mer, and he did not
want to hurt his feelings. Then, too, he remembered that Sandy had
hinted at some trouble at the farm. This was probably it, and it had
to do with money.

"Perhaps you would rather not talk about it," suggested the manager,
after a pause. He and Sandy were at one end of the porch now, the
others having gone in. Felix Apgar, preferring to let his son do the
talking, had risen from his chair, and was going slowly down the
gravel walk to close the gate lest some stray cow wander in from the
highway and eat his wife's favorite flowers.

"Oh, I reckon I might jest as well tell you," spoke Sandy, slowly.
"It's bound to come out sooner or later, and then everybody in
Beatonville will hear of our trouble."

"Then it is trouble?" asked Mr. Pertell.

"That's what it is."

"If I could do anything to help," suggested the manager, "I would be
glad to."

"No, I don't reckon you could, unless you wanted to invest quite a
sum of money in this farm," returned the young man.

"Well, I'm afraid I'm hardly ready to do that," declared Mr. Pertell.
"Farming isn't in my line, and I've got about all my spare funds
invested in the moving picture business. But if a loan would help
you----"

"That's th' trouble!" interrupted Sandy. "We've got too much of a
loan now, and we can't pay it off. Th' place is 'mortgaged up to th'
handle,' as they say out this way. That's why pa couldn't give you
permission to burn a barn.

"We have an old shack, that's almost toppling over, and it would be
better burned and out of th' way. But I guess Squire Blasdell would
object if you sot fire to it. The squire pretty near owns our place
with this mortgage; or, rather with th' mortgages of folks he
represents. He's a lawyer," he added simply. "But maybe if you paid
him what he thought the barn was wuth he'd let you fire it."

"Then I'll have to talk to him," went on Mr. Pertell. "I need a
barn-burning in one scene. It will be very effective, I think."

"Gosh! But you movin' picture fellers certainly do things," commented
Sandy. "You hire yachts to make believe take a trip to Europe, and
now you're wantin' to burn a barn! I never heard tell th' like of
such doin's."

"Oh, that's nothing to what some of them do," remarked the manager.
"Why, some of my competitors have bought old steamboats, taken them
out in mid-ocean, and set fire to them, just to get a rescue
picture."

"Get out!" cried Sandy, clearly incredulous.

"That's a f