nglish drawl. "That's a good joke--on them!"

"I wonder if they mean us?" spoke Paul. "If I thought so I'd go ask them
what the joke was, so we could laugh, too."

"Oh, don't," begged Ruth, who disliked "scenes."

The mirth of Miss Dixon and Miss Pennington seemed to increase rather
than diminish, and Mr. Towne was now fairly roaring with merriment. He
laughed so hard, in fact, that he coughed, and leaned back against the
rail for support.

And then something happened. Just how no one could explain, but Mr. Towne
went overboard, his arms and legs wildly waving, and his cane flying far
out into the river. He struck the water with a splash, just as one of the
deckhands yelled:

"Man overboard!"

CHAPTER II

TO THE RESCUE

"Lower a boat!"

"Throw him a life preserver!"

"Stop the ship!"

Wild and excited were the cries that followed the accident. Russ and Paul
were among the first to act, the former getting a life preserver from one
of the racks, while Paul caught up one of the round, white life rings and
tossed it far out toward a commotion in the water that indicated where
Mr. Towne had disappeared. They had to throw the articles toward the
stern of the steamer, as she was in motion, and Mr. Towne was soon some
distance astern.

"Stop the ship!" repeated scores of voices, when the nature of the
accident was understood.

Discipline and boat drill were at a high state of perfection aboard the
steamer, and soon, with a warning blast of her whistle, the craft
trembled under the power of her reversed engines.

"Lower away a boat! Smartly, men!" called one of the officers, as he ran
up to the davits whence hung a life-boat.

And while preparations are under way to rescue the unfortunate actor, may
I take just a few moments to acquaint my new readers with something of
the former books of this series?

The initial volume was entitled "The Moving Picture Girls; Or, First
Appearances in Photo Dramas." In that was related how Hosmer DeVere, a
talented actor, suddenly lost his voice, through the return of a former
throat ailment. He was unable to go in his part in a legitimate drama,
and, through the suggestion of Russ Dalwood, who lived in the same
apartment house with the DeVeres, in New York, Mr. DeVere took up moving
picture acting.

His two daughters, Ruth, aged seventeen, and Alice, aged fifteen, also
became engaged in the work, and later they were instrumental in doing
Russ Dalwood a great serv