.

"Not at all," returned Alice, promptly. "It was a glorious race anyhow.
Winning didn't count; it was all for the picture."

"That's the way to look at it," said Paul, in her ear. "But, all the
same, I'm glad your boat won."

"Thanks," she replied, as she tripped along beside him.

Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon, pausing a moment to "readjust their
complexions," as Alice said (for which she was reproved by Ruth), went on
by themselves.

The company of players remained in St. Augustine several days, and many
fine films resulted, the scenery lending itself particularly well to the
camera.

One act in a play took place at the alligator "farm," on Anastasia
Island. There Ruth and Alice saw 'gators in all stages, from tiny ones
just emerging from the shell, to big fourteen-foot ones--regular
"man-eaters" they were told.

"Ugh! the horrid creatures!" exclaimed Ruth, who could not repress a
shudder.

"They aren't very pleasant," agreed Alice. "And to think that perhaps
those two girls may be--"

"Oh, my dear! Don't mention it! I can't bear to think of such a thing.
It's too horrible!"

"But I suppose there must be many such as that one, in the wilds of the
swamps and bayous," said Alice in a low voice, as she pointed her parasol
at a huge saurian.

"If there are any such, I don't want to know it--or see them," murmured
Ruth, again shuddering. "Oh, I hope we don't go too far into the wilds."

"So do I," agreed her sister.

That afternoon, calling his company of players together, Mr. Pertell
said:

"Friends, we will leave in two days for the interior. I want to get some
views along the rivers and bayous, where the scenery is wilder than it
is here."

"And where are we going, may I ask?" inquired Mr. DeVere.

"To a place called Sycamore, near Lake Kissimmee," was the answer.

"Oh, Ruth!" exclaimed Alice, impulsively, when she heard this.

"Yes, dear, what is it?"

"Why, that's where those two girls were from--the ones who were lost, you
know!"

"Hush! Yes. You know we agreed to say nothing about it, for fear of
causing undue alarm. Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon might refuse to go,
you know," she went on in a low voice, "and that would make trouble for
Mr. Pertell."

"Oh, but isn't it a strange coincidence?" remarked Alice.

"It certainly is. But perhaps the girls have been found by this time."

"Our destination will be Lake Kissimmee," proceeded Mr. Pertell. "We will
take some pictures on the la