n an impulse--in a flash--one of those kaleidoscopic
impulses we have, but back of it was the wish to help some one, and
the curiosity to see if her love, aided by the opportunity, would
suffice to reform the kind of girl she was supposed to be.

"She left the jail in my outer clothes, and I stayed in her shabby
garments. Old Bender never suspected the transfer. It would have been
very easy for me with my agility gained in screen stunts to have
swung out from any part of that old jail, and still easier to have
given you the slip en route to Top Hill, but I wanted Marta to have
plenty of time to get to a far cover before the mistake was
discovered.

"Playing a part was second nature to me. I really felt that for the
time being I was Marta, but a different Marta from the real one. I
always enter into my roles with all my being, so I set the role of a
real thief for myself and played up to it so intently that I all but
lost my own personality. It was the kind of Marta that Bender
supposed her to be who talked to you on that memorable ride to Top
Hill. Your wish to be helpful to an unfortunate girl touched me and
might have won me to confiding in you, but you were so stern and
sometimes so repellant in your manner, I was afraid to trust you. I
wasn't sure you would be equal to rising above your chagrin at
finding you had been taken in by a 'movie actress' and that you might
apprehend poor little Marta.

"By morning I was curious to know your idea of 'the best woman in the
world.' Then, too, I thought I could find my needed tonic in your
hills and better accommodations than I could obtain at a hotel. So I
continued to play my part. When I saw Mrs. Kingdon, I realized she
_was_ the best woman in the world. She, like Jo, recognized me at
once, having seen me rehearsing in San Francisco. I had the whim to
stay incognito and she humored me, insisting, however, that you
should be told the next day. But the next day you had gone. In the
week that followed I learned the beauty of a home life, hitherto
unknown to me.

"Of course those stunts you saw me doing on field day were mere
'horse play' compared with what I have to do in making the pictures.
When I met you for a brief space of time that afternoon, I had no
opportunity to make my disclosure. When you returned, Mrs. Kingdon
was away and I couldn't resist the temptation to play on in my new
part. An