run through a certain
length of film. Then the orders came that the Confederates were to give
up and retreat. Before this, however, a number of them had been killed,
as had almost as many Union soldiers.

Then came a spirited scene. Paul, leading his men, leaped up on the
earthworks of the Confederate battery, cut down the Southern flag--the
stars and bars. In its place he hoisted the stars and stripes, and with
a wild yell that made the fight seem almost real, he and his men
occupied the heights.

"Well done!" cried Mr. Pertell, enthusiastically, when he came over from
the ramparts of the big gun. "Are you sure none of you was hurt when
that shell exploded?"

"None of us," answered Paul. "It fell short, luckily, and the dirt was
soft. No big rocks were tossed up, fortunately, and we came out of it
very nicely."

"Glad to hear it. I've discharged the man who fired the gun."

"That's too bad!"

"Well, I hired him over again--but to do something else less dangerous.
I can't afford to take chances with big cannon. But I think the scene
went off very well. That stopping and the bursting of the shell made it
look very real."

"That's good," Paul said, wiping some of the dirt and blood off his
face, for he had been scratched by the point of some one's bayonet.

That ended this particular scene for the day, and the players could take
a much-needed rest. Plenty of powder had been burned, and the air was
rank and heavy with the fumes.

"Are you sure you're all right, Paul?" asked Alice, when he came up to
the farmhouse later in the day.

"Well, I think I'd be better if you would feel my pulse," he said,
winking at Russ. "And you don't need to be in a hurry to let go my hand.
I sha'n't need it right away."

"Silly!" exclaimed Alice, as she turned, blushing, away.

"It must have been a shock to you," said Ruth.

"It was. But it was over so quickly I didn't have time to be shocked
long. Now, let's talk about something nice. Come on in to the town, and
I'll buy you all ice-cream."

"That will be nice!" laughed Estelle.

It was several days later that Mr. Pertell, coming to where the moving
picture girls and their friends were seated on the porch, said:

"The big scene is for to-morrow. In the hospital. This is where you are
looking after the wounded officer, Ruth, and Alice, on pretense of
being a nurse seeking to give aid, comes in to get the papers. I want
this very carefully done, as it is one of the climaxe