a half, John had but few
chances to converse with Consuello. She was busy with Bonwit, the
director, and a half dozen others whom John decided were the technicians
whose business it was to revise the film before it was released. They
sat grouped in a semi-circle and several times certain scenes were
flashed on the screen repeatedly for closer observation.

The girl he saw on the screen was much more like Consuello in real life
than the girl he had seen before the camera. The make-up that had
transformed her features for her part in the picture was indiscernible
on the screen and marvelously the real Consuello was before him. The
"close-up" for which she had posed alone, holding the bouquet of
daisies, was even prettier than it had been when she enacted it. He
realized now what were the results sought by the camera men in shifting
the reflectors. Like a halo, sunlight shone around her face, through the
loose tresses of her hair, giving it an ethereal appearance.

So intently did he study every move, every expression of Consuello's on
the screen that he had completely overlooked the story of the
photoplay. The scene in which the actor embraced Consuello and gazed
fervently heavenward was far more impressive than it had been when it
was enacted and the "close-up" of his features, over her shoulder, John
decided was really an excellent bit of facial expression.

When the pre-view was completed and the lights were flashed on again in
the small room, Consuello came directly to him.

"Now, what do you think of 'Jean Hope,' do you like her?" she asked.

"I adore