ed on a little more gasoline.

While Blake and Joe are thus speeding to the rescue of the men in
the runaway, we will take a few moments to tell our new readers
something about the boys who are to figure prominently in this
story.

Joe Duncan and Blake Stewart were called the "Moving Picture
Boys," for an obvious reason. They took moving pictures. With
their curious box-like cameras, equipped with the thousand feet of
sensitive celluloid film, and the operating handle, they had risen
from the ranks of mere helpers to be expert operators. And now
they were qualified to take moving pictures of anything from a
crowd, shuffling along the street, to a more complicated scene, such
as a flood, earthquake or volcanic eruption. And, incidentally, I
might mention that they had been in all three of these last
situations.

The first volume of this series is called "The Moving Picture
Boys," and in that I introduced to you Blake and Joe.

They worked on adjoining farms, and one day they saw a company of
moving picture actors and actresses come to a stream, near where
they were, to take a "movie drama."

Naturally Blake and Joe were interested at once, and making the
acquaintance of Mr. Calvert Hadley, who was in charge of the
taking of the play, or "filming it," as the technical term has it,
the two boys were given an opportunity to get into the business.

They went to New York, and began the study of how moving pictures
are taken, developed from the films, the positives printed and
then, through the projecting machine, thrown on the screen more
than life size.

The process is an intricate one, and rather complicated, involving
much explanation. As I have already gone into it in detail in my
first book of this series, I will not repeat it here. Those of you
who wish to know more about the "movies" than you can gain by
looking at the interesting pictures in some theater, are
respectfully referred to the initial volume.

Joe and Blake were much interested in the Film Theatrical Company.
My former readers will well remember some members of that
organization--C.C. Piper, or "Gloomy," as he was called when not
referred to as just "C.C."; Birdie Lee, a pretty, vivacious girl;
Mabel Pierce, a new member of the company; Henry Robertson, who
played juvenile "leads"; Miss Shay, and others in whom you are
more or less interested.

After various adventures in New York City, taking films of all
sorts of perilous scenes, Joe and Bla