the confident reply.

By this time Whitlow had picked himself up and was brushing his
garments. He settled his collar, straightened his lavender tie and wet
his lips as though about to speak.

"You--you--I----" he began. "I don't see what right you had to----"

"That'll do now!" interrupted Paul, sternly. "It's of no use to go into
explanations. You know as well as I do what you were doing and why I
pitched you over the railing. I'll do it again if you want me to, but
twice as hard. And if I catch you here again, annoying any of the ladies
of this company, I'll report you to the director. Now skip--and stay
skipped!" concluded Paul significantly. "Perhaps you can't read that
notice?" and he pointed to one recently posted on the main gateway
leading to the big farmhouse. It was to the effect that none of the
extra players were allowed admission to the grounds without a permit
from the director.

"Huh! I'm as good an actor as you, any day!" sneered Whitlow, as he
limped down the walk.

"Maybe. But you can't get over with it--here!" said Paul significantly.

The notice had been posted because so many of the cowboys and girls had
fairly overrun the precincts of Mr. Apgar's home. He and his family had
no privacy at all, and while they did not mind the regular members of
Mr. Pertell's company, with whom they were acquainted, they did not want
the hundreds of extra men, soldiers, cowboys and horsewomen running all
over the place.

So the rule had been adopted, and it was observed good-naturedly by
those to whom it applied. Whitlow must have considered himself above it.

"Did he annoy you much, Alice?" asked Paul.

"Not so very. He was just what you might call--fresh. He asked for Miss
Brown, and when she wasn't here to snub him he turned the task over to
me. Ugh!" and Alice began to scrub vigorously with her handkerchief the
fingers which Whitlow had grasped. "I'm sorry you had that trouble with
him, Paul," she went on. "But really----"

"It was no trouble--it was a pleasure!" laughed Paul. "I'd like to do it
over again if it were not for annoying you. I happened to come up behind
and heard what he was saying. So I just pitched into him. I don't
believe he'll come back. He'll be too much afraid of losing the work.
Mr. Pertell has had a great many applications from players out of work
who want to be taken on as extras, and he can have his pick. So those
that don't obey the regulations will get short notice. You won't