dot vos a smash, all right!" exclaimed Carl Switzer,
the comedian of the company. "I pelief me dot I haf busted----"

"Not your leg--don't say you have broken your leg!" cried Mrs.
Maguire, as she clasped her two grandchildren in her arms. Nellie,
the little girl, was crying, from having bumped her nose against the
back of a seat.

"No, t'ank my lucky stars I haf not broken my leg. It iss only my
shoe-lace!" exclaimed Mr. Switzer, triumphantly, as he held it up,
dangling.

"Luck!" grunted Mr. Sneed in gloomy tones. "Is there any such thing
as good luck? I knew something would happen when we started out on
track thirteen. This company is doomed--I can see that."

"Well, then, please keep it to yourself," requested Mr. Pertell,
sharply. "You are getting on the nerves of the ladies, Sneed!"

For Miss Pearl Pennington, and her friend Miss Laura Dixon--the two
rather flashily-pretty girls mentioned before--were crying
hysterically.

"It doesn't seem to be a very bad smash," went on Mr. Pertell.
"Suppose we go out and see what caused it? I hope none of our baggage
has been damaged."

"Oh, let's go out and see Russ taking moving pictures of the wreck!"
proposed Alice, as she brushed off her blue suit.

"Are you sure you're all right?" asked Ruth, anxiously.

"Oh, certainly! Not hurt at all. Just jolted up a bit. Come on. You
too, Daddy!"

Indeed the whole theatrical company, as well as the other passengers,
made for the doors of the car. And while they are going out to see
the extent of the damage I will take just a moment to make my new
readers somewhat better acquainted with the characters of this story.

To begin with the moving picture girls themselves, they were Ruth and
Alice DeVere, aged seventeen and fifteen respectively, the daughters
of Hosmer DeVere, formerly a well known actor. As told in the first
volume, "The Moving Picture Girls; Or, First Appearances in Photo
Dramas," Mr. DeVere's voice had suddenly given out, when he was
rehearsing for a part in a new play.

This came particularly hard, as he had been without an engagement for
some time, and finances were low. The DeVere family lived in the
Fenmore Apartment on one of the West Sixtieth streets of New York
City. They were, in fact, about to be dispossessed for non-payment of
rent when Mr. DeVere experienced a return of an old throat affection,
making it impossible for him to speak his lines.

He was replaced in the character, and matters looked