black indeed.
Across the hall from the DeVere family lived Russ Dalwood, a moving
picture operator, with his widowed mother and brother, Billy. Russ
learned of the distress of his neighbors, and suggested that as Mr.
DeVere could act he might get a place with a moving picture company
that produced picture dramas. In this work he would not need to speak
very much.

At first Mr. DeVere would not hear of it, as he was an actor of some
reputation in the "legitimate." But finally he yielded and became a
member of the Comet Film Company. How his two daughters joined the
company, through a mere accident, and how they made fame for
themselves, you will find set down in the book; also how they aided
Russ greatly when it seemed as if a valuable patent he had perfected,
for an attachment to a moving picture camera, was in danger of being
stolen.

Toward the close of that story you may learn how Mr. Pertell became
acquainted with a young farmer named Sandy Apgar, who was working a
large farm for his aged father, near Beatonville, in New Jersey. It
happened that Mr. Pertell was contemplating the filming of a number
of rural plays, and he made arrangements with Mr. Apgar to use the
farm as a background for the scenes. The company would also live and
board at the farmhouse, which was a large, old-fashioned home.

The players were on their way there when the accident occurred.

To go a little more into detail about the two girls, and the others,
I might say that Ruth was tall, with deep blue eyes and light hair.
She was rather inclined to be romantic, too, as might be suspected.

Alice was just the opposite--plump, jolly, always laughing or joking,
and with a wealth of brown hair, and eyes like hazel nuts. She was
very like her dead mother, while Ruth was more like her father in
character.

Mr. Pertell was the manager and owner of the Comet Film Company, and
I have already mentioned the principal players. Ruth and Alice were
the newest members. Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon were from the
vaudeville stage, and you could see this without being told. They
were a bit jealous of the DeVere girls.

Mrs. Maguire, who was billed as "Cora Ashleigh," was generally played
in "old woman parts." And she played them well. Her two
grandchildren, Tommy and Nellie, occasionally had small parts in the
plays. Mr. Switzer was the comedian, and, opposite to him, was Pepper
Sneed, the "grouch." Wellington Bunn seemed always to have a
grievance b