n. "You do? Now ain't
that just like you? I'd have bet you did that. Well, keep on, son. It's
good stuff."

Her serious mood seemed to pass. She was presently exchanging tart
repartee with the New York villains who had perched in a row on the
fence to be funny about that long--continued holding of hands in the
motor car. She was quite unembarrassed, however, as she dropped the hand
with a final pat and vaulted to the ground over the side of the car.

"Get busy, there!" she ordered. "Where's your understander--where's your
top-mounter?" She became a circus ringmaster. "Three up and a roll for
yours," she commanded. The three villains aligned themselves on the
lawn. One climbed to the shoulders of the other and a third found
footing on the second. They balanced there, presently to lean forward
from the summit. The girl played upon an imaginary snare drum with a
guttural, throaty imitation of its roll, culminating in the "boom!" of
a bass-drum as the tower toppled to earth. Its units, completing their
turn with somersaults, again stood in line, bowing and smirking their
acknowledgments for imagined applause.

The girl, a moment later, was turning hand-springs. Merton had never
known that actors were so versatile. It was an astounding profession, he
thought, remembering his own registration card that he had filled out
at the Holden office. His age, height, weight, hair, eyes, and his
chest and waist measures; these had been specified, and then he had been
obliged to write the short "No" after ride, drive, swim, dance--to write
"No" after "Ride?" even in the artistically photographed presence of
Buck Benson on horseback!

Yet in spite of these disabilities he was now a successful actor at
an enormous salary. Baird was already saying that he would soon have a
contract for him to sign at a still larger figure. Seemingly it was a
profession in which you could rise even if you were not able to turn
hand-springs or were more or less terrified by horses and deep water and
dance music.

And the Montague girl, who, he now fervently hoped, would not be killed
while doubling for Mrs. Rosenblatt, was a puzzling creature. He thought
his hand must still be warm from her enfolding of it, even when work was
resumed and he saw her, with sunbonnet pushed back, stand at the gate of
the little farmhouse and behave in an utterly brazen manner toward one
of the New York clubmen who was luring her up to the great city.
She, who had just con