the actors. The members of the cast did their work
entirely in pantomime, except when Mr. Dickle bawled a few lines at them,
which they repeated so that the camera could register the action of their
lips.

It was all so perfectly wonderful to the scouts that they stood for hours
watching the making of the film; that is, they stood still and watched
while the actors and photographers were at work, but the moment business
was suspended, while scenes were changed, they began to ask questions of
every one in sight.

They learned that the big lights were a new type of tungsten lamp filled
with nitrogen gas which made them burn three times as bright as other
lamps. They discovered that the original photographs were only
three-quarters of an inch long and they were magnified from thirty to
fifty thousand times when they were projected onto a movie screen by the
machine in the theater. They found out also that raw film cost four
cents a foot, that movie actors were paid as high as $20,000 a year, that
there were nearly four hundred American firms making movies, that most of
the films of the world were made in this country, that American "movies"
were being shown in China, Australia, India and all sorts of far-off
corners of the world, and that in one American city alone the "movie"
theaters took in more than $40,000 a day in admission fees.

All this and a great deal more did the inquisitive youngsters gather,
until they became veritable motion picture encyclopedias. Of course,
chief among the men whom they questioned was Mr. Dickle. In fact, every
time the manager finished directing a scene, Bruce and several other
scouts pounced upon him and began plying him with questions concerning
the film industry, all of which he answered in great detail, for he
appreciated the fact that they were boys who wanted to learn and
understand.

It was during one of these periods of catechising that he finally
explained the big film he was making at the time.

"This photoplay," he said, "is to be a feature production; five reels of
1,000 feet each. I'm going to give all the details of the troubles Ethan
Allen and the Green Mountain Boys had with the authorities of New York
State over the New Hampshire Grants. Of course, you boys know the story.
It's history."

"You bet we do," said Bruce; "find a Vermont boy who hasn't read about
the Green Mountain Boys."

"Well, I'm glad you are so well informed. It will help a little when you