f it, Mr. Bunn! It's clean!"

"Oh, this is awful--this is terrible!" groaned the tragic actor. "My hat
is ruined."

And such did seem to be the case, for the shining silk tile was filled
with paste, the outside also being well covered.

Mr. Bunn tried to get away from the slapping brush of Mr. Switzer, but
the German was not to be outwitted. The two had fallen to the floor
under the impact of the comic player, and were now tangled up in the
ladder.

"That's good! That's good!" laughed Mr. Pertell. "Get all of that, Russ!
Every bit!"

"I'm getting it!" cried the operator, as he continued to grind away at
the crank of the moving picture camera.

Again Mr. Bunn tried to get up and away, but the ladder, through which
his legs had slipped, hampered him. Then a roll of the paper got under
the feet of both players. It unreeled, and some paste got on it. The
next instant part of it was plastered over Mr. Switzer's face, and,
being unable to see, he pawed about wildly, spattering more paste all
over, much of it getting on Mr. Bunn.

"Better than ever. Use some more of that paper!" ordered the manager.
"Paste some on Mr. Switzer, if you can, Mr. Bunn."

"Oh, I can all right!" cried the older actor. "Here is where I have my
revenge!"

He scooped up a hand full of paste, spread it on a piece of paper, and
clapped it over the face of the German, for that player had removed the
first piece that was stuck on. And thus they capered about in the scenic
room, making a chaos of it.

Russ took all the pictures for the future amusement of thousands who
attended the darkened theaters.

Of course it was horseplay, pure and simple, and yet audiences go into
paroxysms of mirth over much the same things. The love of slap-stick
comedy has not all died out, and the managers realize this.

"I don't know when I've laughed so much," confessed Alice, holding her
aching sides as she sat down near Ruth, when the little comedy was over.

"Nor I, my dear. I think the old saying is true, after all, that 'a
little nonsense, now and then, is relished by the best of men.'"

"This was certainly nonsense," admitted Alice. "Oh, come over and let's
see Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon in that new play--'Parlor Magic.'
It's very interesting, and rather funny."

The two older actresses were to play in a little scene where a young
man--in this case Paul Ardite--attempted to do some tricks he had been
studying. He was supposed to come to grief in mak