oom--rowed the sailors of the _Tarsus_. The chief mate of the _Bell_, at
the request of his commander, went to consult with Captain Falcon. On
returning, the mate reported that Captain Falcon felt he could get the
fire under control, and also make repairs to enable him to get his ship
to port.

"Then we will proceed," said Captain Blackstone, of the _Bell_. He gave
the signal to go ahead, and soon the ill-fated _Tarsus_, with the smoke
pall hanging about her, was left behind.

But it is a pleasure to record that, after a hard fight, Captain Falcon
and his men did subdue the flames, and, after harder work, temporary
repairs enabled them to limp into port. Thus the commander saved his
ship, and also avoided the payment, on the part of the owners, of heavy
salvage. Later he was suitably rewarded by his superiors.

"Oh, but what an experience!" lamented Miss Pennington, as she sank into
a steamer chair after the rescue. "I wonder what sort of a stateroom
we'll have here, Laura?"

"They'll be lucky if they get even a berth," grumbled Paul. For the
_Bell_ carried a number of passengers, and the addition of those from the
_Tarsus_ rather crowded her.

But accommodations were found for all, though the quarters were rather
cramped. The _Bell_ was bound direct for St. Augustine, and in due
season, and without further mishap, the moving picture company reached
that oldest city in the United States.

CHAPTER VIII

ST. AUGUSTINE

"Oh, isn't it beautiful!"

"The most gorgeous place I ever saw!"

Alice and Ruth were standing in the doorway of the hotel to which the
moving picture company had been taken. They were looking out into the
ladies' court--into a sun-lit and palm-girded garden, wherein a fountain
played, the water falling with a musical tinkling.

Birds flitted here and there amid the bright flowers, but to the moving
picture girls the palms seemed the most wonderful of all. Such palms!

"I never realized that the great Creator could make anything so
beautiful," murmured Ruth, reverently. "And, Oh! Alice; to think that
_we_ can enjoy it!"

"Yes, isn't it wonderful, after all the storm and stress of the fire, to
be in this lovely, calm place?"

"And the best part of it is that we're getting _paid_ for it!" observed a
voice behind the two girls. They turned, with a start, for they had lost
themselves in a dreaming reverie, to find Russ and Paul smiling at them.
It was Paul who spoke.

"It does seem a