Behind 
 
 the 
 Screen
 
 301D
 
 Behind the Screen 
 
 HfrtV, OF CALIF. LIBRARY. LOS ANGELE9
 
 Hero Robert Lansing (; 
 The Girl Mary Brewster 
 The Villain - - -Jim Hazzard 
 
 with an 
 Exceptionally Strong Company 
 
 /y 
 
 WILLIAM ALNION WOLFF 
 
 Illustrations by 
 J.ARTING 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 A. C. MCCLURG & CO. 
 1916
 
 Copyright 
 
 A. C. McClurg&Co. 
 1916 
 
 Published April, 1916 
 
 F. MAU. PRINTIN8 COMPANY, CHIOA80
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 ENSING got out into the avenue just as the 
 newsboys began calling his own name. One 
 of the boys pushed up at him a paper, damp and 
 sticky still with the thick ink that went into its 
 glaring headlines, and he bought it instinctively. 
 Other people, all around him, were buying papers, 
 too, and he caught himself, in a moment, turning, 
 with them, to look at the big bulk of the great 
 store he had just left. He felt, somehow, that 
 same half-detached, half-personal interest in the 
 passing of an institution that moved the curious 
 glances of these passers-by. 
 
 And then a futile wave of anger overcame him, 
 shaking him, leaving him white and sick. He 
 hurried on, lest some of these people who were 
 looking up from their papers at the big building 
 should recognize him, and scornfully point him 
 
 2133849
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 out one to the other. He could hear, voiced by 
 the demon of self-consciousness that was taking 
 possession of him, even what they would say : 
 
 " There see him? That's young Lansing ! " 
 That was what he imagined them to be saying. 
 " Old man Lansing's son, you know. Say if 
 I'd had the chance his old man gave him and 
 he's let the whole thing go to pot ! Receivers for 
 Lansing's! What do you know about that? " 
 
 That slang phrase that came so pat to his mind 
 summed the whole business up so brutally, so 
 aptly. What did he know about it? Why, noth- 
 ing at all. That was just the trouble. The big 
 store, and his interest in it, had just been an in- 
 stitution to him, as it had been to the whole city. 
 He hadn't had anything to do with its success ; 
 that had been made, laboriously, before he was 
 born, or while he was growing up, a rich man's 
 son. He hadn't had anything to do with its fail- 
 ure, either. That it was, really, that rankled. 
 That was the thing that filled him with the great- 
 est bitterness. 
 
 And it was a bitterness fairly easy to under- 
 stand, too, when you had the facts, as he had 
 them. It wasn't he, Robert Lansing, who had
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 failed. Failure, in, itself, if a man has the right 
 sort of stuff in him, can be as stimulating, as tonic, 
 as valuable as success. But not the sort of failure 
 that had come to Lansing's and to Robert 
 Lansing. To him, this failure brought the same 
 sensation a man must feel when a bridge collapses 
 under him with the difference that Lansing 
 knew he should have looked to his own supports. 
 He couldn't get away from that. He had shirked, 
 evaded, deliberately, the responsibilities that had 
 come to him. If he had not shirked, if he had 
 played an active part in Lansing's, the failure 
 would probably have been just as inevitable, he 
 knew. He couldn't console himself with the 
 thought that others had shirked, too; that they 
 had made mistakes. Perhaps they had, but it 
 wasn't for him to justify himself in any such 
 fashion as that. 
 
 He had known What was coming for days, of 
 course. With the approach of the crisis that had 
 finally resulted in the bankruptcy of the big store, 
 the active heads of the business had taken him 
 into their confidence. They had had to, for one 
 thing; they needed the money that he had still 
 been able to help them to raise. When it was too 
 
 [3]
 
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 late, he had flung himself, rather savagely, into 
 the task of getting a full understanding of what 
 was and had been going on. His head swam with 
 the explanations that had been offered. He knew 
 all about the uptown movement of the retail trade ; 
 the tremendous increased expenses, due to higher 
 rents to this cause and that. 
 
 But he knew other things, too. He knew that 
 he had been willing, indeed eager, to fall in 
 with the suggestions that had been made to him 
 after his father's death. He had been de- 
 lighted to incorporate Lansing's, to be- 
 come a dummy despite his stock inter- 
 est in the company to let a corporation 
 try to step into his father's shoes. 
 He had justified himself by the 
 knowledge that he couldn't fill 
 them himself, and he had 
 no reason now to think 
 that he had been wrong 
 as to that. But he 
 knew that he ought to 
 have tried. 
 
 His fa- ** 
 ther, build- 
 
 [4]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 ing up Lansing's from a mite of a retail business 
 to the great estate of its palmy days, had faced 
 worse crises than this one that had ended in the 
 bankruptcy court. He hadn't had anything to 
 start with; much less the great business that had 
 come to his son. His name was still one of the 
 great ones of American mercantile history. He 
 had been one of those pioneers, one of those cap- 
 tains of industry about whom that history was 
 written, who had helped to prove that America 
 was the land of opportunity. He had taken his 
 place in the company of men like Carnegie, Rocke- 
 feller, Mackay, Armour, and scores of others like 
 them, who, in greater or lesser degree, had taken 
 toll of the country's needs. 
 
 It was of such men as Robert Lansing's father 
 that Kipling wrote : 
 
 He turns a keen untroubled face 
 Home, to the instant need of things. 
 
 He greets th' embarrassed Gods, nor fears 
 To shake the iron hand of fate 
 Or match with Destiny for beers. 
 
 But no poet was ever going to be inspired to 
 write thus of the man Robert Lansing had been, 
 and he knew it. It had taken this catastrophe to 
 
 [5]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 drive the truth home, though he had been sensing 
 it vaguely for a long time, with a growing rest- 
 lessness and dissatisfaction with the manner of 
 his life. Now this half-formulated complaint he 
 had been making against himself was brought sud- 
 denly, by the force of outward circumstances, into 
 a sharp, clear focus. He could express his feeling 
 now, if he couldn't see a remedy, nor, even, exactly 
 what had been responsible. And he guessed that 
 he couldn't have gone on much longer in the old 
 way, even if Lansing's had not gone under. 
 
 He quickened his step, to keep pace, in some 
 measure, with the turmoil in his brain. There 
 was no special need for haste. The failure of 
 Lansing's, of course, was going to represent the 
 dropping of a pretty big pebble into the placid 
 pool of his life, and the ripples were going to have 
 their effect. But not just yet. This was none of 
 your melodramatic failures, that transform a man 
 from millions and their surroundings in the first 
 act to a Bowery lodging house in the second. He 
 would have some money left; quite a good deal, 
 indeed, according to ordinary standards. And he 
 hadn't come yet to the point of planning changes 
 in the routine of his life. That is one of the last 
 [6]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 things people do, anyway, after such an experi- 
 ence. 
 
 And so Lansing's mind wandered off at a tan- 
 gent, for a moment, from the big fact of the fail- 
 ure, and He thought of his engagements for the 
 next few days. Some of them he would probably 
 have to break, he thought, and he frowned as he 
 tried to plan out his time. Then the futility of 
 this overcame him, and he laughed in the face of 
 an imposing lady shopper who was bearing down 
 upon him. He heard her muttering as he passed; 
 she thought, perhaps, that he was trying to flirt 
 with her. 
 
 He was still in. Sixth Avenue, and he glanced 
 up at the street signs to see if he had reached the 
 point at which he wanted to turn east to reach his 
 rooms. He hadn't, and kept on, to be caught in 
 a sudden outpouring from the doors of a five-cent 
 theater, colorful, in its garish way, with the bright 
 posters that bore witness to the delights to be 
 flashed on the screen within. He caught himself 
 wondering how, in such a neighborhood, such a 
 place could attract so many people of leisure ; and, 
 because he couldn't move quickly, he took note of 
 the people who were coming out. 
 
 [7]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 It was nearly five o'clock, and that added to his 
 wonder, since working hours weren't over. He 
 saw women, women of all sorts; women with 
 their arms full of bundles, in their eyes a remote, 
 happy look, a little fixed joint product of the 
 romance of the films and the eye strain of steady 
 watching well-dressed women and slatternly, 
 slovenly women, many of them pulling excited 
 children along. But they were shoppers, in the 
 main, and they were hurrying now, with their 
 bundles, toward elevated and tubes, to rush home 
 and fulfill their task of cooking dinner for the 
 breadwinners. But though Lansing saw these 
 things, they meant nothing to him yet. He saw 
 them without understanding, obsessed only with 
 the idea of getting through the press of people 
 that had suddenly barred his swift progress. 
 
 That was soon done. The women scattered to 
 their cars, and he forgot his glimpse of something 
 that was new enough, full enough of meaning, to 
 interest him, had he been able to read that mean- 
 ing, to translate it into terms of opportunity. He 
 went on for two more blocks, turned east, and in 
 five minutes reached his rooms. From the depths 
 of his easiest chair a cheerful voice greeted him. 
 [8]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Hello Bob, lucky you came! " it said. " I 
 couldn't have waited much longer, you know. Had 
 to send your man out for more cigarettes as it 
 was." 
 
 "What's up, Sandy?" asked Lansing resign- 
 edly. In his mood, Alexander Brangwyn, who 
 couldn't begin to live up to that sonorous name, 
 was not welcome. But the effort that would be 
 required to make Sandy understand that, without 
 a resort to downright brutality, was beyond him. 
 It was easier to yield. 
 
 " Job for you," said Sandy brightly. " Crowd 
 getting up a show for some bloomin' charity. 
 Theatricals, you know play by some blighter 
 called Pinero, or some such name. Got a fellow 
 I heard of to show 'em how. An' he's simply 
 im-poss-ible ! 
 
 " Told Mrs. Tommy French she didn't know 
 how to behave in a drawin'-room ! Quite right, of 
 course she doesn't. But she wouldn't stand it 
 from him. He chucked it an' they were in 
 a fine hole till I thought of you. So I promised to 
 get you to stage it, they call it, don't they? 
 They'll take things from you they wouldn't hear 
 of from some beastly professional. What? " 
 [9]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Can't do it," said Lansing shortly. " I'm 
 sorry, Sandy but it's out of the question." 
 
 " Eh? " said Sandy, staring. " But, I say, old 
 chap I promised, you know." 
 
 " Look at that 1 " said Lansing. He tossed over 
 the paper he had carried home. 
 
 "Evening paper? What?" said Sandy, with 
 the air of one announcing an important discovery. 
 " Never read 'em. What's the idea, Bob? " 
 
 Lansing controlled himself, and explained. 
 
 " Too beastly bad, old chap," said Sandy, after 
 taking it in. " But it just shows they have the 
 right idea in England, you know. Over there this 
 couldn't have happened. Why? Don't you see, 
 you wouldn't have been in trade. It isn't done. 
 Here the very best people do it and you 
 see what happens." 
 
 He pondered over the disaster while Lansing 
 became his debtor to the important extent of one 
 sense of humor, hitherto badly frayed and un- 
 accountably missing. 
 
 " I tell you what," he said, brightening again, 
 " I'll lend you some money; then you can show 
 them how to act their silly play." 
 
 But Lansing shook his head. 
 [10]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " No, thanks," he said. " It isn't as bad as 
 that. Only, I've got to quit playing for a while, 
 Sandy, and get my bearings. And I'm going to 
 cut loose entirely have a new deal." 
 
 There was a finality in his tone that silenced 
 even Sandy. No one, and least of all Sandy him- 
 self, would have guessed that this decision was less 
 than a minute old. 
 
 " I've got to do that," Lansing broke out sud- 
 denly. "Sandy can't you see what an awful 
 ass I've been? What the devil do I amount to? 
 I can draw well enough to have women ask me to 
 do place cards for their dinners but I couldn't 
 get a job doing picture postals for money. I 
 could help out your charity theatricals but a 
 manager would kick me out of his theater after 
 I'd tried to stage one act of a Broadway show. I 
 can half do a dozen other things and what do 
 they come to? I'm nothing but an amateur." 
 
 " You come along with me," said Sandy firmly. 
 He got up and took Lansing's arm. " I know 
 what's the matter with you, old chap liver. 
 I'm going to order your dinner for you tonight 
 and I'll mix the cocktails myself." 
 
 Once more, it was easier to yield than to resist.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 And Lansing liked the fat little man; he didn't 
 want to hurt his feelings. Then, he had to eat 
 dinner why not with Sandy? 
 
 Sandy, turned autocrat, chose a restaurant, not 
 a club, and a restaurant comparatively strange to 
 Lansing, a place that was full of men, and reeked, 
 even so, of Broadway. But it boasted, as Sandy 
 explained, a cook who was master of just the 
 dishes Lansing needed, and a bar that was stocked 
 with mysterious liquors vital to the cocktail that 
 was part of the prescription. Lansing obeyed 
 without questioning; the cocktail, as a matter of 
 fact, restored some of his self-respect. He began 
 to feel a little sorry for himself. 
 
 There were men all around whom Lansing 
 knew. Some only nodded; several came over to 
 his table, and, haltingly, spoke, with sympathy 
 and regret, of the failure of Lansing's. But the 
 one of all those whom Lansing knew best said 
 nothing at all. This was Hazen, a lawyer, his 
 senior by twenty years. He joined them for his 
 coffee, and talked of trifling things until Sandy 
 brought up the failure. Lansing rather hung on 
 his answer; after the sympathy of the others he 
 had been disposed to resent Hazen's silence. 
 
 [12]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " I don't know," said Hazen reluctantly. " You 
 can work out a reorganization, can't you, Lan- 
 sing? " 
 
 " It's too late for that," said Lansing, with a 
 renewed touch of bitterness. " The competition's 
 too fierce. If you're once down you'd better stay, 
 nowadays. My father " 
 
 He stopped, gloomily thoughtful. 
 
 " Well? " said Hazen quietly. " I knew your 
 father. He weathered some severe storms." 
 
 " Things were different then," retorted Lan- 
 sing. " Those were the days of opportunity. 
 There were chances, then. Things waiting to be 
 done. Now everything's been done, or is being 
 done. It's a case of working away in the rut you 
 get into " 
 
 " So? " Hazen had snatched the chance for a 
 long, keen look at Lansing. " You think the great 
 days of opportunity here are over? " 
 
 "Aren't they?" asked Lansing. "Every- 
 thing's standardized; the country's settled; it's 
 grown up. There's no West any more just for 
 one thing. Do you suppose a man could do now 
 what Rockefeller did with oil, or Carnegie and 
 that Pittsburgh crowd with steel?" 
 
 [13]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Do you suppose any one except them- 
 selves, perhaps thought they could do what 
 they did, when they were getting started? " Hazen 
 answered question with question. 
 
 Lansing didn't answer. And Hazen, after a 
 moment's pause, went on. 
 
 " There's a good deal left to do," he said cheer- 
 fully. " And, as to the store, there'll be a reor- 
 ganization, of course, whether you're in it or not. 
 Feeling as you do, you'd better stay out of it, I 
 should think. But you're going to do something, 
 I take it?" 
 
 " Oh, yes I I'll wait till I see what there is left. 
 If they reorganize, I suppose I'll get some cash." 
 
 " Very likely," said Hazen. " And you had a 
 good deal of stuff outside of the store? " 
 
 " I had yes. I've thrown most of it to the 
 wolves, though, lately. You know, it looked as if 
 some cash would save the store. So I put up 
 about every decent security I had. In fact, I've 
 only got one small block of stock left. I wouldn't 
 have thought of that if I hadn't found a dividend 
 check tonight before Sandy dragged me here. It's 
 some Western Film the governor must have 
 bought to oblige a friend. I supposed it wasn't
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 any good when I was checking up the stuff, and 
 left it out." 
 
 " Western Film? " said Hazen curiously. " I 
 didn't know any was loose. How much?" 
 
 " Only a few shares I've forgotten just how 
 many. It's no good, is it?" 
 
 " Hard to tell," said Hazen. " Depends on a 
 lot of things." 
 
 " Oh, I say," protested Brangwyn, " can't we 
 talk about somethin' interestin'? I brought old 
 Bob here to forget business. Who's that big 
 bounder over there at the round table the chap 
 with the bald head? " 
 
 "That?" Hazen looked across the room. A 
 good many eyes were centering on that table just 
 then. The man who had attracted Brangwyn's 
 attention was spectacular enough to explain the 
 interest he aroused. A great figure of a man, he 
 seemed to tower, even as he sat at table, leaning 
 far back, his voice raised in a roaring note that 
 extinguished hopelessly any attempt of his com- 
 panions to speak except at his sufferance. From 
 time to time he brought a huge fist crashing down 
 on the cloth, setting silver and glass to dancing. 
 
 " That's Jim Hazzard," said Hazen, with a 
 [15]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 smile. " You might ask him about your Western 
 Film stock, Bob. He's the big man in that con- 
 cern. And well, he might serve as a living 
 answer to some of your other questions, too 
 about the opportunities one can still find. Five 
 years ago he was running a saloon in Chicago, and 
 just about breaking even. Today you'll find him 
 rated in Bradstreet at a million and a half." 
 
 A man may have a good many more millions 
 than one and a half and still not be worth a sec- 
 ond glance. But that isn't so of a man who has 
 made that much money in five years. Lansing 
 stared, frankly, openly, with a dawning wonder 
 in his eyes. 
 
 " You mean to say he's made that out of 
 moving pictures? " he asked. " But look here 
 that dividend check it didn't represent more 
 than four per cent, and it's the first that's ever 
 been paid on the stock " 
 
 Hazen shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " You might ask him about that, too," he sug- 
 gested. " You want to remember he's on the in- 
 side. The men on the ground floor don't have to 
 depend on dividends. They've got other ways of 
 getting money, if they control the stock." 
 [16]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Yes that's so," said Lansing. He con- 
 tinued to stare at Hazzard, absorbed, fascinated. 
 " And perhaps my father thought of going into 
 that game in earnest of getting to be an 
 insider? Maybe that was why he had that stock 
 as an opening wedge? " 
 
 " Your father was a pioneer," said Hazen. 
 " He wasn't in the habit of staying on the out- 
 side." 
 
 " I know," said Lansing. He drew in a deep 
 breath. There came over him, with an astonish- 
 ing vividness, a memory of that outpouring of 
 women from the five-cent theater in Sixth Avenue 
 that he had seen that afternoon. He had a vision 
 of such theaters in other streets. He remembered 
 the electric signs, the garish colored posters, 
 glimpsed from automobiles in which he had rid- 
 den through the swarming streets of the East Side, 
 the residential sections far uptown, with their miles 
 of apartment houses in serried rows. 
 
 " Look here ! " he said suddenly. " I was go- 
 ing to try to sell that stock I thought maybe 
 that dividend would make a market. But if my 
 father thought there was something in the 
 business " 
 
 [17]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " I heard it estimated the other day," said 
 Hazen musingly, " that five or six million people 
 go to see moving pictures every day in America, 
 in about seven thousand theaters." 
 
 " They're welcome," said Sandy, with a 
 chuckle. " I say we've got time to take in a 
 show, there's a new one at the Casino." 
 
 " No," said Lansing, " let's go to the movies. 
 I want to see what there is in this game. Maybe 
 it's going to be mine." 
 
 [18]
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 IT was not wholly Lansing's fault that he had 
 come to what passes as maturity with so vague 
 an understanding of life. He had been the vic- 
 tim of circumstances, and of the driving necessity 
 that raises a barrier between so many American 
 business men and their sons. Lansing's father 
 had been infinitely more successful as a merchant 
 than as a father. He had commenced life in very 
 moderate circumstances. 
 
 Springing from a good, sound stock, that had 
 given good citizens to the country, but citizens 
 contented with the sphere in which they found 
 themselves, he had been stirred from his earliest 
 boyhood by ambition, by the determination to lift 
 himself out of the rut in which he seemed destined 
 to live. 
 
 The elder Lansing's career had been called 
 
 meteoric by men who should have been able to 
 
 understand it better. He himself had acquiesced 
 
 in that false definition to some extent, because it 
 
 [19]
 
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 was so flattering to a pride that was very natural, 
 
 very easy to understand and to excuse. He had 
 won his way, as a matter of 
 fact, because he had two in- 
 finitely precious natural gifts 
 the ability to work as hard 
 as was necessary to attain a 
 desired end, and, what was 
 infinitely rarer and more 
 precious even than that, an 
 absolutely clear vision. 
 
 His son had been born dur- 
 ing the long phase of transi- 
 tion, when the elder Lansing 
 was engaged in the process 
 of transforming his business 
 from one local in scope to one 
 that was, in the end, a na- 
 tional institution. With the 
 best will in the world, he 
 could not have devoted him- 
 self to bringing up his son to 
 follow in his own footsteps. 
 
 The demands of his business were too exacting. 
 
 It seemed to him safe to take it for granted that 
 
 [20]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 his success was the re- 
 
 suit of inherent qualities, reasonably certain 
 to be reproduced in his son. He did not take 
 into account the part that the environment 
 of his boyhood had played in the development of 
 those qualities in himself. He did not ask himself 
 why those qualities, assuming them to have been 
 latent in his father and in the men of still earlier 
 generations, had suddenly been aroused to a fierce 
 and active life in him. 
 
 [21]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 He did not stop to ask himself whether that 
 miracle, to which he traced his own achievement, 
 would have occurred had ambition not been 
 aroused in him by the absence, during his most 
 impressionable years, of things he wanted and 
 needed. He gave an incredibly small portion of 
 his thoughts to his son, for that matter. Robert 
 Lansing, as a boy, was wholly and comfortably 
 normal. His school reports were good; he kept 
 out of scrapes. It was very easy for his father 
 to dismiss him from his mind; to rest in the com- 
 fortable belief that he was a good, promising boy, 
 who would grow up and be a credit to his name. 
 
 Robert Lansing, therefore, had developed very 
 much as he himself chose. He had selected his 
 own college; he had followed the studies that 
 interested him. His ambitions were real enough, 
 but they were wholly different from those that 
 had urged his father to commercial conquest. 
 Those ambitions, in his father, had been created, 
 very largely, by sheer want, by the lack of things 
 that others had. When he was old enough to 
 have a definite notion of what he wanted from 
 life, the son realized that provision had been made 
 for the satisfaction of his wants; that he himself 
 
 [22]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 need do nothing to secure them. Inevitably, since 
 he was without the creative talent that might have 
 made him an artist of some sort, he drifted into 
 the ranks of the dilettantes. 
 
 His father's early death, leaving him rich and 
 unoccupied, since he had no training to fit him 
 for the task of managing his property, and had 
 enough native wit to see that he would only ham- 
 per and obstruct the work of the men who were in 
 active charge, removed the last and only obstacle 
 that might have checked this drift. 
 
 Lansing settled down, accordingly, to a pleas- 
 ant and aimless sort of existence. As he had 
 tried to make Sandy Brangwyn see, he was an 
 amateur. He could do half a dozen things pass- 
 ably well. He was artistic, without being in any 
 sense of the word an artist. He had played fairly 
 hard; he had never worked at all. Until this 
 smashing blow had come, there had been nothing 
 to rouse a real ambition in him. 
 
 He had lived, largely, among people like him- 
 self. Some inherited quality, some harder strain 
 within him, had saved him from an insidious peril 
 that might have given permanence to the harm 
 that had been wrought. He had never taken the 
 
 03]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 people he knew best quite seriously. There had 
 been moments always when he laughed at them, 
 when he regarded them with a certain degree of 
 cynicism. He had had, always, a veiled and really 
 subconscious contempt for the men; a similar and 
 equally unadmitted pity for the women. In these 
 feelings he had included himself, and he had 
 recognized, in moments of frank and uncomfort- 
 able introspection, the inherent futility of his own 
 determination to quit fooling, some time, and do 
 something worth while. He had known how im- 
 probable it was that he would ever realize that 
 determination. 
 
 Women had never touched his life greatly. His 
 ideals regarding them were high, and the women 
 he knew, while he found them charming, delight- 
 ful to play with, had all failed to embody those 
 ideals. He looked for something in them that 
 they seemed not to possess. Later, when he 
 thought of those days, he saw that he had treated 
 them with something less than justice ; that the 
 shortcoming might have been on his side, and 
 that it had been unfair for him to expect these 
 women to reveal to him something he had shown 
 no ability whatever to understand.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 But, whatever the reason, and whether it was 
 his fault or that of the women he had known, 
 Lansing had never really been in love. He had 
 had his moments, prolonged moments at times, of 
 illusion. But he had always awakened from his 
 dream; disillusionment had always come, and sex 
 had played a small, indeed a negligible, part in 
 his life. 
 
 Lansing thought of these things, now that it 
 was so clear to him that he would have to dig a 
 new channel for his life. Looking back, he could 
 see all that had gone before in an entirely new 
 perspective. It amazed him to see how shallow, 
 how narrowly bound, the old channel had been. 
 And this vision helped him greatly. It took much 
 of the sharpness from the sting of the wound that 
 the failure had dealt him. 
 
 Some time, he knew, he would have looked 
 back, as he was doing now, and the futility, the 
 emptiness, of life, as he had lived it, would have 
 been revealed to him, as it was being revealed 
 now. There was nothing to regret about what he 
 was forced to leave behind. After all, he could 
 be thankful for the blow that had forced him to 
 strike a balance sheet.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 WHERE the guns of the twin forts of Wash- 
 ington and Lee once swept the Hudson, 
 barring the ascent of the river by the British dur- 
 ing the Revolution, history has been made again 
 in these latter days the history of a new indus- 
 try. Fort Lee is as great a name in the chronicles 
 of the movies as it was in those of the Continental 
 army. On top of the Palisades wild deeds are 
 done daily. Within easy gunshot of the metrop- 
 olis of America, that wild land on top of the 
 crags that overlook the Hudson is a treasure 
 house for the men who make moving pictures. A 
 good director will find there almost any scene he 
 wants. He can achieve the local color for West- 
 ern prairies, for forest romance, for the battle- 
 fields of half the world. The most realistic pic- 
 tures of the Canadian Northwest that were ever 
 made were taken there, but a few feet of film had 
 to be cut out, now and then, when the careless 
 camera man had allowed the great gas tank across 
 the river, on the New York shore, to appear. 
 [26]
 
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 The ferry from Manhattan carries a daily 
 army of invasion, bound for the studios. They 
 are a friendly lot, most of them, gathering in jolly 
 groups. But some there are, every day, whose 
 eyes are full of care. These are the extra people, 
 doomed as yet to make their daily pilgrimage in 
 search of work, as likely to go on a vain errand to 
 the Universal studio at Coytesville and find that 
 only a society drama, with no extras, is being 
 made, as to the Pathe plant at Fort Lee, where a 
 frantic director may be tearing his hair because 
 he has suddenly decided he needs a hundred extra 
 people, and only a dozen have appeared. It is as 
 difficult as it ever was to be in two places a mile 
 apart at one and the same moment, and it is sel- 
 dom, indeed, that a movie director will condescend 
 to say, a day ahead, what his future needs will be. 
 
 And so there is something wistful, pathetic, 
 often, about these stragglers and camp followers 
 of the army, just as there is something pleasing 
 about the great mass of privates in the ranks, those 
 who are regularly employed in small parts. But 
 then there are the aristocrats, too. You can see 
 these lolling in their automobiles, nowadays, for 
 the day of great salaries has come to the movies,
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 looking out with 
 condescension on the 
 humble ones who 
 stand and will rush 
 for the trolleys at 
 the end of the trip. 
 Here you may enjoy 
 an intimate view of 
 some favorite of the films, smoking a cigarette or 
 dabbling at her face with a powder puff, as the 
 case may be. 
 
 But the day of automobile salaries was only 
 just beginning to dawn when Lansing made his 
 first trip on the eight-o'clock boat to begin his 
 practical study of the movies. The movies were 
 attracting audiences by virtue of their novelty. 
 The mere fact that the pictures moved seemed to 
 be almost enough. The era of tremendous com- 
 petition, with the exploitation of personalities, was 
 coming, had begun, indeed. But it hadn't arrived. 
 [28]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Machinery was still --=J-l 
 in the ascendant, 
 since it had not yet 
 reached the perfec- 
 tion of standardiza- 
 tion. As soon as it 
 did, the supremacy 
 of the men and 
 women who could use that machinery best would 
 be assured; actors and actresses, producers, would 
 stand out as individuals, and their names would 
 mean something to those who maintained the in- 
 dustry by their tributes of nickels and dimes. 
 
 It was like that, of course, with the automobile. 
 In the early days, when Daimler and Benz and 
 Haynes and Selden were laying the foundations, 
 the great thing was that a wagon could be made 
 to move without being drawn by horses. Just as 
 with the pictures, the fundamental fact of motion 
 was the all-sufficient, essential thing. With some- 
 
 [29]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 thing approximating perfection came the great 
 days of the individual, the era of racing. Then 
 men who couldn't have told you whether Daimler 
 was a new sort of apple or an operatic composer 
 knew all about the achievements of Lancia and 
 Barney Oldfield, and had the history of the Van- 
 derbilt Cup and the French Grand Prix at the end 
 of their tongues. 
 
 Lansing had let no grass grow under his feet 
 after that night when he had seen Jim Hazzard. 
 He had been able to see through the grossness, the 
 coarse shell of the man, to the smooth-working 
 brain behind the cold, blue eyes. He had sensed, 
 as he studied Hazzard, his oneness with his 
 father, with those other seizers of opportunity. 
 But he might have done that and been no nearer 
 to seeing that the same opportunity that Hazzard 
 had seized upon lay within his grasp, too. He 
 had gone farther. The very fact that the thing 
 surprised him held a suggestion that was full of 
 meaning that and his instant reversion to the 
 moment when he had been caught in the crowd of 
 women from the nickelodeon in Sixth Avenue. 
 
 Why hadn't he known about the movies? Why 
 hadn't he, himself, fallen under a spell that held 
 
 [30]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 so many millions of people every day? And how 
 about Hazen and Brangwyn? They didn't go to 
 the movies, nor did his other friends. Yet he and 
 his friends weren't exceptional people. They 
 shared all sorts of entertainments with these peo- 
 ple who made- up the audiences of the nickel 
 theaters. The only difference was that he and 
 Brangwyn sat in two-dollar orchestra seats while 
 these others looked down from the upper balconies. 
 A show, to be really successful, had to appeal to 
 orchestra and galleries alike. He caught the 
 analogy, and thought about it. And, because, to 
 think intelligently, he had to have a lot of facts, 
 he set to work to take the moving-picture industry 
 apart and see what made its wheels go round. 
 
 He had gone at his task in a cold, driving way 
 that would have surprised Sandy Brangwyn and 
 others of his older friends vastly. It surprised 
 him, for that matter. But in the turmoil, the 
 sickening work of watching the liquidation and 
 winding up of Lansing's, it meant a good deal to 
 have something that kept him busy, something 
 that represented, in a way, a bridge between the 
 dead, useless past and the future in which he hoped 
 really to live. 
 
 [31]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 There had been much for him to learn. He 
 rediscovered things about himself, half forgotten 
 his need for exact knowledge. He inherited 
 that from his father, who had applied a scientific 
 mind to trade. In six weeks of digging he learned 
 more things about the making of moving pictures 
 than Jim Hazzard, with his million and a half 
 that was still growing, would ever know. He had 
 the history of the film, of the camera, with the 
 vital sprocket, at his command. He revived an 
 old interest in photography and made a study of 
 the science of it that would have been amusing if 
 it hadn't been so passionately earnest. 
 
 And, day after day, night after night, whenever 
 he had a spare hour, he was in moving-picture 
 theaters. He watched the films at first, but soon 
 he was more interested in the people who sat 
 around him. He watched three or four successive 
 runs of a picture, to study the impression it made 
 upon wholly different types in the audiences. He 
 analyzed the appeal of every sort of picture, filled 
 endless sheets of paper with notes, and then tore 
 them up, filing away his conclusions mentally. 
 
 He laughed at himself, sometimes. Jim Haz- 
 zard hadn't done this sort of thing, nor, so far as 
 
 [3*3
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 he knew, had any of the other big men of the 
 industry. Perhaps they hadn't felt the need. But 
 he did. He had a curiously logical mind, that de- 
 manded exactitude. All the time he was making 
 plans vaguely. And all the time he knew that 
 they would remain in that vague state until he had 
 his foundation of exact knowledge properly built. 
 Again, his heritage from his father was striking 
 out. One who watched him, and had known the 
 elder Lansing, would have understood, remem- 
 bering how Robert Lansing's father had under- 
 stood every detail of his business, so that he could 
 show a boy the best way to wrap a spool of 
 thread, the clerk in the shipping room the easi- 
 est, quickest way to box a dinner set, a salesgirl 
 exactly the way to send a customer away with the 
 feeling of satisfaction in the service of the store 
 that would make her return. 
 
 Financially, Robert Lansing suffered less than 
 he might have done from the failure of the great 
 store. There had been a reorganization, abruptly 
 halting the receivership and the forced sales. 
 Other interests had stepped in, seizing avidly the 
 chance of a sharp bargain. There had been a 
 compounding with creditors, an assumption, by 
 
 [33]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 the new owners of certain contracts and great 
 debts. Lansing hadn't been vitally interested. 
 He had turned his own interests over to Hazen, 
 and had accepted, with astonished gratitude, the 
 lawyer's report of what had been saved from the 
 wreck. There was a good deal more money left 
 than he had expected nearly eighty thousand 
 dollars. Conservatively invested, that would rep- 
 resent a comfortable income, enough to let him 
 go on very much as before, with certain easily 
 effected economies. But he was in no mood for 
 conservative investments, and he was too busy to 
 worry about the things he had stopped doing, im- 
 portant as they had seemed before. He aban- 
 doned luxurious rooms and service without a 
 qualm, and buried himself in a two-room apart- 
 ment far uptown, where he cooked his own break- 
 fast and had an arrangement with the janitor's 
 wife to make his bed and sweep his rooms for a 
 weekly pittance. The bulk of his money he 
 banked, leaving it instantly available for the 
 grasping of the opportunity he had determined to 
 make for himself out of this new-born moving- 
 picture industry. 
 
 More and more, as he had studied the business, 
 
 [34]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Lansing had been absorbed and obsessed by the 
 great, dominating figure of Jim Hazzard. Not 
 that Hazzard was, at this time, the greatest fig- 
 ure in the industry. Half a dozen men were 
 richer, on the surface ; at least, bigger. But he felt 
 that Hazzard was still growing, moving, reaching 
 out for greater things than any of them had yet 
 touched. That was why, with his theoretical 
 knowledge fairly assembled, Lansing would have 
 selected one of Hazzard's studios as his destina- 
 tion on the morning of his first trip across the 
 Fort Lee ferry, even had he not held his few 
 shares of Hazzard's stock. He wanted to get in 
 touch with the vital force that Hazzard was con- 
 tributing to the actual making of the pictures. 
 And so he was on his way, without introduction, 
 as casually, on the surface, as any of the other 
 camp followers, to look for work as an extra, at 
 the two or three dollars a day that such work 
 commanded. 
 
 Lansing had covered a good deal of ground 
 since the day he had been caught in the crowd in 
 Sixth Avenue without any understanding of its sig- 
 nificance. On the ferryboat, he was vastly inter- 
 ested in the people he saw. He tried to guess 
 [35]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 what sort of parts these men and women played, 
 or hoged to play. He watched them as they spoke 
 to one another; picked out, first one, then another, 
 and both watched and listened shamelessly to see 
 how facial expression interpreted and colored 
 what they were saying. 
 
 And then, by pure chance, his eyes fell on a 
 slim, pale girl who stood apart from the others. 
 Like him, she was watching them, with an intent, 
 tremendous interest she made no effort to conceal. 
 She leaned forward, and her eyes wandered back 
 and forth from one group to another. Her eyes 
 were deep set, of a dark gray, that gave them the 
 most curious emphasis. Strictly speaking, she 
 was not beautiful. Lansing, with his new trick 
 of observation, understood that and studied 
 her, almost with irritation, to find out what it was 
 that made it so impossible to overlook her, even 
 in this crowd. 
 
 For just a moment he thought it was her pallor 
 and her eyes. Then, again, he decided that he 
 had been wrong, that, after all, she was beautiful. 
 But her features, taken one by one, disproved that. 
 They weren't in accord, somehow, with the slim 
 grace of her body, and his eyes wandered, incon- 
 [36]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 sequently, to her hands and feet, which were. 
 Then he caught the secret. There were moments, 
 when something interested her, when her beauty 
 was in the ascendant. But that was due to the 
 astonishing mobility of her face, its extraordinary 
 expressiveness. For he could see, when her face 
 was in repose, the faint thickening of every line. 
 Her nostrils were just a hint too broad, and her 
 nose itself, straight enough, had not the thin, deli- 
 cate line that beauty demands. So with her lips. 
 Parted, one would not notice that thickening, 
 not so pronounced as to suggest coarseness. But 
 when her mouth was still it was there. And yet 
 that clumsiness of modeling that robbed her of 
 the beauty she had so nearly achieved was what 
 gave her the expressiveness, the quick reflection of 
 each trifling change of mood or impression that 
 was her great attraction. 
 
 Lansing fell into a brown study as he stared at 
 her, so that he saw, after a moment, not the girl 
 herself, but the mental image of her that he had 
 recorded. And then, with a start, he came to him- 
 self, and found that her eyes were fixed on him, 
 that she was appraising his stare. They fell away 
 at once, but not before he had seen and under- 
 [37]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 stood the thought that was back of her eyes. She 
 was wondering at him and his curious stare, trying 
 to analyze it, to determine whether she need fear 
 him, or resent his scrutiny. At that he smiled, 
 very faintly, to himself, but he was filled, too, with 
 a sense of pity that was not quite dispelled when 
 the boat bumped against the piles of tke slip, and 
 he turned eagerly shoreward, with the feeling that 
 he had come to a landing on the coast of adventure. 
 
 [38]
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE coast of adventure it was, perhaps. But 
 it was a barren, rock-bound sort of coast, 
 as forbidding, one might guess, as that upon 
 which the Pilgrims landed in New England. It 
 may have been that thought that made Lansing 
 stick to his quest, too, for more than once, after 
 his landing, sick and disgusted, he was on the point 
 of giving up and looking elsewhere for his oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 In the rush from the ferryhouse to the waiting 
 trolley cars, Lansing brushed against the girl, and 
 shied off at once. Yet they met, two minutes later, 
 in the middle of a car they had boarded at oppo- 
 site ends, and he caught the girl biting her lips as 
 she repressed a faint smile. She had decided by 
 this time, evidently, that his scrutiny called neither 
 for fear nor for resentment. 
 
 The car took them all, regulars and extra peo- 
 ple alike, up the Palisades, in a winding course 
 made necessary by the steep ascent. At a junction, 
 on the level plain above, the delegations for the 
 
 [39]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 different studios began to scatter, but Lansing and 
 the girl were bound for the same destination. 
 When they reached the end of the run of the sec- 
 ond car they alone survived of the unattached 
 group. The others had tried their luck at differ- 
 ent studios. Up in the front of the car, a little 
 group of half a dozen were headed for the West- 
 ern studio, too, it seemed; when the car stopped, 
 the girl let them lead the way up the hill, and 
 Lansing, hoping she knew the ropes, brought up 
 the rear of the procession. Here, at the very 
 start, with all his theoretical knowledge of the 
 films, he was in practical difficulties. He realized 
 suddenly that he didn't know how to ask for work, 
 didn't have an idea of the routine. 
 
 The girl did, however, and showed it by the 
 assurance of her movements and her manner. 
 Lansing's first glimpse of the studio showed him a 
 high, long fence, behind which he saw canvas 
 backs of " sets " scenery placed outdoors. It 
 was like coming to the stage of a theater from 
 the wings. Then came an overgrown conserva- 
 tory, all of glass, and beyond that a structure that 
 looked like a barn or a converted livery stable. 
 Into this the actors disappeared who led the van, 
 
 [40]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 and Lansing hastened his steps a little as he saw 
 the girl follow them. By the time he got inside 
 the girl alone was left. She sat down quietly just 
 outside a gate, and, after he had read a forbidding 
 sign, directed especially to " extras," Lansing fol- 
 lowed suit. 
 
 But he did it with a chill that affected his en- 
 thusiasm for the whole adventure most adversely. 
 Was this any way to do business? There was not 
 even an office boy to take note of their presence ; 
 just a sign that forbade all who were not cast to 
 pass the gate. From within there came sounds 
 of life. Talk, laughter, occasionally loud-voiced 
 inquiries for this person or that, the sound of fur- 
 niture being dragged about. 
 
 Lansing wasn't used to waiting. It made him 
 restless, and he got up, after a few minutes, and 
 began to pace the little waiting hall. A dozen 
 people would have crowded it; that was a griev- 
 ance, too, though there was room enough, cer- 
 tainly, for the girl and himself. She watched 
 him for a minute with amused eyes, then said, 
 
 " This your first time? " 
 
 He swung around, and his hat came off. His 
 first impression was one of annoyance. No girl
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 as pretty as this one should have such a voice ! 
 It was unmusical, rough, untrained. But it was 
 a kindly question, of course. And her voice ex- 
 plained why she had recourse to the movies, when 
 the stage seemed to be her vocation. 
 
 " Yes," he answered. " Is this the usual thing? 
 Does one always have to sit down and wait like 
 this?" 
 
 " It all depends," she told him. " I've waited 
 here for three hours, sometimes. But then, again, 
 you're likely to be called in right away. You 
 never can tell." 
 
 " That's a fine way to do business," said Lan- 
 sing, in great disgust. " I shouldn't think they'd 
 get many people to come for work, at that rate." 
 
 " Oh, well ! " She shrugged her shoulders 
 slightly. He noticed that it was a trick of hers 
 to make a gesture serve the ends of speech when- 
 ever she could. " Hello here's some one now 
 Haines, I think." 
 
 A young man, coatless, his sleeves rolled up, 
 perspiring, exuding energy as well as moisture, 
 came down the hall that had been made by board- 
 ing off partitions. His gait was half a walk, half 
 a run. 
 
 [42]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Extras ! " he bawled, as he approached. 
 "Who's here? Oh " And he swore. 
 
 He came to a halt and surveyed them dis- 
 gustedly. 
 
 " Beat it inside, Brewster! " he said to the girl. 
 " Street stuff get a wop costume." 
 
 She departed, with a faint smile thrown at 
 Lansing as she went. Haines, the director, glared 
 at Lansing. 
 
 "Greenhorn?" he snapped. "Any experi- 
 ence?" 
 
 " Yes ! No ! " said Lansing, answering both 
 questions, and glared back. 
 
 " All right I'll have to use you today, any- 
 how," said Haines. "Dick!" 
 
 A lean youth, with sagging shoulders, emerged 
 from a cubby-hole beyond the gate. 
 
 " Dick, phone and see if you can't scare me up 
 a dozen extras from around for that street scene. 
 Then take this guy's name and show him how to 
 get ready. Shoot him along when he's fixed." 
 
 He disappeared. Dick crooked a finger, and 
 Lansing, raging inwardly, followed him. He 
 waited while Dick telephoned to three or four 
 studios, in a complaining, singsong voice. 
 
 [43]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Come along! " said Dick; then, " gee it's 
 always the same way. When we don't need any 
 extras we can't walk without stepping on 'em 
 when we do, there won't be any." 
 
 " Why not let them know ahead? " suggested 
 Lansing. 
 
 " Gee how's the boss know what he's going 
 to make till he gets ready? " Dick asked. "Here 
 y'are pick out one of them wop outfits and get 
 into it, quick! Better darken your eyes a bit, too, 
 and wipe some stuff on your lips. Know how? " 
 
 Lansing did know how. His success in ama- 
 teur theatricals implied that sort of knowledge. 
 He applied pencil and lip stick quickly and skill- 
 fully; then donned the costume of an Italian of 
 Mulberry Bend with a careless, but effective atten- 
 tion to details like tie and sash that won Dick's 
 approval. And then he followed Dick to a place 
 that made him think of an insane asylum he had 
 once visited. 
 
 For the first time, he saw a picture in the process 
 of making. Clouds had darkened the sky for a 
 time, so an indoor scene was being made. Under 
 a battery of vacuum lights, casting a ghastly, 
 greenish-white glare that annihilated shadows, 
 
 [44]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 three or four principals were rehearsing a scene. 
 Haines, a script clutched in his hand, sat astride 
 a chair before the camera, barking out his instruc- 
 tions that governed every movement, every ges- 
 ture, every shade of expression of the actors. 
 Two minutes of observation left Lansing with an 
 overwhelming impression the utter destruction 
 of individuality that was involved in this process. 
 It was Haines who did everything. 
 
 The actors didn't know what they were doing. 
 Blindly, dumbly, they obeyed orders. Haines 
 alone knew the meaning of what they did. In 
 his mind alone were all the scattered threads 
 of the story that was being enacted, brought to- 
 gether. A cast that included Bernhardt and 
 Duse, Sothern and Forbes-Robertson, couldn't 
 have interpreted that photo play, since Haines 
 gave his puppets no inkling of the emotions, the 
 desires that belonged to the characters they played. 
 
 " You come in, Deane,' 1 he would say to the 
 leading woman. " Look at the picture and regis- 
 ter grief." 
 
 And Mary Deane, a pretty, insignificant blonde, 
 obeyed. But the grief that distorted her features 
 carried no conviction. She registered grief be- 
 
 [45]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 cause Haines told her to do so; not be- 
 cause, interpreting the role of the heroine, she 
 imagined herself, for a moment, as suffering what- 
 ever it was that the scenario called upon that char- 
 acter to endure. 
 
 So it went. The girl he knew as " Brewster " 
 came in, transformed, somehow, by her make-up 
 and her costume, and looking, to his eyes, infinitely 
 more like an actress and an artist than any of the 
 much better-paid principals. Other extra people 
 came straggling in, too, during the morning. Just 
 before the brief luncheon interval, Lansing was 
 called up, and worked before the camera for the 
 first time. His part made no demands on him; 
 he had simply to form one of a crowd that de- 
 nounced the driver of an automobile who had 
 just run over a child. And yet, in this scene, some- 
 thing happened that made a great impression on 
 him. 
 
 While it was being rehearsed, under the lash 
 of the director's tongue, the gray-eyed girl sud- 
 denly detached herself from the crowd of extras, 
 sank down, and, covering her face with her shawl, 
 began to sob convulsively, her shoulders heaving. 
 Haines saw her, leaped forward, then stopped. 
 
 [46]
 
 The gray~ eyed girl 
 sank down, and, 
 covering her face with 
 her shawl, began to 
 sob convulsively
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " That's good! " he cried sharply. " Repeat 
 that and take down your shawl afterward, and 
 register grief. Look as if you were the kid's 
 mother. We need something like that for this 
 scene." 
 
 "Of course you did!" muttered Lansing to 
 himself. 
 
 And afterward he approached the girl. 
 
 " How did you happen to break away from 
 what he told us to do? " he asked her curiously. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know," she said. "I I just 
 sort of felt as if I really was a woman in a crowd 
 like that and I thought if I was I'd cry." 
 
 " I see," said Lansing thoughtfully. 
 
 It seemed to him afterward that that was the 
 one bright spot of his whole day in the studio. 
 It was the one instance of a genuine effort to act. 
 Everything else was mechanical, the result of a 
 narrow, prescribed routine. It was by a slavish 
 adherence to routine that Haines got his effects. 
 Lansing wasn't ready to question this. Haines 
 might be right; probably he was. But, if he was, 
 what hope could lie in the whole business? Mari- 
 onettes, the Punch and Judy shows he had seen in 
 France and England, offered as great a field as 
 
 [48]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 moving pictures of the sort Haines made. And 
 yet when Haines had the real thing thrown at 
 him by the gray-eyed girl, he had recognized it, 
 seized upon it avidly. Perhaps Haines knew the 
 limitations of his people. Perhaps he had to work 
 as he did with the material he had. 
 
 However that might be, Lansing had accom- 
 plished one thing, at least. He knew now, or 
 thought he did, why the people who sat in the 
 two-dollar seats of the theaters didn't fill the five- 
 and ten-cent moving-picture houses one of the 
 reasons, at least. 
 
 " These people don't see what they've got," he 
 said to himself, half contemptuously. " They're 
 offering shoddy goods cheap and nasty. They 
 get the trade that has to have cheap stuff, and 
 can't care how nasty it is as long as it is cheap. 
 But that girl, now I'm going to keep my eyes 
 on her " 
 
 Out of the very disgust that had repelled him 
 at first he began, now, to get fresh inspiration. 
 If things were wrong, if chances were being over- 
 looked by these people, who, after all, had ac- 
 complished a great and conspicuous success, didn't 
 that mean that his opportunity was all the greater? 
 [49]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 If Jim Hazzard, with such methods underlying 
 his business, had been able to make a fortune in 
 five years, why shouldn't another man, profiting 
 by Hazzard's mistakes, make a greater one? 
 
 It wasn't a standardized business he wanted to 
 break into what he needed was a chance to be 
 a pioneer, as his father had been before him. He 
 began to see the analogy, to understand a little 
 better some of the things Hazen had said. And 
 this was much more nearly a virgin field than the 
 one his father had tilled with such great results. 
 Men had been keeping store for centuries, but it 
 had been left for Lansing's father and his con- 
 temporaries to revolutionize all the accepted 
 methods and build up great fortunes by doing so. 
 As for moving pictures, Hazzard had been in 
 that business for five years, and was rated one of 
 the pioneers while a man who could go back 
 to the dim beginnings, in the late nineties, was 
 already an historic, almost a mythological, figure ! 
 
 He watched Haines for the rest of the day with 
 an amused sort of tolerance. And he did not neg- 
 lect the girl with the gray eyes. He wondered how 
 Haines could fail to see how immeasurably better 
 than his leading woman was this almost nameless 
 [50]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 extra girl, who, even as a super, sank herself for 
 the moment into the character she was playing. 
 Lansing couldn't do that himself; self-conscious- 
 ness, or something of the sort, made it impossible 
 for him ever to enter into that state of illusion. 
 
 But his experience in amateur theatricals had 
 taught him the value of that power, as well as its 
 rarity. He knew that in nine cases out of ten it 
 constituted the one great difference between ama- 
 teur and professional. But he was glad Haines 
 didn't see the girl's value. She was beginning to 
 figure vaguely in even vaguer plans that were 
 forming in Lansing's mind. When Dick made 
 him write down his name and address, at the end 
 of the day's work, in a big book in the office, he 
 took the chance to glance at the girl's entry. 
 
 Mary Brewster she was called. She lived far 
 uptown in New York. As soon as he was alone 
 he wrote down name and address.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 NO lad apprenticed in a medieval guild ever 
 learned a trade more thoroughly than Lan- 
 sing learned the new business of the movies in the 
 weeks, fast growing into months, that followed 
 his first contact with the actual making of a pic- 
 ture on top of the Palisades. Not for many days 
 did he go back to Haines; meanwhile he had 
 worked as an extra under almost every director 
 of the colony that centered in Fort Lee. Then he 
 took a long jump and saw the wholly different 
 methods in use in California, where, instead of 
 making exterior sets for camera work under glass 
 and vacuum lights, the most elaborate interiors 
 were set up outdoors, and every picture was made, 
 from start to finish, in the clear, even sunshine of 
 the coast. 
 
 He improved as an actor inevitably; any one 
 would have done that. He won praise from 
 directors, and more than one offer of a real job, 
 with a place on the pay roll. But the glamour 
 of the work, though it threatened to hold him 
 [52]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 more than once, never quite obscured his realiza- 
 tion that behind the studios, behind the autocratic 
 directors, behind the actors who were beginning to 
 emerge from the anonymity of the earlier films, 
 there were big, dominating figures like that of 
 Jim Hazzard. It was those men who were creat- 
 ing the industry who appealed to him most; he 
 
 sought eagerly for every crumb of information as 
 to their rise, delighting in the constant proof of 
 the opportunities they had seen and seized. 
 
 The new industry, still in the pinafore stage, 
 had its sagas already. It had no written history, 
 but everywhere Lansing found men to tell him the 
 things that the historian of the future will record. 
 He heard of the first timid steps, when two funda- 
 mental inventions, that of the celluloid film and of 
 the still rather mysterious camera, with its sprocket 
 [531
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 mechanism that made the rapid motion of the film 
 possible, had enabled Edison and the Biograph 
 pioneers to make the first crude pictures. 
 
 In those early days motion had been enough. 
 Audiences had cheered in startled wonder at the 
 sight of a moving train, a crowd walking along a 
 street, a galloping horse. It was with such pic- 
 tures, he heard, that J. Stuart Blackton and Albert 
 E. Smith, then doing the stock tricks of magicians 
 in vaudeville, had made their start. They made 
 their first pictures themselves, on the roof of an 
 old building in Nassau Street, and got a young 
 real-estate broker, named William T. Rock, to 
 finance their first experiments. He needed no one 
 to tell him that those three were now the owners 
 of the great Vitagraph Company one of the 
 undisputed leaders of the industry. 
 
 Everywhere the men with the long memories 
 harked back to the epoch-making year of 1903, 
 when E. S. Porter, of the Edison Company, pro- 
 duced the first real motion-picture drama the 
 famous " Great Train Robbery." In that picture, 
 for the first time, a real story was developed and 
 told on the film, acted out by real actors. And 
 after that the beginning of the deluge. He 
 
 [54]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 heard that in Los Angeles, from an actor who had 
 been in the films since the beginning, and was glad 
 now to get extra work two or three times a week. 
 
 "And, my boy here's a coincidence," said 
 the actor. He pointed to a lean, sharp-faced man, 
 with piercing eyes, that let no passer-by escape 
 their scrutiny. " Do you see that man? That's 
 Anderson Broncho Billy 1 " 
 
 Lansing was interested at once. He had heard 
 of the man who had first made the cowboy films 
 popular, with a vogue that carried them clear 
 around the world. 
 
 " Yes, sir," the actor went on, " that's Broncho 
 Billy G. M. Anderson, the A of Essanay 
 S an' A see? Nerve! My boy, if I'd had his 
 nerve I'd be a millionaire today! He was in that 
 film I was telling you about ' The Great Train 
 Robbery.' And afterward he acted a lot. He got to 
 know how the pictures ought to be made, you see. 
 So he got a hunch. And he went out to Chicago 
 and dug up a fellow he'd known a long time, G. K. 
 Spoor. Spoor, he was making eye-glasses and 
 things, just in a small way. Nice little business he 
 had salting away a thousand a year, I'd guess. 
 
 " Well, Anderson filled him up full of this 
 
 [55]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 moving-picture game, and got him excited. So 
 Spoor put up the money and they started Essanay, 
 with Spoor to run the business and Anderson to 
 see to the pictures, and act in 'em, too, in his cow- 
 boy parts. I guess you know the money they're 
 making today. 
 
 " Nerve ! That's the thing that's built this busi- 
 ness up, my friend. There's C. J. Hite Hite, 
 of Thanhouser. Heard of him, haven't you? 
 Well, he was running a lunch room in Chicago. 
 He started one of the first independent exchanges 
 with his hat for an office, from all I hear. 
 Rented films out to the little theaters, that the 
 big trust exchanges wouldn't do business with at 
 all. Gave up his lunch room and that left Paul 
 Davis out of his job as a waiter. But Paul didn't 
 bear any hard feelings to Hite and proved it, a 
 bit later. Paul got a job with some big m3n in 
 Chicago, and later on, when Hite got a chance to 
 buy old man Thanhouser out, he met this fellow 
 Davis, looking prosperous, and told him of his 
 chance, and the money he needed to snatch it. So 
 Paul got his boss to put up a hundred thousand 
 dollars for Hite to play with ! Hite's on his way 
 to his million today." 
 
 [56]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 It seemed to Lansing that there was some such 
 story about every man who had risen to the top. 
 And about these stories there was one striking 
 point of similarity. Every one seemed to hinge on 
 the fact that its hero had looked ahead, had seen 
 the great days that were coming, and had risked 
 everything on his vision. They had all had 
 nerve. Sigmund Lubin, in Philadelphia, giving up 
 his life work in middle age like Spoor, he had 
 been a maker of optical instruments had put 
 himself and all his capital into the new business 
 and reaped a great harvest. Carl Laemmle, aban- 
 doning a tailor shop in Milwaukee, had opened 
 a nickel theater in Chicago, and gone on from 
 step to step until he had built up the Universal 
 corporation, controlling half a dozen brands of 
 films and exchanges all over the country, in open 
 rivalry of what all movie men called the trust. 
 
 He got the chronicle of Jim Hazzard, too. 
 Hazzard appealed to many as he did to Lansing, 
 to whom he seemed a true figure of romance, un- 
 romantic as was his personal appearance. He 
 heard what Hazen had already told him; that 
 Hazzard, five years or so before, had been the 
 owner of a Chicago saloon. In connection with 
 [57]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 his saloon, he had had a summer garden. And, 
 to attract patronage to this, he had taken to show- 
 ing films, getting old, worn prints that he could 
 rent cheaply. 
 
 The response of his trade had startled him, 
 and he had seen at once that what he intended 
 as an advertisement was bigger than the thing 
 he wanted to advertise. Unhesitatingly he had 
 sold his business, grinning at the loss he had to 
 bear, and plunged into the business of the pic- 
 tures. He tried to build up an exchange busi- 
 ness; found that the trust made such terms that 
 there was no profit left for him, and began, in a 
 small way, to make films that he could distribute 
 on his own terms. One thing led to another; he 
 found himself, before, perhaps, he quite realized 
 what he was doing, in active opposition to the trust 
 made up, it may be well to explain, of the 
 companies, now grouped together, that worked 
 under a license from the owners of the basic 
 camera patents. 
 
 Lansing, studying the rise of Hazzard, found 
 himself always at a loss to know whether his suc- 
 cess was due to genius or a sublime sort of luck; 
 everything Hazzard had done had been so in- 
 [58]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 evitable a result of something that had gone 
 before. The great Western Company itself was 
 simply Hazzard's answer to the decree of the 
 trust that his exchanges must handle only trust 
 films. 
 
 So now three great rivals were fighting for con- 
 trol of the industry. Only in the Western group 
 could Lansing see the domination of an individ- 
 ual; the trust and the other great independent 
 group lacked personality, since they had no Haz- 
 zard. They had plenty of commanding figures, 
 but Hazzard still remained in a class by himself. 
 That, as a matter of fact, was because he ap- 
 pealed more especially to Lansing's instinct for 
 organization. He wasn't as good a film man as a 
 score of lesser figures. Lansing, indeed, knew 
 more, as a result of his study of the business, 
 than did Hazzard himself of the details that were 
 vital in the actual conduct of affairs. 
 
 His California visit put the finishing touches on 
 Lansing's self-education. He went East with the 
 feeling that he knew, now, as much as he needed 
 to enable him to plunge into the business. And 
 yet, as fast trains carried him homeward, he was 
 as far as ever from making up his mind as to how 
 
 [59]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 to go in. He wanted to lead, not to follow ; above 
 all, he wanted to be independent. And it seemed 
 to him that, despite the youth of the industry, he 
 was too late to achieve either of those desires 
 very fully. What was there to be done that had 
 not been done already? Things might be better; 
 there was an almost unlimited opportunity for im- 
 provement. But all a newcomer could do, after 
 all, was to make pictures. And, as to independ- 
 ence when he had made them they had to be 
 marketed. 
 
 They had to reach the public and the public 
 sat before the screens of innumerable theaters, 
 which got their films from the big exchanges, 
 which were under control of one or the other of 
 the great groups. His thinking was circular; he 
 reminded himself, as he tried to work out his 
 problem on the train, of a dog chasing his own 
 tail. He was pretty low-spirited, indeed. It 
 was one of those periods of discouragement and 
 distrust of self that most men experience. He 
 abused himself. He remembered his bitter self- 
 condemnation after the failure of Lansing's and 
 the things that he knew had been said about him. 
 
 It seemed to him that he, in that first bitter
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 and sharp fit of passionate regret for the time 
 he had wasted, and the friends of his father who 
 had sneered at him, had been wholly right. His 
 sudden interest in moving pictures wasn't a symp- 
 tom of acute and intelligent ambition, somewhat 
 belated in its manifestation, but only the sort of 
 reflex action that can be produced in any creature, 
 even a mule, by a well directed and unexpected 
 kick. Of course, the Lansing failure had stirred 
 him up. But to what end? He knew all about 
 the moving-picture industry now or thought he 
 did. And what good did that do him? He saw 
 no way to apply his knowledge. The opportuni- 
 ties that had beckoned so plainly to Laemmle and 
 Hite, Hazzard and Blackton, might still be pres- 
 ent. But he couldn't see any of them. And so, 
 for him, they didn't exist. 
 
 He was in the grip of that despondent mood 
 when he got to Chicago. His train was late, and 
 he missed his New York connection. That was 
 chance, pure and simple ; a whim of fate, or what- 
 ever you choose to call it. So was part of what 
 followed. 
 
 There was no reason for Lansing to be in a 
 hurry to reach New York, and he derided to 
 [61]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 spend a day or two in Chicago, where there were 
 friends he had not seen for a long time. He got 
 to his hotel about midnight; the first face he saw 
 in the lobby was that of Hazen, the lawyer, who 
 had been the first to point Jim Hazzard out to 
 him. There was nothing remarkable about this. 
 Hazen's practice took him all over the country. 
 He greeted Lansing with great friendliness, and 
 then as he took in his appearance smiled, rather 
 quizzically. 
 
 Lansing had changed a good deal since his last 
 meeting with Hazen. The change had begun be- 
 fore he had gone West, manifesting itself in a 
 certain indifference to things that had formerly 
 seemed important. Lansing had been the pride 
 of a fashionable tailor. Now he wore a suit that 
 most obviously hadn't renewed its acquaintance 
 with a pressing iron for many days, and that 
 hadn't profited as a result. His shoes were dusty; 
 his hat, a .soft, slouchy panama, would have 
 shocked his ex-valet. He looked bigger, too. He 
 had filled out; his shoulders were broader and 
 straighter. And his face and hands had been 
 burned to a rich golden brown by the California 
 sunshine. Hazen, noting the change, and grop- 
 [62]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 ing mentally to describe it, got the exact word. 
 Lansing looked more American. 
 
 " Thank heaven! " said Lansing. " Have you 
 got anything to do? " 
 
 " I've got to go to bed," said Hazen, with a 
 smile. 
 
 " Wrong ! You've got to split a Welsh rabbit 
 or a lobster with me and tell me if Broadway 's 
 still lighted up at night. You've got to oh, 
 just talk to me ! I've been on the ragged edge of 
 all the world for weeks." 
 
 " It's agreed with you," said Hazen dryly. 
 " Been making a fortune? I noticed symptoms of 
 trying to do that when I saw you last." 
 
 Lansing would have flushed if his coat of tan 
 had not forbidden it. 
 
 " Don't talk about me," he said. " I'm a poor 
 topic and I'm sick of myself, anyhow. What's 
 new in New York? " 
 
 Hazen talked gossip for a few minutes and 
 saw that Lansing's eyes wandered. Hazen hadn't 
 acquired his commanding position in the law with- 
 out wisdom and perception; he found it a little 
 hard to suppress a chuckle. 
 
 "Seems pretty small, doesn't it?" he said 
 [63]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 sympathetically. " But it's as important as it 
 ever was to your friend Brangwyn and the rest 
 of them." 
 
 He had put his finger on the spot, and Lansing 
 knew it. He was at loose ends. Hopelessly out 
 of touch with the life he had led before the 
 Lansing smash, he had nothing to take hold of 
 now. 
 
 " You were interested in Jim Hazzard, weren't 
 you? " said Hazen, seemingly at random. " He's 
 in a peck of trouble." 
 
 "Trouble? How?" said Lansing, startled. 
 One might almost have seen him prick up his 
 ears. 
 
 " He's likely to lose control of Western Film. 
 Haven't you heard that he's been fighting with 
 Cramer and Howell? " 
 
 " I heard he was trying to force them out," said 
 Lansing. " But hasn't he got control ? That's 
 the general impression." 
 
 " He had it just as long as Dave Sears was 
 alive," said Hazen. " Sears was his original 
 partner Cramer and Howell came in later. He 
 got them when he had to have real money, and 
 it's always been the eighth wonder of the world
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 that those two pirates put up the cash without 
 getting fifty-one per cent of the stock. I guess, if 
 the truth were known, Jim managed to fool them 
 some way or else they found out that some one 
 else was ready to put up the money if they didn't. 
 And then, again, they may have thought they 
 could handle Sears, who had just enough stock to 
 swing the balance between them and Hazzard. 
 Now Sears is dead and Hazzard can't buy his 
 stock." 
 
 Lansing's indifference had vanished. He was 
 sitting up now, alert and keenly interested. 
 
 " How do you know? " he asked sharply. 
 
 " Because I happen to be counsel for Mrs. 
 Sears," the lawyer answered. " There's no secret 
 about it a hundred men know the facts. Old 
 Dave's will provided that his stock should be sold 
 I guess he understood that a woman, without 
 any business training, needed something safer than 
 Western Film as an investment. And it gave Haz- 
 zard first chance to buy the stock, with a time 
 limit." 
 
 " Well didn't he snap at it? " asked Lansing. 
 
 " Yes the way a dog snaps at a bone that's 
 just beyond his reach when he's chained up. He's 
 
 [65]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 half crazy. But Cramer and Howell have got him 
 this time and if he put anything over on them 
 before, they're getting good and even now. I 
 told you Hazzard was rated at a million and a 
 half. And he hasn't been able to raise fifty thou- 
 sand in cash which is what he's got to have to 
 get that stock. His time's up tomorrow at 
 noon. Today, that is." 
 
 Lansing sat back and stared. 
 
 " And that means that the other two will get 
 it?" 
 
 " Not a doubt in the world. They haven't been 
 near me yet. But they're safe enough. No one 
 would buy that stock except themselves or Haz- 
 zard, of course. And they've seen to it that he's 
 helpless. They've got Wall Street connections, 
 and their own ways of keeping a man from getting 
 hold of money if he's likely to interfere with 
 them in using it. ' And Hazzard's tied up. He's 
 the sort of man who won't let a dollar stay idle. 
 A dollar in cash to him is just a basis of two 
 dollars in credit." 
 
 " You're handling the Sears stock? " exclaimed 
 Lansing. 
 
 " Yes as executor. That's why I'm here. 
 [66]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Selling that will wind up the estate, and his will 
 was filed here for probate." 
 
 " If Cramer or Howell, or both of them, had 
 come to you and asked for an option, in case Haz- 
 zard didn't exercise his, you'd have given it to 
 them?" 
 
 " I wouldn't have had any choice. The will 
 leaves me no latitude about that stock." 
 
 Lansing took a dollar bill from his pocket and 
 laid it on the table between them. 
 
 " A dollar 's consideration enough in an option, 
 isn't it? " he said. " Give me that option. I be- 
 lieve I can do as much with that stock as any one 
 else. With what I've got already it means some- 
 thing. And I'm ready to risk fifty thousand 
 dollars on my hunch." 
 
 Hazen, astonished for once in his life, and un- 
 able to hide it, stared at him. 
 
 "You're crazy! " he said. "You can't graze 
 in that pasture, Bob! You'd be a little white, 
 woolly lamb in a pack of wolves ! You haven't got 
 enough money to sit in that game." 
 
 But Lansing's eyes were snapping, and his 
 mouth had tightened into a straight, hard line. 
 
 " I'm making a bona-fide offer," he said. " You 
 
 [67]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 say yourself you've got no right to refuse it. And 
 you're not looking out for my interests your 
 business is to sell that stock." 
 
 He got his option. Hazen stopped with the 
 one remonstrance; he recognized, somehow, the 
 futility of further protest. And Lansing, with his 
 hat at a disgraceful angle, left the hotel, whistling, 
 and sought the nearest telegraph office that was 
 open all night. At the counter, he composed a 
 long and explicit telegram to his New York bank. 
 It contained none of the customary telegraphic 
 abbreviations. Lansing determined to leave no- 
 room for error, since he desired a credit of fifty 
 thousand dollars in Chicago well before noon. 
 Noon in Chicago is one o'clock in New York; that 
 gave a little more time for whatever formalities 
 might be necessary. He was thankful for the fore- 
 sight that had led him to make arrangements, 
 before he left New York, for just such an emer- 
 gency need of money. When he had done so, to 
 be sure, he had contemplated nothing more than 
 a possible accident, making the ability to draw a 
 few hundred dollars quickly desirable. But, the 
 arrangements once made, it was as easy to get 
 fifty thousand as a hundred. 
 [68]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 For the first night in a week or more of severely 
 critical self-examination, Lansing went to sleep 
 almost as soon as his head touched the pillow. 
 For good or evil, he had taken the same sort of 
 plunge that men like Hazzard and Laemmle had 
 taken. Like them, he had glimpsed an oppor- 
 tunity and had had the nerve to seize it. He 
 might be right or wrong. Only the future could 
 disclose that. And about the future he refused 
 to worry. He had made his start! 
 
 [69]
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE Whitestone Hotel looked like a moving- 
 picture headquarters next morning. Lan- 
 sing, finishing his coffee before nine o'clock, sat 
 back and grinned to himself at the entrance of 
 Hazzard. The big man drew all eyes to himself, 
 as he always did. He couldn't help it; Lansing 
 guessed that on this, of all days, he didn't want 
 to do so. But he couldn't modify his bulk; seem- 
 ingly he couldn't tone down the roar of his voice, 
 either. And, if he was worried, his appetite ap- 
 peared to be unaffected. A dyspeptic individual 
 at the next table turned a little paler at the sight 
 of Hazzard's breakfast: fruit, cereals, chops, 
 eggs, bacon, a steak pot after pot of coffee. 
 Lansing, waiting for a telegram, stayed, with his 
 cigar, to enjoy the sight and got a little more 
 in the way of entertainment than he had bargained 
 for. 
 
 He was not far from Hazzard, who, of course, 
 didn't know him. And the sight of the great veins 
 in the big man's forehead, swelling up until they
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 turned to an ominous purple, was his first warning 
 that something strange was happening. A mo- 
 ment later he understood, as a waiter ushered two 
 men, immaculate in summer garb of New York, 
 to another near-by table. Howell and Cramer! 
 
 riazzQTa drew 
 all eyes to himself 
 
 They saw Hazzard; feigned surprise and nodded 
 cordially to him. Both were small, dapper men; 
 both had shifty eyes, that refused to linger any- 
 where long enough for an observer to look through 
 them. Aside from that, though, they had noth- 
 ing in common. Yet both had the predatory look. 
 And they couldn't quite conceal their contempt 
 for Hazzard and his swelling, apoplectic rage.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Enough food to have fed most men for a day 
 still remained at Hazzard's place. Perhaps the 
 sight of his enemies did finally curb his appetite, 
 or he might simply have overestimated his needs. 
 At any rate he heaved himself up from his chair 
 and moved ponderously toward their table. Lan- 
 sing leaned forward. Howell and Cramer were 
 uneasy, but they held their ground. He saw 
 Howell, who was facing Hazzard as he ap- 
 proached, say something; a greeting, he guessed, 
 though he couldn't hear. Hazzard didn't speak. 
 He moved on, came to rest at last, with his great 
 hands on the table, which bent and swayed be- 
 neath his weight. For a full minute he stared at 
 the pair. Lansing could see them wilt. Again 
 Howell said something. And then Hazzard 
 moved his hands, lowered his head menacingly. 
 
 " Bah! " he roared, and turned away. 
 
 A laugh ran around the room. Even the waiters 
 joined for a moment. Little thrills chased up and 
 down Lansing's spine. There was something 
 superb about Hazzard's elemental wrath, about 
 his supreme contempt for these men who had 
 beaten him. He took his defeat hard, but he took 
 it as a boy might have taken it, with a fine, unso-
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 phisticated disregard for the convention that calls 
 for a seeming indifference to such a blow. Yet 
 there was nothing boyish, but, on the contrary, 
 something incredibly menacing, about his eyes 
 something that spoke eloquently of his confidence 
 that another day, another chance, were coming 
 to him. 
 
 Hazzard was gone. Something electric, tonic, 
 went out of the room with him. It left Howell 
 and Cramer looking amazingly cheap and small 
 and tawdry. They tried to perk up at once, to 
 laugh at the man who had scorned them so. But 
 they couldn't do it. Lansing, any one else who 
 chose to look at them, could see what a mockery 
 it was. They were disconcerted, furiously angry, 
 at Hazzard, at themselves, at one another. In 
 less than a minute they were arguing viciously 
 together. Lansing smiled. He took out his op- 
 tion, read it through, and smiled again. As he 
 went out into the lobby he passed, deliberately, 
 the table where they sat. They didn't look like 
 powerful men, men who had been able to beat 
 the mighty Jim Hazzard. But he knew their 
 power, and he wondered what his relation with 
 them was going to be when they knew the truth. 
 
 [73]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 They ignored him, of course. He meant no more 
 to them than the waiter who poured their coffee. 
 It amused Lansing to think of the pure chance that 
 had thrown him into their path the accident of 
 a missed train that had led to his meeting with 
 Hazen. 
 
 They had laid their plans well and worked their 
 will against Hazzard with a diabolical sort of 
 cleverness he read that between the lines of 
 what Hazen had told him. And now he, an 
 utter stranger, an insignificant atom among a hun- 
 dred million atoms as remote from them and their 
 affairs as he had been yesterday, had taken a hand. 
 Chance, of course, pure chance but there had 
 been no chance about his determination to get that 
 option. There is a point in any series of events 
 where chance must give way to an act of will. 
 That is something that the people who attribute 
 all the successes of life to chance and all the 
 failure, too are prone to forget. 
 
 The answer to his telegram of the night came 
 while he stood in the lobby; he caught the bell boy 
 at the first call of his name. It was brief and to 
 the point, and, of course, affirmative. And he 
 became busy immediately. At the bank there was 
 
 [74]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 red tape to be unwound. But he succeeded in 
 proving that he was Robert Lansing, and it was 
 only a little after eleven o'clock when he left the 
 bank, carrying the equivalent of fifty thousand 
 dollars in negotiable paper in the same envelope 
 that contained his option. There was still time 
 for him to draw back; he did not have to exercise 
 his option. But the thought of withdrawing now 
 had not occurred to him for a moment. All he 
 wanted now was to close the deal and catch the 
 first train for New York. He had planned that 
 far ahead; he wanted more time for thought 
 before he dealt with either Hazzard or his 
 opponents. 
 
 He found Hazen, at half past eleven, twiddling 
 his thumbs metaphorically in a Chicago lawyer's 
 office. 
 
 " Sit down and wait if you're still determined 
 to make an ass of yourself," said Hazen. " Haz- 
 zard's gone back to New York cleared out an 
 hour ago. By Jove, I admire the old cutthroat! 
 He came here to play his last card lost and 
 wouldn't wait for the finish. Nine men out of ten 
 would have hung around till the thing was settled. 
 He's the tenth." 
 
 [75]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Lansing told him of the incident in the restau- 
 rant, and Hazen laughed. 
 
 " Just like him," he said. " I tell you, I'd hate 
 to beat him. It would be too much like winning 
 the first round in a tussle with a buzz saw. You'd 
 get it all the worse when you came back. By the 
 way, I've been trying to puzzle out your idea. 
 If you think you can hold those fellows up, make 
 them bid against one another for that stock, for- 
 get it. You'll be like the man who interferes 
 between husband and wife when they're fighting. 
 They'll all turn on you. They'd think nothing of 
 joining forces, squeezing you out, and then start- 
 ing a new fight among themselves after they'd 
 got rid of you." 
 
 " I don't doubt it," said Lansing. " I saw that 
 last night when I was wondering why no one else 
 had tried to get the stock just to sell it to them. 
 But that's not my idea at all. I want to sit in this 
 game, that's all. Getting this stock is like buying 
 a stack of chips. I'm going to stick around." 
 
 " All right you're of age," said Hazen. He 
 looked at his watch. " I'll close the whole thing 
 at noon. Hazzard can't exercise his option, but 
 it's as well to be careful about technicalities. I'm
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 not supposed to know he's out of it until twelve 
 o'clock." 
 
 They fell into a thoughtful silence. Lansing 
 was making his plans; Hazen was studying him, 
 seeing more and more a resemblance to his father 
 that had never struck him before. A boy, knock- 
 ing at the door, interrupted their reverie. 
 
 " Mr. Cramer and Mr. Howell, to see Mr. 
 Hazen," he said. 
 
 Lansing got up, but Hazen rose, too. 
 
 " Sit down," he said. " I'll see them outside." 
 
 He left the door ajar, and in a moment Lansing 
 heard Howell's thin, low voice, with its caressing 
 note. 
 
 " I suppose we can do business with you now, 
 Hazen, in the matter of the Sears stock in West- 
 ern Film," he said. 
 
 " No," said Hazen quietly. " I have every 
 reason to suppose that the holder of an option 
 will exercise his right." 
 
 " An option ! " Howell's voice rose to a high 
 squeak. " Jim Hazzard hasn!t been able to put 
 that over " 
 
 " I didn't say it was Hazzard." Hazen's voice 
 grew calm and low in pitch. 
 
 [77]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Some one closed the door, and after that Lan- 
 sing heard only exclamations, meaningless frag- 
 ments of sentences. It was over very soon; 
 Hazen, flushed and angry, rejoined him. 
 
 " Infernal crooks ! " he growled. " They think 
 I've gone in with Hazzard against them! Well 
 they can think so. Time's up ! Have you 
 brought the money? " 
 
 Lansing laid down his drafts. Afterward he 
 was amused at the simplicity of the whole trans- 
 action. Within five minutes he walked out to the 
 elevator, the owner of a small, but amazingly im- 
 portant, interest in Western Film. In the lobby 
 of the building, he came upon Cramer and Howell, 
 in the thick of a furious quarrel, that involved a 
 vast amount of sputtering and gesticulation. Nei- 
 ther spared him a glance. He ran no risk of 
 detection when he turned and smiled at them. 
 Some of the busiest men in Chicago found the time 
 to be amused by their violence.
 
 ->rO 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 IT must be admitted that Lansing, 
 when he reached New York after 
 breaking his way into Western Film, 
 felt Napoleonic. It seemed to him 
 that he had done a big thing. He had 
 put Hazzard under a great obligation 
 to him, though Hazzard didn't know it yet. By 
 virtue of his small, but important, stock holding, 
 he could demand and obtain a voice in the affairs 
 of the corporation. Hazzard, he was sure, would 
 have to make him a director probably an officer. 
 And that would give him a chance to put some of 
 his ideas into practice. He felt that he could revolu- 
 tionize the whole moving-picture industry. With- 
 out having worked out the details, he had in his 
 mind a sort of picture of the future, in which he 
 was to be responsible for the product of Western 
 Film, the pictures themselves, while Hazzard ap- 
 
 [79]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 plied his genius to financing and to the marketing 
 of the films. 
 
 But if there is any proverb that has held its 
 own through the changes of the centuries it is the 
 one that has to do with the fall that is always 
 lying in wait for pride, and the destruction that 
 trips up a haughty spirit. Lansing's spirit wasn't 
 exactly haughty, perhaps. But he had traveled, 
 mentally, a long road since the mood of self- 
 deprecation had left him. 
 
 After allowing what seemed to him a decent 
 interval to elapse, following the transfer of his 
 stock on the books of the Western Film, without 
 receiving the overtures he expected from either 
 Hazzard or Hazzard's opponents, Lansing went 
 to see Hazzard. And his first shock came when 
 he waited for more than an hour in the reception 
 room of the big, ornate office on Broadway. A 
 good many others were waiting, too; actors and 
 actresses, all sorts of active film workers, passed 
 in and out. 
 
 He sat within sight of Hazzard's door; the big 
 
 man's roaring voice identified it for him. And his 
 
 resentment, which grew and flourished in the last 
 
 half hour of his detention, was by no means molli- 
 
 [80]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 fied when he saw Cramer emerge, in his shirt 
 sleeves. He had imagined a state of open war 
 between Hazzard on the one side, and Cramer 
 and Howell on the other. He had yet to learn 
 of the swift adjustments of business quarrels; of 
 the surprising readiness of such enemies to bury 
 the hatchet when both sides can make money, 
 or save it, by doing so. His self-confidence was 
 shaken ever so slightly when he was finally ush- 
 ered into Hazzard's room. And it wasn't restored 
 by the look he received from Hazzard. The big 
 man looked at his card. 
 
 "Well, sir?" he said. "What can I do for 
 you? " 
 
 "I it seemed to me we ought to have a talk, 
 Mr. Hazzard," Lansing ventured uncertainly. 
 "I I suppose you know that I have acquired 
 some stock in the Western Film Corporation? " 
 
 " Have you? " asked Hazzard. " I should say 
 it was a good investment; I have quite a holding 
 myself." 
 
 " And you tried to get this stock of mine," said 
 Lansing. He was beginning to get angry. " That's 
 why it seemed to me we ought to have a talk." 
 
 " Oh! " said Hazzard. He laughed. And then 
 [81]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 he became suddenly the very incarnation of men- 
 ace. His whole expression changed, and he leaned 
 forward, his teeth bared. " I think I'm on to 
 you, my friend! " he said. " Well you can go 
 to Cramer and Howell I You'll get nothing out 
 of me 1 I don't want your stock .wouldn't take 
 it at ten cents on the dollar! If you'd looked me 
 up you'd have found I was a poor man to hold 
 up!" 
 
 " My stock isn't for sale," snapped Lansing. 
 " I bought it to keep, not to sell ! If you're trying 
 to bluff me, quit it! I know all about the way 
 things stand here. My stock carries control, and 
 I know it! If I vote with you, you've got a ma- 
 jority if I swing to Cramer and Howell, they 
 have. I came here to tell you I was willing to 
 work with you under certain conditions." 
 
 Hazzard looked surprised for a moment. Then 
 he began to laugh, and his mirth shook him and 
 roused the echoes of the room. 
 
 " You'd like to be the tail that wags the dog 
 with your little block of stock! " he said finally. 
 " Where do you get that stuff? Take your stock 
 home and frame it! It's dead it's out of the 
 way see? You've run up against business men, 
 [82]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 son, and I guess we'll get along without your help. 
 You took that stock out of the market when 
 you bought it. You don't cut any more ice than 
 any one else who might happen to buy up a few 
 stray shares. You don't want to believe every 
 story you see in the papers especially in the 
 moving-picture trade papers. They've started a 
 fight in Western Film about every six weeks since 
 we organized the company, but you'll notice that 
 business is still being done at the old stand." 
 
 " All right! " said Lansing. " You don't have 
 to talk business if you don't want to. But I'm not 
 depending on anything I've seen in the papers. I 
 know how you'd stand now if Cramer and Howell 
 had got hold of the stock I bought. I know 
 what the people who've got stock control can do 
 to a corporation without going to jail. I came 
 here to make a friendly arrangement with you 
 and if you haven't got any more sense than to try 
 bluffing me I'll wait till you come to your senses." 
 
 Again it must be admitted that Lansing felt a 
 due sense of his own importance. His anger had 
 banished the chastened mood that had been in- 
 duced by Hazzard's reception of him. One reason 
 for this was that he simply couldn't believe that 
 [8 3 ]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Hazzard had made up his quarrel with Cramer 
 and Howell. He stalked out, with the echo of 
 Hazzard's great laughter in his ears. But he had 
 sense enough not to take his anger and his stock 
 to the other side. He had a wholesome fear of 
 Cramer and Howell; he felt that they were too 
 adept in the tricks of high finance to make them 
 safe associates. 
 
 Hazzard's treatment of him had dealt a severe 
 blow to Lansing's pride. But his confidence in 
 the strength of his own position was not severely 
 shaken. 
 
 " He's so used to dealing with four-flushers and 
 the cheap Broadway crowd that's hanging on to 
 the movie business that he puts every one else in 
 their class," he decided. 
 
 And so he wrote to Hazzard, generously over- 
 looking the treatment he had received, and ex- 
 plained his ideas more fully than he had been able 
 to do in their one-sided conversation. Hazzard's 
 answer was prompt and brief. He wrote that 
 directors were elected at the annual meeting of the 
 stockholders, of which notice would, in due course, 
 be mailed to Lansing, at the address credited to 
 him on the company's books. Meanwhile, any 
 [84]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 proper questions that Lansing, as a stockholder, 
 might choose to ask would be answered by the 
 proper officer. 
 
 And before Lansing had absorbed the full ef- 
 fect of that letter he received another, signed by 
 Howell, as secretary of Western Film a brief 
 communication, informing him that the directors 
 had decided to pass the semi-annual dividend. 
 Increased expenses, the necessity for establishing 
 a reserve fund, and a decision to spend a good deal 
 of money for the construction of new studios were 
 advanced as the reasons for this action. 
 
 No mention was made, however, of another 
 reason that supplied Broadway with gossip. At 
 least one trade paper said, without actually men- 
 tioning names, that that same meeting of the 
 Western Film directors had voted increases of 
 salary to Hazzard, Cramer, and Howell that 
 more than made up to them for the passed divi- 
 dend. This rumor proved as easy to confirm, to 
 all practical intents and purposes, as it was hard 
 to prove. Hazen, moreover, assured Lansing 
 that the directors were strictly within their legal 
 rights. And he proved his title to Lansing's 
 friendship by refraining from any reminder of 
 
 [85]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 the warning he had given him, in Chicago, against 
 the purchase of Western Film stock. 
 
 Lansing, in spite of his mistaken notion con- 
 cerning his power, was no fool. He had the 
 quality of facing facts without blinking. And 
 when he took stock of the situation he saw it 
 exactly as it was. Hazzard had chosen to enter 
 into an alliance, more or less permanent, with 
 Cramer and Howell, for the purpose of freezing 
 him out. The next step might easily be a receiver- 
 ship, a reorganization, undertaken simply to make 
 it impossible for him to hold his stock. He had 
 very little pride or self-satisfaction left when he 
 reached that conclusion. 
 
 But he still had his uncompromising jaw. And 
 there was a fighting gleam in his eyes. Perhaps 
 he was going to lose the fifty thousand dollars he 
 had put into his purchase of a hand in the big 
 game. But it would be after a fight and he 
 was prepared, if it should be necessary, to throw 
 what money he had left after his first investment.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ENSING didn't avail himself of Hazzard's 
 kind invitation to ask questions. Or, at 
 least, he didn't ask them of the officials of West- 
 ern Film. He obtained an election, instead, to 
 the Screen Club, then beginning to become in- 
 fluential and important in the moving-picture 
 world. Here he met men who were in touch with 
 moving pictures on all sides. Actors, directors, 
 publicity men, officials of various companies, all 
 met on common ground in the club. And, most 
 important of all for Lansing's purpose, it was the 
 chief haunt of keen-eyed young men who repre- 
 sented the trade papers of the movies. 
 
 These men were omniscient. They knew every- 
 thing about every company in the industry. For 
 their papers they gathered news and advertising. 
 For themselves they gathered information, recog- 
 nizing that as the greatest asset they could have. 
 Much of it they kept to themselves. Very little 
 of the best news they obtained ever got into print. 
 But, properly approached, they would emit bits of
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 gossip, of scandal, that threw a vivid and highly 
 interesting light upon what was going on behind 
 the screen, so to speak. 
 
 One thing impressed Lansing mightily. It was 
 an attitude that seemed to be shared by almost 
 every one he met in the club, an attitude of pro- 
 found contempt for the public. 
 
 "They'll stand for anything!" said Debrett, 
 who, at thirty, was dean of the trade press. 
 " There's no such thing as the moving-picture 
 business. It's not a business it's a charity. The 
 people have got to have their pictures that's 
 all. They're mad about the films. There never 
 was such a business. The fanniest baseball fan 
 that ever was isn't in it with a movie fan. 
 
 " The public takes any kind of a raw deal the 
 manufacturers hand it and comes back crying for 
 more. They stand for fake posters. They don't 
 care how raw a fake is." 
 
 " That won't last," said Lansing. " And 1 be- 
 lieve there's more money in giving the public a 
 square deal, even the way things are now, than in 
 faking." 
 
 " There isn't you're wrong, and that's the 
 answer," said Debrett. " Some of the old com- 
 [88]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 panics are on the level now, and they're not mak- 
 ing half the money the fakers are. It's just like 
 the royalty game; on the patents. The licensed 
 companies are paying big money to the holders of 
 the original patents. Some of 'em started doing 
 it without even being sued, like the Kalem outfit. 
 And a gang of independents come along and don't 
 pay. No one stops 'em. There's just so much 
 velvet for them." 
 
 " It sounds well," said Lansing stubbornly. 
 " But, just the same, I believe the big money's 
 still to be made in this game. And I think the 
 man who finds out what the public really wants, 
 and supplies it, is going to make it, too. This 
 movie industry 's still in its wildcat days. It's 
 booming. But there's a big smash coming if the 
 boomers don't look out." 
 
 Debrett grinned. The story of Lansing's in- 
 vestment in Western Film was an open secret 
 along Broadway by this time. And Debrett 
 thought, of course, that Lansing was calling the 
 grapes he hadn't been able to reach sour. Debrett, 
 in his cynicism, simply reflected the atmosphere in 
 which he lived and had his being. Not, of course, 
 that there weren't honest, sincere men engaged in 
 [89]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 the manufacture and distribution and exploitation 
 of films. Debrett himself had admitted that there 
 were. But at this time, if these were not actually 
 in the minority, they were obscured by the others, 
 who were getting the big money. The plodders 
 got as little attention, as little publicity, as does a 
 conservative, old-fashioned bank, for instance, 
 during the meteoric rise of mushroom institutions 
 in a period of expansion. Lansing thought of that 
 comparison. And he remembered that when the 
 last panic had come it was the old-line banks that 
 had saved the day, while the spectacular growths 
 of boom times had collapsed. He didn't take 
 Debrett very seriously. But he absorbed what the 
 writer could tell him. 
 
 And it was a hint from Debrett that ended his 
 inactivity at last, after weeks in which he had 
 chafed at his inability to find a means of getting 
 at the imperturbable Hazzard. 
 
 " Something doing," Debrett told him one day. 
 " The patents' people are getting ready to start 
 something." 
 
 "What? It's pretty late in the day for in- 
 fringement suits, isn't it? And I thought that 
 was all pretty well settled, anyhow." 
 [90]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Debrett winked at him. 
 
 " So it is theoretically," he said. " If you 
 believe all you hear, you'll believe that Western 
 Film isn't using an infringing camera hasn't 
 used one for two years. Keep your eyes open 
 that's all. Something coming off, all right." 
 
 That gave Lansing an idea. But it was luck, 
 chance, whatever you please to call it, that showed 
 him the way to use his idea. He spent some time 
 every week in the studio on top of the Palisades 
 that had seen his initiation into the movies. As a 
 stockholder, he had some rights there, and Haines, 
 the director, liked him, anyhow, and was inde- 
 pendent enough to give him the freedom of the 
 place. One day he was talking to Haines when 
 Cramer came in. Cramer eyed him with veiled 
 hostility and nodded. Haines greeted Cramer 
 curtly; he was whole-heartedly on Hazzard's 
 side, and took little stock in the armistice. 
 
 Cramer stayed for two hours. He arrived dur- 
 ing the interval Haines allowed for luncheon, and 
 when that was over, watched the making of a few 
 scenes. At intervals he asked questions. How 
 much did such an actor get? What was 
 the wastage of film? Couldn't it be reduced?
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Was it necessary to keep the great batteries of 
 lights in action so constantly? Wasn't a lot of 
 time wasted in rehearsing a scene five or six 
 
 times? 
 
 He had a perfect right to ask these questions. 
 
 Lansing knew that, and knew, too, that he 
 
 shouldn't be surprised at seeing Cramer here. 
 
 But he was. He couldn't help wondering how 
 
 [92]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 soon Cramer would reveal the secret purpose that 
 had brought him over. He had formed his esti- 
 mate of Cramer long since. And it was that the 
 man was constitutionally crooked; that he would 
 rather take the devious, twisted path any time 
 than the obvious, straight, short cut; that he 
 wasn't capable of being loyal. And now, in 
 Cramer's manner, there was something furtive. 
 While he was engaged in the most innocent action 
 he would look over his shoulder, as if he expected 
 to be spied upon. Lansing had an intense con- 
 viction that Cramer was asking all his questions, 
 making all his examinations of trivial things, so 
 that those who saw him wouldn't know, after he 
 had gone, what it was that he had really come to 
 find out. 
 
 So Lansing started when, after Cramer had 
 gone over the whole studio, he came to rest finally 
 beside Steve Carter, the camera man, and started 
 asking questions. Lansing unobtrusively edged 
 over toward them, catching Carter's disgusted grin 
 on the way. 
 
 " Chap around the other day said he had a new 
 camera," said Cramer. " Couldn't talk to him 
 didn't want to admit how little I knew about the 
 
 [93]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 thing. How does it work eh? Show me how 
 the wheels go round." 
 
 Carter winked at Lansing; then launched into 
 an involved and technical explanation. Cramer, 
 in spite of his confessed ignorance, asked no ques- 
 tions now. He listened intently, and seemed to 
 understand the explanation, and to find it per- 
 fectly clear though Lansing knew that, with- 
 out some fore-knowledge of the subject, he 
 couldn't have done that. The explanation lasted 
 while a set was being made; at the sharp call of 
 " Camera ! " from Haines, when that work was 
 done, Cramer melted away unobtrusively. 
 
 To Lansing, who chose to follow him, and to 
 cross the river with him, it seemed not without 
 significance that Cramer, once he reached New 
 York, went, as fast and as straight as a taxicab 
 could take him, not to the Western offices, but to 
 those of a firm of lawyers who represented the 
 licensed interests. He didn't get out of his own 
 taxi when Cramer alighted; instead, he told his 
 driver to drive him through the park, unmindful 
 of the extravagance of the proceeding. He 
 wanted to think. 
 
 And the products of his thinking sent him to 
 
 [94]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Hazzard that night. He had no proof worthy of 
 the name. But he had what is likely, in the right 
 hands, to be just as useful, a deep-seated convic- 
 tion that his suspicions were well founded. And 
 his suspicions Went back to the old fixed idea that 
 had taken him to Hazzard in the beginning. He 
 was as little able to believe now as he had been 
 then that Cramer and Howell were prepared to 
 abandon their fight for the control of Western 
 Film. And it was certain that, if he were right, 
 they had a weapon now that promised to be as 
 effective as the one he had snatched from their 
 hands in Chicago. His argument was a process 
 of elimination, but it was one that looked plausible 
 to him. 
 
 He had seen Hazzard many times since his 
 formal call upon him; on a few of the rare occa- 
 sions when Hazzard showed himself in the Screen 
 Club rooms, very often in restaurants, where a 
 great deal of the really important business of the 
 movie world was conducted. Hazzard always 
 recognized him ; seemed to make it a point, in- 
 deed, to greet him with a contemptuous, amused 
 tolerance. Lansing had writhed once or twice 
 under those greetings, when Hazzard had nodded 
 
 [95]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 to him, and then turned, with his great laugh, to 
 his companions, evidently pointing him out. 
 
 So he knew where to find Hazzard, once he 
 had made up his mind to go to him. The third 
 restaurant he dropped into proved to be the right 
 Dne; Hazzard was there, with three or four men 
 Lansing knew by sight. He gave Lansing the 
 usual greeting and looked curious, even inter- 
 ested, when Lansing, instead of looking quickly 
 away, smiled back at him. Two or three times 
 more in the next few minutes he stole a look at 
 Lansing, who, by attention, was able to meet his 
 eyes, so that Hazzard, with what would have been 
 confusion in any ordinary man, shifted his gaze. 
 
 Hazzard's companions dropped off one by one. 
 Others took their places. It was Hazzard's way 
 to hold a sort of court. All sorts of propositions 
 were made to him at these night sessions. He 
 liked this, and encouraged the practice. It catered 
 to a curious sort of vanity, and there was a prac- 
 tical reason, too. He could always plead that 
 necessary data were in his office; that he must 
 have time to consult them. In this new, curious 
 business, so like a growing child, many men ap- 
 peared with suggestions on which they demanded 
 
 [96]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 instant action. Hazzard was often glad of a good 
 excuse to put them off and still keep them at his 
 disposal. And so, though he was extremely hard 
 to reach in his office, at night he was accessible to 
 anyone who chose to walk up to his table and 
 introduce himself. 
 
 It was nearly midnight when Lansing observed 
 signs of a breaking up of Hazzard's table. At 
 once he paid his check; he was on his way to the 
 door when Hazzard, roaring for his waiter, signed 
 his own collection of checks, and rose. Lansing 
 stopped to buy a cigar; he reached the sidewalk a 
 step ahead of the big man. 
 
 " Buying automobiles with your Western Film 
 dividends? " 
 
 Hazzard's great voice boomed in his ear. Lan- 
 sing turned around. 
 
 " Oh, hello going home so early? " he said. 
 " Well, I should think you need some sleep." 
 
 "Huh? What?" said Hazzard. "What 
 d'ye mean, young fellow? " 
 
 " Oh nothing," said Lansing. " But you've 
 got some busy days ahead of you, I guess." 
 
 "Busy days? What's eating you now? All 
 my days are busy." 
 
 [97]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Lansing walked on, quickening his pace a little. 
 Purposely he turned into a side street, though he 
 knew that Hazzard's path lay straight up Broad- 
 way. Hazzard, as he had expected, followed and 
 overtook him. 
 
 " Well, I hope you win out that's all," said 
 Lansing finally. " I guess my Western stock's 
 worth something now, even if it isn't paying divi- 
 dends. But if this infringement suit gets going 
 right and they tie you up with an injunction 
 well, it wouldn't be worth the frame you advised 
 me to buy for it." 
 
 Hazzard's hand fell on his shoulder and spun 
 him around under a street light. Hazzard glared 
 at him. But when he spoke his voice was soft, 
 gentle, almost a purr. 
 
 " What's that? " he asked. " What d'ye mean 
 infringement suit?" 
 
 " You must know as much about it as I do," 
 said Lansing. " After all you know, you can't 
 expect to keep on using a camera that's a rank 
 infringement of the basic patents forever. You're 
 bound to be called sooner or later." 
 
 " You've been hitting a pipe," said Hazzard. 
 " Our camera's not an infringement. I'll bet you 
 [98]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 can't name a single thing that even looks like an 
 infringement." 
 
 " I think I can," said Lansing modestly. He 
 tried to keep his excitement out of his voice. For 
 this was the crucial moment. He had to bluff 
 now, and the success of his whole plan depended 
 upon his ability to handle Hazzard a man who 
 was reputed to understand more of the art of 
 poker, as it is played, with and without cards, than 
 any man in New York. 
 
 He had refreshed his memory before begin- 
 ning his search for Hazzard. And now, in an- 
 swer to Hazzard's taunt, he described from mem- 
 ory, not the camera used in Western studios, but 
 the original, licensed camera. As he did it, Haz- 
 zard's jaw dropped. Then suddenly he swore. 
 
 " No one was supposed to know that," he said 
 furiously. " I'll break someone for letting it 
 out " 
 
 " You can't blame anyone for telling Cramer 
 about it. He's entitled to ask as many questions 
 as he likes, I suppose. You even said I was " 
 
 " Cramer! " said Hazzard. And at his tone, 
 Lansing knew he had won his fight, knew that his 
 bluff was not going to be called. 
 
 [99]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Yes Cramer. He got his information this 
 afternoon. And it may interest you to know that 
 he stopped at Gaskell & Flood's offices after he 
 came back from Fort Lee." 
 
 "Cramer!" said Hazzard again. "I might 
 have known they wouldn't play fair." 
 
 And at that, seeing the iron hot, Lansing struck 
 quickly. 
 
 " My offer still stands," he said. " I'll vote 
 my stock with you in any action you take against 
 Cramer and Howell. And, for an emergency 
 measure, I'll do it without conditions. We can 
 settle those later." 
 
 Hazzard hesitated a moment. In it he stared 
 hard at Lansing. 
 
 " I believe you're on the level," he said slowly, 
 and with infinite surprise. " And by George, I 
 know you've got some common sense! You've 
 backed the right horse if you want to make your 
 stock worth something. All right, my son I 
 guess you've tipped me off in time to give me a 
 chance to start something. Meet me at the Fort 
 Lee studio tomorrow, eight-thirty. No be at the 
 office at eight, and I'll run you over in my car." 
 
 " Right ! " said Lansing. " Good night" 
 [ 100 ]
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 HAZZARD, when Lansing met him in the 
 morning, was in a silent mood. There was 
 a very brief delay at the big office building; it 
 served for the sending of numerous telegrams. 
 
 " Taking no chances," Hazzard explained 
 curtly. " I've stopped work in California 
 everywhere except Fort Lee. Not that I think 
 they're ready to attack all along the line, but they 
 might be. Here take this." 
 
 Lansing, with some curiosity, read the paper 
 Hazzard handed him. It was a formal notice of 
 a special meeting of the stockholders of Western 
 Film, signed by Hazzard as president. 
 
 " Cramer and Howell get 'em, too," said Haz- 
 zard. " And the people who hold one share of 
 stock to qualify them. All right we're off." 
 
 Hazzard drove himself, and they crossed the 
 long Weehawken ferry in a high-powered, low- 
 bodied runabout. As they sat, well up in the bow 
 of the boat, Lansing looked northward and saw, 
 through the haze that hung over the river, the 
 [10!]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 slow progress of one of the uptown boats. Haz- 
 zard chafed at the slow pace of the ferryboat; 
 but, once they were landed, he made amends for 
 that. His car swung up the hill very fast, and, 
 once they were on the level road that crowned the 
 Palisades, he took all the chances possible with 
 the speed limit. 
 
 The studio, when they reached it, presented the 
 aspect of a fortified camp. A good deal of land 
 went with it, and since yesterday, Lansing saw, 
 barbed wire had been stretched about. Quick 
 work! He had to admire the way Hazzard 
 moved when he once started. A man stood by 
 the only opening in the wire barrier, and he re- 
 fused to let them pass until Haines appeared. 
 Lansing chafed, but Hazzard chuckled. 
 
 " The man's right," he said. " It's what I'm 
 paying him for. If he keeps me out he won't let 
 other people in, I guess." 
 
 None of the actors had appeared yet; the 
 studio was occupied only by what might be con- 
 sidered now a permanent garrison. Haines, Steve 
 Carter, the camera man; Dunning, who looked 
 after the properties and might have qualified as 
 purchasing agent for a railway as a result of his 
 [ 102 ]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 experience; Roddy Thompson, the expert who 
 manipulated the lights, and three broad-shouldered 
 sceneshifters were on the job. And they were all 
 busy. Dunning, who as props, had to be a jack 
 of all trades, was temporarily a chief carpenter. 
 Under his directions, and with the assistance of 
 
 The iceneshiften 
 were building 
 a big box 
 
 his skillful hands, the sceneshifters were building 
 a big box a sort of cross between the crate in 
 which a piano is shipped and a sentry box. 
 
 Lansing felt like an outsider. Hazzard drew 
 Haines aside, and, chuckling, they watched the 
 swift growth of the box. It had a door on one 
 side, but no bottom. And opposite the door a
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 square piece was cut out, hinged and put back, like 
 a window. When it was finished, Dunning looked 
 at it approvingly, then proceeded to cover it with 
 black cloth. Its use was revealed a minute later, 
 when the all-important camera was set up and 
 covered with the box. Through the open window 
 the lens had free play; behind the camera there 
 was room for the operator. 
 
 "Right!" said Hazzard. "Now you un- 
 derstand, Haines ? Only three people are author- 
 ized to enter that box. You, Carter, and myself. 
 No one else on any pretext." 
 
 " Suppose they ring in a sheriff, with some sort 
 of court order? Does our pay go on just the 
 same in jail? " 
 
 " No it's doubled. But don't let anyone get 
 at that camera sheriff or anyone else ! " 
 
 " What's the idea? " asked Lansing. " They 
 must have the facts." 
 
 " Maybe Cramer has," said Hazzard. " But 
 they've got to have more proof. And I doubt if 
 Cramer's got the nerve to get up in court and 
 testify against what seem to be his own interests, 
 anyhow. Bluffed me last night, didn't you? " 
 
 " Eh? " said Lansing, startled.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " I don't mind it was the right thing. But 
 I've been thinking over your description of our 
 camera. You got the basic things right, but it was 
 the licensed camera you described in detail. Now 
 you'd better tell me exactly what you did know. 
 I'm for you now anyone who can bluff me over- 
 night I'm going to have on my side." 
 
 Lansing laughed, and told him the whole story 
 truthfully. From time to time Hazzard nodded. 
 
 " All right," he said briefly. " I sized you up 
 wrong. Well if you were looking for trouble, 
 son, you landed right where old man Trouble lives. 
 I think we've got 'em stopped for the time. Un- 
 less they can see this camera, get absolutely 
 unshakable expert witnesses to give technical evi- 
 dence of an infringement, they can't do much. 
 They can't get an injunction on hearsay." 
 
 " Can't you work without an infringing 
 camera? " 
 
 " Can't be done. Their patents, if they stand, 
 sew up the whole game, give 'em a monopoly. I 
 don't believe they'll stand. I think they've claimed 
 too much like Selden. By the time the thing 
 gets up to the supreme court we'll have them 
 licked. But it's no time to be tied up with that 
 [105]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 sort of litigation. They've got the bulge right 
 now, if we get into court. They've got the money. 
 We haven't not where we can get at it. We've 
 had to put all we had and all we made back into 
 the business. They're past that stage, and they've 
 got the banking connections, too, that we haven't 
 made yet. We're running on a cash basis. Ever 
 stop to figure our pay roll, our bills for film, for 
 printing, for expressage? Cash every cent! 
 We can show a balance every Saturday night, with 
 all bills paid for that week." 
 
 "Hold on!" said Lansing suddenly. "You 
 know the facts about this camera, don't you? 
 What's to prevent their bringing an infringement 
 suit, nailing you as a witness, and holding you for 
 contempt if you refuse to answer? " 
 
 " Nothing if they get me," said Hazzard. 
 " That's why I'm not coming back here for a 
 while." 
 
 " I think I'll stick around," said Lansing. 
 " Looks to me as if there might be some fun." 
 
 " I expect to keep you busy," said Hazzard 
 
 grimly. " I'm going back to the office now. You 
 
 stay here and then come over on the ferry. I 
 
 don't want you to be seen with me just yet. When 
 
 [106]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 you come to the office ask for Brewer. You'll be 
 taken from his office to mine. Understand? " 
 
 "Right!" Lansing nodded; a minute later, 
 Hazzard's automobile was vanishing in a cloud 
 of dust. And within half an hour the studio, save 
 for the shrouded camera, had assumed its normal 
 busy aspect. Actors and actresses, surprised by 
 the barbed wire, the mysterious box, were rather 
 pleased, too. Those of them who were afflicted 
 with artistic temperaments enjoyed the mystery. 
 And Lansing was a little startled when a girl spoke 
 to him, hailing him cordially by name. Then he 
 remembered her. She was Mary Brewster, the 
 extra girl of his first day, who had so impressed 
 him. Since then she had impressed others, too; 
 she was playing a part now. Haines saw him 
 watching her as she worked before the camera. 
 
 " There's a girl with a future," he said. " If 
 she gets over being so fresh. You can't tell her 
 anything. At least you can tell her, and she 
 listens, and does just what you say in rehearsal. 
 And then, with the camera turning, she does just 
 as she darn pleases and says she forgot or thought 
 it would look better." 
 
 "Well does it?" asked Lansing, grinning.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Most of the time yes," admitted Haines. 
 " But that's not the point. She's supposed to do 
 as she's told." 
 
 " She never will," said Lansing. He looked at 
 her thoughtfully. " The trouble with her, Haines, 
 is that she's meant to be a star. Boost that girl 
 advertise her everywhere and she'll be to the 
 films what Ethel Barrymore or Maude Adams is 
 to the legitimate." 
 
 " Tell it to Sweeney ! " scoffed Haines. " And 
 for the love of Mike don't let her hear you. Her 
 head's big enough now. That's the trouble, any- 
 how. A lot of these people are getting so they 
 think they're the whole thing. Salaries are going 
 up. It's all wrong. The public don't care who's 
 in a film. The Biograph people have the right 
 idea. They don't let the public know who their 
 actors are. Keeps their people from getting a 
 swelled head." 
 
 " You'll wake up some time," said Lansing. 
 " I'll bet you that it won't be long before you see 
 movie stars being featured just like Bernhardt and 
 Forbes-Robertson. Go on with your slave driv- 
 ing. I'm off to Manhattan." 
 
 At the entrance he found the sentinel firmly 
 [10*]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 barring the entrance of two men who couldn't 
 account for themselves. One, immaculate, keen- 
 eyed, stood aside, smiling faintly. The other, a 
 shabby, furtive man, was doing the arguing. Lan- 
 sing, with a sudden stirring of the latent detective 
 instinct in him, looked at his watch. A car was 
 due in five minutes. The last one had arrived 
 twenty-five minutes before. How had these men 
 come since it was to be presumed that they had 
 only just arrived? Halfway down the hill he 
 stopped. He looked down the road that led to- 
 ward Fort Lee and Weehawken. Perhaps a hun- 
 dred yards away an automobile was standing. He 
 made his way over a stone wall, took cover in an 
 apple orchard, and got within sight of the car. 
 In the tonneau, smoking a cigar, was Cramer. 
 That settled any lingering doubts Lansing might 
 have had. 
 
 He didn't go up and accuse Cramer. Instead, 
 chuckling, he went back, caught the trolley with a 
 swift dash, and made his leisurely way back to the 
 city. He had no fears as to what might have 
 happened at the studio. Carter and Haines, he 
 knew, would smash the camera before they would 
 let any unauthorized person see it. 
 [ 109]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Getting into Hazzard's office proved slightly 
 difficult and highly amusing. Cramer, of course, 
 wasn't in the offices, but the situation was compli- 
 cated by the continued presence of Howell. How- 
 ell's door was open, as Lansing saw when he was 
 conducted into the room of Brewer, Hazzard's 
 secretary and confidential man. And Howell, in 
 his shirt sleeves, peered at him. 
 
 " Nice mess ! " said Brewer disgustedly. " The 
 boss is afraid to curse Howell out, even it'd be 
 just like that sneak to have a subpoena ready to 
 hand out! Still, there's one or two things about 
 this floor and this whole building that Howell 
 don't know yet." 
 
 Lansing discovered the truth of this. In 
 Brewer's office was a great safe. It looked as if 
 only a wrecking crew could move it. But Brewer 
 lifted a rug and disclosed a little arrangement of 
 rails; on these, so delicately was it balanced, the 
 great safe moved at a touch. Moving, it dis- 
 closed a door, which, on being opened, led into 
 Hazzard's room. Once it had closed behind him, 
 Lansing couldn't see the door at all. 
 
 " Did you have this doped out when you moved 
 in here?" Lansing asked in astonishment. 
 [no]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Bet your life ! " said Hazzard. " Say - they 
 talk about the way Jay Gould and Jim Fisk used 
 to dodge process servers. I bet I've got them 
 skinned a mile. I've known a good many times 
 when getting away from a subpoena was all that 
 kept me out of the bankruptcy court. Sit down." 
 
 Hazzard had spread certain papers out on his 
 desk. 
 
 " I've got to disappear," he said. " I guess 
 you know it, so I don't mind admitting that this is 
 the tightest corner they've had me backed into 
 yet. I've got them licked at that but I've got 
 to have the time to do it. So I'm taking to the 
 tall timber today right now. You and Brewer 
 have got to swing things between you while I'm 
 gone. Brewer'll vote my stock at this meeting 
 that's been called he's got my proxy. Here's 
 everything that's to be done. Read those notes 
 and see if you get it." 
 
 As he obeyed, Lansing whistled. And he put 
 the papers down with a nod that expressed ad- 
 miration and surprise together. 
 
 " Fighting fire with fire," said Hazzard. " I 
 know what you're going to say, but these people 
 haven't got clean hands to go into court with. 
 
 [in]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 They'll stand the gaff because they can't do any- 
 thing else. All right?" 
 
 " All right," said Lansing. " I'm game." 
 There was nothing dignified about the manner 
 in which Hazzard disappeared. Brewer went be- 
 fore him to clear the path, which led to the roof. 
 And Lansing, looking for excitement, went along. 
 They took Tim Riley, the gray-coated special 
 officer of the building, along. And Riley, thor- 
 oughly enjoying his part, arrested a slinking youth 
 in ill-fitting clothes for loitering on the roof. The 
 coast proved to be clear on the next roof and the 
 next. But Lansing, scrambling from one to the 
 other, had to smile at the thought of how Haz- 
 zard would look, following in their footsteps. 
 
 He wasn't privileged to see that. For, while 
 Hazzard was making his get-away, he and Brewer 
 staged a little comedy downstairs. They went 
 openly into Hazzard's room first, with Howell's 
 eyes following them. When they emerged, 
 Brewer carried a suit case. Lansing hung back 
 long enough to see Howell go to his window. 
 Then he joined Brewer; from the lobby they car- 
 ried the bag to Hazzard's conspicuous and well- 
 known roadster. At a word from Brewer, the 
 
 [112]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 chauffeur started the engine, and the secretary 
 and Lansing looked back anxiously at the revolv- 
 ing doors of the building. Tim Riley, who had 
 disposed of his captive in an empty room, ap- 
 peared suddenly, shooing all loiterers from the 
 lobby. 
 
 A seedy man got between Brewer and the car. 
 And, at just about that moment, Lansing, looking 
 up the street, saw a taxicab start uptown. From 
 its rear window a handkerchief was waved. 
 
 " All right, Dick," he said to the chauffeur. 
 " Off with you you know where to go." 
 
 The car started. The seedy man exclaimed as 
 it sent him spinning; two other men, who had 
 seemed to know the seedy one, sprang into a taxi- 
 cab and gave chase. Riley, Lansing, and Brewer, 
 grinning broadly, went back upstairs. Brewer 
 tried Hazzard's door and found it locked. At 
 his elbow Howell appeared. 
 
 " I want this nonsense stopped, Mr. Brewer," 
 he said in his high, squeaky voice. " I demand 
 that Mr. Hazzard see me at once." 
 
 " Mr. Hazzard isn't in, sir," said Brewer re- 
 spectfully. " I think er that is, I believe he 
 has gone out of town."
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Don't lie to me! " said Howell. " I've been 
 watching his door, and he hasn't gone out." 
 
 Silently Brewer unlocked and opened the door. 
 
 " See for yourself, sir," he said. 
 
 The room, of course, -was empty. And even 
 Lansing and Brewer didn't know where Hazzard 
 had gone. It is possible, however, that Brewer, 
 had he been willing to do so, might have made a 
 good guess. He had had time to become familiar 
 with Hazzard's methods. 
 
 [H4]
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE first two or three days after Hazzard's 
 flight dragged for Lansing. There had 
 been the little interlude of excitement; he had the 
 tremendous satisfaction of knowing he had set in 
 motion wheels that were really too big for him to 
 push. His old admiration for Hazzard had been 
 sharply reawakened. But, when he stopped to 
 think, he saw that he hadn't, after all, accom- 
 plished very much for himself. It was true that 
 he would be " in " Western Film hereafter, if 
 Hazzard beat Howell and Cramer and their allies. 
 But he would be in on sufferance; because Haz- 
 zard was grateful to him, or had decided that he 
 would make a good cat's-paw. At best he would 
 play tail to Hazzard's kite, and he saw, all at 
 once, that that wasn't at all what he wanted. He 
 might conceivably make a great deal of money as 
 a satellite of Hazzard might be written about 
 at some future time as the millionaires of Pitts- 
 burgh who were made by Carnegie are written 
 about now in the Sunday newspapers.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 But Lansing didn't want to play sec- 
 05 ond fiddle to any man. He went back to 
 his original impulses, and found that he 
 wasn't in the way of obeying them. He regretted 
 nothing. Everything that had happened since the 
 day he had first crossed the Fort Lee ferry had 
 added to his experience. And now, all at once, 
 in the time he had for reflection while he waited 
 for Hazzard to strike, all that experience crystal- 
 izing, came, so to speak, to a head. A good many 
 men are like Lansing. They go along, listening, 
 observing, and scarcely knowing themselves that 
 they are doing so. Then, all at once, they find 
 themselves with complete conception of whatever 
 it is they have been studying. There is no other 
 [116]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 way of accounting for the sudden rise of certain 
 baseball players, who, from seemingly hopeless 
 mediocrity, become stars between October and 
 April. 
 
 So, all at once, Lansing saw two things. He 
 saw what was wrong, what was rotten, in the great 
 movie industry. He saw that it was headed, surely 
 and perhaps swiftly, toward disaster. And he 
 saw, just as clearly, what had to be done what 
 one man, at least, could do. He saw how he,
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Robert Lansing, could launch a new enterprise 
 and be, despite the start the earlier men had of 
 him, the pioneer in a virgin field. 
 
 But he didn't have money enough to go ahead. 
 He didn't regret his impulsive action in Chicago. 
 He guessed that he might never have seen his real 
 opportunity without the experiences of the last 
 few weeks. So he had sense enough not to repine. 
 And he faced squarely the fact that for the pres- 
 ent he was and must be the tail of Hazzard's kite, 
 and that unless the kite rose he himself never 
 could leave the ground. The great thing, after 
 all, was that he intended to change all that; that 
 he wasn't a bit deceived, as a good many men in 
 his position might have been, by the chance that 
 lay in sticking by Hazzard after the urgent neces- 
 sity for doing so had ended. 
 
 " These people and their fights ! " he said to 
 himself rather scornfully. " They fight among 
 themselves as if the result would really settle any- 
 thing and they forget all about the public, that 
 can smash 'em all and will, if they don't give 
 it what it wants. It doesn't know what movies 
 can be yet the public. But someone is going to 
 show it sooner or later." 
 
 [118]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 The idea, of course, was that that someone was 
 to be Robert Lansing. But that was an idea he 
 preferred, for the time, to keep strictly to himself. 
 
 And meanwhile the time came for the special 
 meeting of the stockholders of Western Film. 
 Howell took the chair in Hazzard's absence, and 
 Cramer at once moved to adjourn. But Brewer 
 presented Hazzard's proxy, and he, Lansing, and 
 the dummies who had been endowed with a share 
 apiece of Hazzard's stock voted that motion 
 down. Then consulting, from time to time, slips 
 of paper Hazzard had given them, Lansing and 
 Brewer proceeded to declare vacant the offices of 
 vice president and secretary, held by Howell and 
 Cramer, and also their directorships. Cramer 
 and Howell protested, but without spirit. 
 
 " You can do this, of course," said Howell 
 darkly. " But it won't do you any good. And I 
 can tell you, if you know where to reach Hazzard, 
 you'd better get hold of him mighty quick and tell 
 him to come back." 
 
 But, though it looked as if the game were in 
 their hands, he and Cramer both looked worried. 
 And after the meeting they sought Lansing out 
 separately, and made veiled suggestions that he
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 ought, in his own interests, to detach himself from 
 Hazzard. He was polite, but otherwise unsatis- 
 factory. He wasn't associated with Hazzard, he 
 explained. On questions that had come before 
 the meeting, he added, he had voted according to 
 his own judgment, which might be mistaken, but 
 wasn't to be changed. 
 
 On the fourth day of Hazzard's absence the 
 opposition seemed to decide that no more time 
 was to be lost. Without waiting for his appear- 
 ance, counsel for the licensed interests began their 
 infringement suit. But Hazen, to whom Lansing 
 took the papers, laughed. 
 
 " They can't get even a temporary injunction if 
 that's all the evidence they've got," he said. " And 
 I suppose Hazzard has buried everyone who's 
 really qualified to describe that camera?" 
 
 " I guess he has," said Lansing. 
 
 So far things did not look so bad. But 
 Hazzard couldn't stay away indefinitely. He 
 would have to come back. And, sooner or later, 
 too, the opposition could get the facts it needed. 
 Hazen agreed with him that if that happened the 
 situation would be critical and worse than 
 critical. Even if Hazzard was right, and the 
 
 [120]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 patents in question were held to be too compre- 
 hensive to cover fundamental things that should 
 never have been included in any patent, there was 
 bound to be serious trouble if it came to an in- 
 junction. 
 
 And, as it turned out, Hazzard hadn't been 
 able to stop every leak. Within a week a tem- 
 porary injunction was granted on evidence that 
 was secured, not at Fort Lee, but in Florida. And 
 on that day, Lansing, worried more seriously than 
 he was willing to admit, even to himself, got a 
 wire from Hazzard. It had been filed in Buffalo; 
 it asked him to meet Hazzard's train, a famous 
 flyer from Chicago, on its arrival. Lansing 
 obeyed; thought of an improvement, even. In- 
 stead of waiting in New York, he went up the 
 line to the place where steam power gives way 
 to the electric current, and found Hazzard dozing 
 in his compartment. 
 
 " Good boy! " said Hazzard at sight of him. 
 "Shoot now! Tell me everything that's hap- 
 pened. I've had code telegrams from Brewer, 
 but he didn't put much in wasn't sure I'd get 
 them probably." 
 
 Lansing obeyed. 
 
 [121]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " All right," said Hazzard. " I guess they're 
 a little worried. Mamma ! Wait till I'm through 
 with them." 
 
 He smoked silently, thoughtfully, until they 
 were in the tunnel. 
 
 " Used to be one of these afternoon-tea sports, 
 didn't you?" he flung at Lansing suddenly. 
 " Hardest work you did was spending pop's 
 money or playing a game of tennis now and then 
 maybe?" 
 
 " Something like that," admitted Lansing cheer- 
 fully. 
 
 " One of the Four Hundred, eh? " 
 
 " There's no such animal but yes, to what 
 you mean not what you said." 
 
 "H'm! Lot of rich friends? Millionaires? 
 Fellows with so much money they don't know how 
 to spend it ? Steam yachts pictures in the paper 
 breach-of-promise suits lots of publicity 
 about their kale? " 
 
 Lansing laughed at the picture. A few months 
 before he would have resented it bitterly. But his 
 viewpoint had changed since he had joined the 
 ranks of the workers. 
 
 "Any intimate friends like that?" Hazzard 
 
 [122]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 persisted. " Any you know well enough to slap 
 on the shoulder and call by their first names? " 
 
 " Some, I guess." 
 
 "Well anyone in particular? One who's 
 got all sorts of money and everyone knows he's 
 got it ? In a class with the Astors and the Vander- 
 bilts for big money? " 
 
 The shining, cheerful face of Sandy Brangwyn 
 rose before Lansing's eyes. It brought a new 
 smile. But then he frowned suddenly, fiercely. 
 
 " Yes," he said, " I've got a pal like that I 
 guess he'd qualify on all your counts." 
 
 " And you know him the way I said? So he'd 
 do anything you asked? " 
 
 " Yes," he said gravely. " But he won't be 
 asked, Hazzard. I'm ready to back your play 
 any way I can myself, but I can't borrow from 
 my friends " 
 
 " Don't want his money," said Hazzard. 
 " Who said anything about borrowing money? I 
 want to borrow him. You go get him, see? Bring 
 him to my office. Just walk in with him, and tell 
 him to nod to me real friendly." 
 
 " If you'd explain " suggested Lansing. 
 
 " No time. And I don't like explanations, any-
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 how. Bad thing to talk about your plans, Lan- 
 sing. Liable to start a jinx working to get you. 
 I want this friend of yours to act as if he stood 
 for me with me see ? He don't need to say 
 anything. Just call him by name. If he looks 
 like a saphead, so much the better." 
 
 The grinding of the brakes as the train pulled 
 into the station cut off further explanations. And, 
 absurd as the whole thing seemed, Lansing knew 
 he would do what Hazzard asked. He had 
 shaken off the spell of Hazzard's personality to 
 some extent in his days of clear thinking and plan- 
 ning while the big man was away. But that per- 
 sonality reasserted itself as soon as he was in 
 direct contact with it again. He remembered 
 Sandy Brangwyn's daily schedule pretty well 
 having lived his own life, for some years, on very 
 much the same sort of schedule. In the middle 
 of the afternoon he could count on finding Brang- 
 wyn at a certain club, if he were in town at all. A 
 cab carried him to the club, and Brangwyn greeted 
 him like a man returned from the dead. 
 
 " I want you," said Lansing. " Need some 
 help, Sandy " 
 
 "How much?" asked Sandy, reaching for a
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 check book; and not offensively, either. He was 
 that sort. 
 
 " Nothing like that, Sandy. Worse. I want 
 you to come along with me. Sort of game. Bit 
 like charades, I guess. Game?" 
 
 " I'll try anything once," said Sandy. He liked 
 the phrases of the moment. He always had a 
 choice stock of them. And, though he usually 
 adopted the one of most recent invention even 
 before it got into the comic sections of the news- 
 papers, he clung to such sayings long after every- 
 one else had given them up. There was a certain 
 method in this. He very seldom had to invent a 
 complete sentence when he talked. 
 
 " I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on 
 my way," he said as Lansing hailed a passing taxi. 
 
 " You're going into the movies," said Lansing. 
 " We're on our way to Jim Hazzard's office. 
 Your play is to be friendly with him. Act as if 
 he were an old pal." 
 
 This, of course, would be easy for Brangwyn. 
 He was friendly with everyone. And he entered 
 the offices of Western Film with a broad grin, 
 which grew expansive at the sight of a pretty 
 Western actress who was waiting for the elevator.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Sly dog, Bobbie ! " he said. " So this is where 
 you've been hiding your light! Ah, there, 
 Bobbie!" 
 
 He fairly beamed when Lansing stopped to 
 speak to Brewer, on guard at Hazzard's door. 
 
 " Go right in," said the imperturbable Brewer. 
 " Howell's in there and Raeburn." 
 
 " Raeburn! " said Lansing, with something like 
 a gasp. For Raeburn, beyond all question, was 
 the power behind Howell and Cramer, the bit- 
 terest, the most powerful, the most ruthless, of 
 Hazzard's enemies. 
 
 " And some lawyers," added Brewer, smiling 
 very faintly. " But go on in Mr. Hazzard's 
 expecting you." 
 
 Only Lansing noticed Hazzard's quick look at 
 Brangwyn, and the relief that came into his eyes. 
 Sandy played up beautifully; he nodded carelessly 
 to Hazzard, and shook hands. And he continued 
 to beam. His expression indicated that he would 
 nod to all the men present and shake hands with 
 them too, if he knew them, and would be de- 
 lighted to do it, just because he found them in the 
 office of a man he liked as much as he did 
 Hazzard. 
 
 [1*6]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 11 I brought Brangwyn along," said Lansing. 
 " But if you're not ready " 
 
 " Sit down won't be a minute," said Haz- 
 zard expansively. " Too bad to take Mr. 
 Brangwyn's time up this way but business is 
 business ! " 
 
 Lansing wanted to get a chance to study the 
 men in the room. Their expressions made the 
 task worth while. Raeburn had started when he 
 saw Sandy; Lansing hadn't overestimated the 
 fame some called it notoriety that Sandy 
 had acquired. He and his millions were known 
 to the company beyond doubt. And now Lansing 
 began to understand what sort of game it was that 
 Hazzard was playing. Sandy, with his millions, 
 didn't have to propitiate this interest and that to 
 keep them. His money came from Manhattan 
 real estate, bought by his ancestors when an acre 
 cost as much as a square foot does now, and he 
 could lay his hands on as much cash as some fairly 
 big banks at a week's notice. 
 
 " Now! " Hazzard's voice rose to his familiar 
 
 roar as he turned to Raeburn. " You can see the 
 
 options I've got. Is that infringement suit going 
 
 through or will it be withdrawn tomorrow?" 
 
 [127]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Raeburn hesitated; seemed to be on the verge 
 of apoplexy. 
 
 " I want to talk to you alone for five minutes," 
 he said at last. 
 
 " Make it short," said Sandy, as Hazzard rose 
 and led the way to the door. " We've got to talk, 
 too, you know." 
 
 Hazzard smiled. They could hear his roaring 
 voice from time to time ; Lansing guessed he was 
 using Howell's old room. And in less than five 
 minutes they were back. Raeburn stopped at the 
 door. 
 
 "Come on!" he said to his crew. "We've 
 settled it." 
 
 " He's right," said Hazzard to Lansing and 
 Sandy. He began to laugh, and before he stopped 
 there were tears in his eyes. 
 
 " They thought they had me and they did," 
 he said. " I couldn't have beaten that infringe- 
 ment suit not until they'd put me out of busi- 
 ness. They'd' have got all our exchanges. That 
 was what they were after chiefly. So I went 
 out and got as many of theirs as I could. Rae- 
 burn guessed I was bluffing told me I didn't 
 have the money to close my options."
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " You didn't," said Lansing. 
 
 " Of course I didn't. That's where " 
 
 " Oh, I see ! " said Sandy chuckling. " That's 
 where I came in. By Jove, that's some bluff ! I 
 I swear I'd have made good for if you'd been 
 called." 
 
 " There wasn't a chance once you were 
 here," said Hazzard scornfully. " I've played 
 poker with Raeburn. I know his limit." 
 
 Then he turned to Lansing. 
 
 " Son," he said, " I'm going to pull you along 
 with me. I handed you a raw deal at the start, 
 but you've made good. I'll make your stock 
 worth ten times what you paid for it " 
 
 " Go ahead," said Lansing. " But you can 
 have the stock. I'll turn it over to you tomorrow 
 for what I paid and the dividend you skinned me 
 for. I've had enough." 
 
 Hazzard's whole manner changed. 
 
 " Want to quit? " he said sharply. " All right. 
 You've got to now. That's one thing I never let 
 a man change his mind about. Give Brewer the 
 figures you'll get your check when you deliver 
 the stock. Going to quit the movies, eh? " 
 
 " I didn't say that," laughed Lansing. " I'm 
 
 [129]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 going into the business myself. Put me down 
 among your rivals." 
 
 Hazzard had proved himself clever. But he 
 wasn't quite clever enough to know the truth when 
 he heard it. Perhaps this was because his oppor- 
 tunities in that line had been limited in those wild 
 days of the first great strides of the movies.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 ONCE Lansing's decision was made, his 
 seemingly wasted hours stood him in good 
 stead. He had picked up an astonishing amount 
 of irrelevant knowledge that now acquired rele- 
 vance. Best of all, it seemed to him, was his 
 knowledge of just where to find Cliff Martyn. 
 Martyn was a director and he was the man of 
 all men Lansing wanted for the actual making of 
 the pictures he had it in mind to produce. He 
 found him in a saloon near the ferryhouse at 
 Forty-second Street and the North River, con- 
 sorting with longshoremen and others of more 
 uncertain occupation. Martyn had been doing 
 what men usually do in saloons, and doing it to 
 excess. But three hours in a Turkish bath a few 
 blocks east restored him to his senses. He faced 
 Lansing, across a chilled grapefruit and a pot of 
 steaming coffee, wrapped in contrition and the 
 voluminous sheet that is fashion's last word in 
 Turkish bathhouses. 
 
 " I'm a bum, Lansing," he said earnestly.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Sheehan's third-rail whisky's too good to go to 
 pickling me. I know it now. I tell you so. 
 I'm ashamed of myself. But what's the use? 
 Tonight or tomorrow night you could find me 
 again maybe not in Sheehan's, but if not there, 
 in Mike's place, or Casey's or the Dutchman's." 
 
 " I think not," said Lansing, with decision. 
 " Look here, Cliff I need you in my business. 
 A year ago you could have licked me maybe. Right 
 now I could put you out in one round. And 
 that's just what I'll do if you get soused again 
 till I give you the word." 
 
 Martyn straightened up and stared at him. 
 
 "What's the answer?" he said. "How do 
 you mean you need me? It was only one thing I 
 was good for and I can't get a job doing that." 
 
 " Maybe not," said Lansing. " But the job's 
 got you. Listen ! Isn't that why you've been try- 
 ing to drink up all the red liquor on the West Side 
 because you couldn't get back on the job? " 
 
 " Shouldn't wonder," said Martyn dismally. 
 " What's the odds? I'm not blaming anyone. I 
 was in with the first, with the old trust crowd. And 
 then the independents offered me more money, 
 and I quit. That's why the licensed people won't 
 [132]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 take me on again. I don't blame them they 
 gave me fair warning. But these last people 
 stinting me on money and making me throw down 
 people I'd hired in good faith say, a yellow 
 dog wouldn't stand for the way they acted I They 
 were just looking for a chance to beat my con- 
 tract so when I got full " 
 
 Lansing knew that. He knew, too, that there 
 was something to be said on the other side. This 
 man Martyn was an artist, if there was one in the 
 movies. He came closer to genius than anyone 
 concerned in the actual making of pictures. And 
 the mention of his name in the Screen Club, at 
 any hour of the night or day, would loosen a veri- 
 table deluge of stories about his temperament. 
 
 "Cliff Martyn?" Debrett had said. "The 
 trouble with that guy is that money don't mean 
 anything to him. When he's making a picture he 
 isn't thinking about getting a profit out of it. His 
 idea is to make the best picture there is, and hang 
 the expense ! He don't care how much sweating 
 the business end has to do to make the film pay 
 for itself or show a profit." 
 
 Lansing knew this, believed it, and could see 
 exactly how impossible it had been for Martyn's 
 [133]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 former employers to do business with him. The 
 quality of any particular film had nothing to do 
 with what it brought from the exhibitors. The 
 
 rentals were fixed by the 
 stern and absolute law of competition. *^S 
 For a first run the price was so much a foot, and 
 that price went down to the vanishing point with 
 the passing of time and the release of the film to 
 the little five-cent, two-shows-a-week houses. The 
 system made for mediocrity, but it was the best 
 one yet devised. Sometimes a manufacturer 
 splurged and spent far more on the making of a 
 feature than he could hope to get back. But he 
 did it for a purpose, and charged the loss to adver- 
 tising which was a different thing from charg- 
 ing it to the artistic temperament of Cliff Martyn. 
 And yet, though he planned to start his enter- 
 
 [134]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 prise on what Hazzard or any of the other big 
 men would have called a shoe string, on a basis 
 that would involve watching the spending of every 
 dollar, it was this spendthrift of the films that 
 Lansing wanted for his director. So badly did 
 he want him, indeed, that he felt it would be use- 
 less to go on unless he got him. And the reason 
 was that he, Lansing, was willing to stake all he 
 had on his belief that he had discovered a new 
 way to reach the public. He felt that he was 
 going, after all, to turn his spade over in virgin 
 ground. 
 
 " I want you to get straightened out," he said 
 to Martyn. " I want you to go away from this 
 town today at once. Get back to nature. Get 
 the alcohol out of your system. Get your skin 
 clear and wipe the red lines out of the whites of 
 your eyes. And while you're doing it I'll be here 
 or hereabout, getting things ready. When I want 
 you I'll send for you. I'll have a studio and a 
 play for you to work with. And then I want you 
 to make me the best moving picture that's ever 
 been taken. I want you to forget every rule every 
 other company in the business ever had and work 
 out your own idea of what the public will like."
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 "Gee! " said Martyn. "That sounds like a 
 fairy tale. You mean you'd give me a free hand 
 money and all? " 
 
 " Up to the limit of my bank roll on money and 
 without any limit every other way. If you want 
 to spend money and I have to say no it'll be be- 
 cause I haven't got it not because it would 
 mean spending more than the film could make. 
 Because the way I'm going to handle this prop- 
 osition there isn't any limit to the money the film 
 can make. Get that? There isn't any limit to 
 the money a first-class play can make, is there? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " You bet there isn't ! Look at some of the big 
 successes just in the last few years. If the play's 
 good enough it'll make the money. And I don't 
 see why it shouldn't be so with a film. Now 
 are you willing to go in with me? You'll get 
 enough to live on while the film's being made 
 which doesn't include anything for booze. So 
 will I. Every cent is going into the production. 
 But you'll get an interest in the company I'm 
 going to incorporate to handle this thing. The 
 more money the film and the others that fol- 
 low it makes, the more you'll get. You and 
 [136]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 I'll be in the same boat. Now does that sound 
 like something worth doing? " 
 
 " Would a life belt look good to a man who'd 
 fallen overboard in the middle of the ocean? I'll 
 go you and I'm beginning to see what you're 
 driving at, too. I believe we can do it." 
 
 They shook hands very solemnly. 
 
 " But look here! " said Martyn. " I mean 
 every word of this now. I know you've got 
 the right dope. But I've been hitting it pretty 
 hard lately. How do you know I can quit? I 
 don't know it myself. I intend to now. But 
 every man does when he's been boiled out in a 
 hot room. I might fall off the wagon again any 
 time." 
 
 " You'd better not. Because you'll fall into 
 a whole heap of trouble the first time you do. I 
 meant what I said. The first time I see you 
 tipping your elbow we're going to find out which 
 is the better man, and if I can lick you, believe me 
 I'll do it to the queen's taste. I'm not bluffing 
 I've got an idea that treatment's got the gold cure 
 and all these slip-it-in-his-coffee-when-he's-not-look- 
 ing powders backed off the boards for results. 
 
 " Heavens above, man! What is there for you 
 
 [137]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 in being a tank? You don't enjoy waking up with 
 a head that makes you want to put on the waste- 
 basket for a hat when you go out to breakfast. 
 You don't enjoy anything about this game. You 
 want to get back to have people talk about you 
 as the man who is the best director in the movies, 
 instead of as the one who might be or used to be. 
 And you're going to be busy. When I send for 
 you to come back you won't have time for Shee- 
 han's or the Dutchman's or any other bar. We'll 
 be working against time then to get the picture 
 done before our cash gives out." 
 
 " I'll go you," said Martyn. " You're dead 
 right. I guess there's a chance for me because 
 I never did like the stuff or what it does to you. 
 If I've got something better to do I can let it 
 alone. And I don't need any of that back-to- 
 nature stuff, either. I'm ready to start work 
 tomorrow." 
 
 " Work isn't ready for you yet," said Lansing. 
 " And you may feel fine now, and think you're fit 
 to do anything. But you're not. After a couple 
 of days your nerves would begin yelling at you. I 
 know just the place for you, and I guess I can fix 
 it for you."
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 He had no hesitation this time in appealing to 
 Sandy Brangwyn. He guessed that Sandy was 
 about due at his camp in Maine, and he knew that 
 Sandy made a point of respecting that State's 
 best-known law while he was in residence there. 
 There was no difficulty about the matter. 
 
 "Delighted!" said Sandy. "I get you, old 
 top what? He won't know a cocktail if he 
 meets it outside the station when he comes back. 
 You leave it to me. If I'd ever had to work for 
 a living I'd have been a doctor what? Old 
 Doc Brangwyn ! Bring him along to the train 
 tomorrow and then forget him. You won't 
 know him when you see him again." 
 
 Lansing heaved a sigh of vast relief when he 
 saw the little party off to Maine. Sandy was not 
 without his faults. His best friends didn't call 
 him brilliant. He had few ideas, very few. But 
 when he got one it had plenty of room in his head, 
 and it grew and filled the whole space. Lansing 
 had no idea how Martyn would react to this some- 
 what heroic treatment. But he could trust Sandy. 
 
 And, for himself, he began to be very busy. He 
 had to acquire the plant and equipment of his 
 studio, nebulous, a thing that existed as yet only 
 [139]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 in his own mind. And straightway he became a 
 bargain hunter. He accomplished wonders, for 
 he intended to spend just as little as he could until 
 operations had begun. He knew how pitifully 
 small his capital was for the enterprise he had in 
 mind. Once more his stock of seemingly useless 
 knowledge proved invaluable. Here, there, and 
 everywhere he bought what had to be on hand 
 before any sort of start could be made. 
 
 And then, cautiously, lest he give himself away 
 too soon, he began negotiations for the right to 
 produce the play he had fixed upon as the first 
 production. It wasn't a new play, but it had been 
 tremendously successful in its time, some years 
 before, and so was reasonably sure to strike a 
 familiar chord when it was advertised as he meant 
 to advertise it. Moreover, it had been the vehicle 
 of a star who had not scored a real success since 
 it had closed its run. That had weighed heavily 
 in his selection. He wanted a star of the legiti- 
 mate theater, and he knew he didn't have money 
 enough even to interest those who were reveling 
 in current hits. This man he had in mind might 
 be more willing to take a chance. 
 
 But, knowing Martyn and his temperament, 
 [140]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Lansing postponed definite action in these matters 
 until his return. Getting the studio into shape 
 took a lot of time. Quite naturally, he had located 
 it on his old stamping ground atop the Palisades. 
 So his dealings with his prospective star and with 
 the owners of the play he wanted were only 
 tentative. He carried them only far enough 
 to be able to lay a definite plan before Martyn 
 when he finally sent for him. He was ready for 
 his director in less than a month, and at the sta- 
 tion he greeted a Cliff Martyn who had filled out 
 and straightened up, whose eyes were white where 
 eyes should be white, and not streaked with red, 
 and whose skin was as brown as that of a healthy 
 boy. 
 
 " No need to ask how you feel," said Lansing, 
 with deep content. 
 
 " There aren't any words for it," said Martyn, 
 breathing deep. " I haven't felt like this since 
 Hector was a pup."
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 HEY got down to work 
 at once. Lansing had 
 opened an office in a building 
 near Longacre Square not as 
 imposing a procedure as it ap- 
 peared to be just then, since office buildings 
 were going up far ahead of a coming demand. 
 The office was a modest affair; aside from Lan- 
 sing himself, the working force of the Lansing 
 Film Company consisted, at this time, of one 
 stenographer. Lansing and Martyn sent her out 
 to lunch and got down to business. 
 
 " You'd better tell me just what you've got up 
 your sleeve," Martyn began. " First I haven't 
 got cold feet. I'm for you, first and last, and in 
 the middle. But if you're planning to go into 
 this game on a shoe string, you'd better save your 
 stake. It can't be done. The exchanges " 
 " Are all controlled by one group or another," 
 [142]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Lansing finished it for him. " I know that. But 
 the State's rights men aren't." 
 
 Martyn threw up his hands. 
 
 " Good Lord ! If you'd told me you had that 
 bee in your bonnet I could have choked you off 
 even if I had a hang-over! " he said. " To begin 
 with, they're buying outright prints of foreign 
 films. Practically all the big features the State's 
 rights men are handling are from abroad. In a 
 way, they're good, too. But you can't figure on 
 them. I grant you can turn out better stuff but 
 not at a price those fellows will look at. Milano 
 Itala all the big foreign makers pay ten 
 dollars a week where we'd have to pay fifty or a 
 hundred. They get their supers for fifty cents a 
 day and we're lucky to get bum extras for three 
 dollars. Everything's in proportion." 
 
 " You admit we can make better film " 
 
 " Forget it; it doesn't make any difference. I've 
 used that argument myself when I was fighting to 
 spend five thousand on a picture that could be 
 skimped through for five hundred. And the an- 
 swer's the same one I always got it's price that 
 the exhibitor considers, not quality. He's got to. 
 He's got a theater that holds just so many people.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 He knows the maximum receipts for any week, 
 and after he's been in business long enough he 
 knows what average deduction to make for 
 weather and other things that affect his attendance. 
 
 "And he knows the exhibitor what his 
 expenses are, too. He can't allow for any deduc- 
 tion there, either, you bet. His rent and his pay 
 roll and his lighting bills go on just the same, 
 whether he plays to capacity or to empty seats. 
 He's got to make film rental a fixed charge, too. 
 That's why he's glad to take a program from his 
 local exchange. He can't pay more just because 
 you offer him an extra good film. The public 
 won't stand for his raising his prices. Listen 
 I'm talking against myself when I shoot all this 
 dope at you. I'd like nothing better than to take 
 a crack, just once, at making a picture without any 
 limit to speak of. 
 
 " Gad I'd like to see how a few ideas of 
 mine would work out! And if there wasn't so 
 much money, I'd have fun beating a skinny bank 
 roll, too showing you and myself and a few of 
 the dubs that think it's clever to roast me what I 
 can do. I'd put a few things over. But I won't 
 let you go up against a game that's dead sure to 
 
 [144]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 beat you. You'd do better to give Dave Stein- 
 man's faro game a play some night. You'd get 
 quicker action the suspense wouldn't be so bad 
 for you, and you might have a chance to win, if 
 Dave's dealer had an off night." 
 
 " Yes I guess you've covered the ground," 
 said Lansing, nodding. " That's about what 
 everyone who's described conditions in the film 
 game has told me. Only they seem to forget 
 that just because things have been done a certain 
 way isn't any reason for doing them that same 
 way forever." 
 
 " You said something like that before and it 
 sounded all right. But I was half doped then. 
 And since I got away I've been thinking it over. 
 You can't beat this exchange game in any " 
 
 " Yes, you can and through the State's rights 
 men, in spite of what you say. Now I'll explain. 
 We're going to turn out the best film we can, with 
 the resources we've got. It won't be as good a 
 film as we'd like, and as we'd get if we didn't have 
 to watch expenses. But it'll be a better film than 
 the public's ever been asked to look at in this 
 country. And that's just what we're going to do 
 we're going to ask the public to look at it, the 
 
 [145]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 way it's asked to go to see Belasco's newest play, 
 or the latest musical show. 
 
 " The way things are now people just go to the 
 movies. They're beginning to get to want some 
 particular actor or actress only just beginning. 
 Generally speaking, though, they don't know what 
 they're going to see. They pay their nickel or 
 their dime, and they find a seat and hope it'll be a 
 good program. What sort of way is that to run 
 a great amusement business? How long would 
 the theaters keep open if they just hung out a 
 sign and told people to pay their money and take 
 a chance on seeing something good? Isn't that 
 the way it is in the movies now? All John Smith 
 knows, when he takes his best girl to the pictures, 
 is that they'll see about six or seven reels a 
 couple of two-reel features, a one-reel comedy 
 with a chase in it, maybe another one-reeler, and 
 perhaps a topical weekly." 
 
 u All that's true but what are you going to 
 do about it? " 
 
 " Go to the public. Tell it we've produced a 
 
 certain film. Put it on in a regular theater here in 
 
 New York on Broadway. Charge real money 
 
 while it's there. Advertise it a particular film, 
 
 [146]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 specially written, specially produced, specially cast. 
 Tell 'em before they go what they're going to see. 
 Get the same sort of national publicity for it that 
 a first-class play gets, so that people in the smaller 
 theaters and the smaller towns will be waiting for 
 it. Don't you see? The State's rights men will 
 have to have that film. It'll draw capacity audi- 
 ences and they'll be willing to pay extra prices 
 because they know they'll see an extra good show. 
 Now do you see? " 
 
 " It might yes, it just might get over," said 
 Martyn slowly, reluctantly. " It's a way of get- 
 ting around the way the game's being run now. 
 But can you put it over? There's all sorts of 
 things to be taken into account " 
 
 " You do your part give me the best film we 
 can get for what we can afford to put into it. I'll 
 guarantee to put my share over. It's a gamble 
 and if you can show me anything in the amusement 
 business, from a penny peep show to a fifty-thou- 
 sand-dollar musical extravaganza that isn't, I'll 
 eat it. It's up to you, Cliff. Are you willing to 
 put in your brains and your knowledge of how to 
 make a picture, and your time against what 
 money I've got and my part of the work? " 
 [147]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Oh, me ! " Martyn dismissed the idea that 
 he had anything to risk with a gesture of con- 
 tempt. " I haven't been worrying about myself, 
 Lansing. All I've ever needed to make me willing 
 to jump in with both feet is to know that you've 
 got some sort of a chance to come out ahead. And 
 
 I guess you've got that chance about one in 
 a hundred." 
 
 " That's enough," said Lansing, with decision. 
 " If you can see the chance, too, even if it doesn't 
 look any bigger than that, it's a cinch it's there. 
 That shows I'm not absolutely crazy. Now, then 
 
 how about doing ' Crandall's Revenge ' for our 
 first feature with Ralph Morgan as star?" 
 
 Martyn threw back his head and thought for a 
 minute. 
 
 " Good enough, I guess," he said after a min- 
 ute. " I see what you're figuring on that peo- 
 ple will remember the play just well enough to 
 want to see it again. It was dramatized from a 
 novel, wasn't it? " 
 
 " One reason I picked it. In the play some of 
 the best stuff in the book couldn't be acted out 
 it had to be brought in as exposition the char- 
 acters just told one another that this and that had
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 happened. In a film we can act it all out, and 
 more, too, if we need it." 
 
 " Right! " said Martyn. " I used to hammer 
 at them all the time to buy the rights to good 
 magazine stories for me to make into scenarios 
 and now they're beginning to do it. That's where 
 the best films are coming from in the future 
 because those chaps know how to write stories. 
 But about Morgan I don't believe you've got a 
 chance to get him. He'd want the key to the 
 subtreasury." 
 
 " He hasn't had a success for five years not 
 a real one. He was in five different plays last 
 year and not one of them ran more than two 
 weeks. He worked a lot, but it was at rehearsal, 
 and actors don't get paid for rehearsals. I've got 
 a hunch I can land him easily but I wouldn't go 
 near him till I'd got your O. K." 
 
 " All right go ahead. He'll do, if you can 
 get him. He's got the right sort of face, and I 
 can wise him up on working for the camera. I'll 
 read the book this afternoon and dope out the rest 
 of the cast. With a star like that we can get cheap 
 people for the other parts, and I know plenty of 
 good ones that will do better work than this crowd 
 C H9]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 that's beginning to think it's worth real money. 
 I'll get Jim Blunt for the camera and Teddy 
 Lathrop to help me and attend to props." 
 
 " All that's up to you," said Lansing. " I'm 
 not butting in on your end of the game, Cliff. But 
 the more people you can get who'll take small 
 money now and take a chance on going up with us 
 when we've made good " 
 
 " I get you. Leave that to me. I know a few 
 people who'd rather work with me for enough to 
 live on than get big money where they are. You 
 go on and get Morgan, if you can, and are awfully 
 sure you've got all the rights to the piece. You 
 don't want to be held up with any copyright-in- 
 fringement stuff after you get going. And remem- 
 ber that a play's worse than a bit of land when it 
 comes to a clear title. I've known plays that 
 twenty or thirty people had an interest in." 
 
 They separated, each with his work cut out for 
 him. So far, Lansing felt, he had done well 
 almost too well. He hadn't expected Martyn to 
 acquiesce so easily and so fully in all his sugges- 
 tions. But he guessed that Martyn's tempera- 
 ment was only sleeping, not dead; that it had been 
 lulled by his month in the woods. It was pretty
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 sure to break out later under the strain of getting 
 the picture ready. Moreover, it would be in touch 
 with another artistic temperament then, if Lan- 
 sing had any luck that of Ralph Morgan. 
 
 It was easy to reach Morgan. In the old days 
 the stage had been Lansing's chief passion, and a 
 few minutes of telephoning put him in touch with 
 a friend at The Lambs who promised to produce 
 the star in the Knickerbocker bar within fifteen 
 minutes and kept his word. He introduced 
 Lansing, and vanished discreetly. 
 
 Morgan was " at liberty," or " resting." 
 Either phrase is technically correct, and either, 
 being translated, means that the great actor was 
 looking for a job. But, for a star, this is not a 
 simple process. The theatrical world rests very 
 largely on foundations of pretense. He or she 
 who has once been a star may touch the borders 
 of starvation afterward, but must never admit it. 
 The star, needing an engagement, cannot ask for 
 it. He must wait to be approached by some man- 
 ager. Nor can he accept a lesser part to tide over 
 a bad spell. It must be stardom or nothing. So 
 there are stars, unluckily cast, as Morgan had so 
 often been since his one great success, who could
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 write instructive articles on how to live in New 
 York on a fraction of nothing a day. 
 
 If Morgan was in this class when Lansing met 
 him, however, there was nothing in his aspect or 
 his manner to show it. Solomon, beside him, 
 looked like a countryman after a misfit parlor has 
 done with him, and the lilies of the field would 
 have blushed had they been obliged to stand com- 
 parison with him. His tailor, it may be guessed, 
 considered him a good advertisement. 
 
 " I'm afraid I'm only wasting your time by 
 asking you to meet me, Mr. Morgan," Lansing 
 began. Here, he knew, was an occasion for diplo- 
 macy. " I suppose your plans for the next few 
 weeks are already made? " 
 
 " Well ah they might be changed, you 
 know," said Morgan. " I fancy a chappie can 
 always make a turn if there's a bit of 'oof in sight 
 
 eh, what?" 
 
 " I've noticed it," said Lansing dryly. " Well 
 
 I'll be frank. I and my associates wondered 
 if you could be induced to do some moving-pic- 
 ture work? " 
 
 " My word I " said the actor. " I say that 
 is a bit thick, old top 'pon my word, you have 
 [152]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 got a cheek! I mean to say thinkin' I'd act 
 on a bally screen. But I suppose the screw's fair- 
 ish eh, what? What'll you Americans be 
 thinkin' of next, I wonder?" 
 
 " About five million of 'em will be thinking 
 about Ralph Morgan if you agree to my proposi- 
 tion," said Lansing. " Look here I think 
 you're about the best actor of your type we've 
 got. I mean that. I always did think so, in all 
 the rotten plays they put you into after ' Cran- 
 dall's Revenge.' But " 
 
 " I say they were a bit high now, weren't 
 they? " interrupted the actor. " I'm fed up with 
 your Yankee managers; they're quite too toppish, 
 and that's a fact." 
 
 " You've had bad luck. You made the hit of 
 your life in ' Crandall's Revenge ' ; but that's 
 being forgotten. Suppose you could get every one 
 thinking again about how good you were in that? 
 Suppose you could have another long run in 
 that play? You'd be as popular as ever again, 
 and the managers would all be after you, wouldn't 
 they?" 
 
 " My word, yes, rather. But they won't re- 
 vive it, old chap. My word I've asked them 
 
 [153]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 to a dozen times. They say it wouldn't do at all 
 and give a lot of silly reasons." 
 
 Lansing rather prided himself on the way he 
 reached that point. And now he fairly spred 
 himself in the effort to make Morgan see what an 
 elaborate film production of " Crandall's Re- 
 venge " would mean for him the publicity, the 
 renewed popularity. 
 
 " It would be better than a revival," he said 
 enthusiastically. " A few weeks of easy work 
 and it's all over. Making the whole picture won't 
 take any longer than the rehearsals of a play 
 and then your part's all done." 
 
 " My word! " said Morgan. " You American 
 chaps can talk eh, what? But about the screw 
 now the oof the bally coin, as you Ameri- 
 cans say? Eh, what? " 
 
 Mr. Morgan talked, at times, like what he 
 would have called a " silly ass, eh, what? " But 
 in matters of money he proved himself singularly 
 astute. He demanded, and got, a good deal more 
 than Lansing had been willing to pay as a weekly 
 salary. And he had a contingent interest in the 
 profits of the film, too; one that promised to 
 make him independent of managers for some 
 [154]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 time, if Lansing's venture made good. However, 
 Lansing was well satisfied. He could afford to 
 mortgage the future, and Morgan was one of the 
 principal reasons he had for feeling that he had 
 a future to mortgage. 
 
 [155]
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 EVEN after Morgan was snared, a good deal 
 of work remained to be done before Martyn 
 could set the wheels finally in motion with his 
 first cry of "Picture!" He and Lansing did 
 forty-eight hours of practically continuous work 
 on the manuscript, the working scenario, with 
 relays of stenographers. With novel and play to 
 work on, many changes, many adaptations, were 
 still necessary. Lansing was rather appalled at 
 the free way Martyn handled the material, but 
 the director laughed at him. 
 
 " Doesn't make any difference how different 
 it is," he said. " We stick to the main thread 
 of narrative and we give them the scenes they 
 remember in the play. That's the point, it seems 
 to me, though, of course, we're blazing a new trail 
 here. A lot of people, of course, are coming to 
 see this film because they remember the play. We 
 want to satisfy them. But if all the people 
 who saw the play came to see the film we'd lose 
 money."
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " How do you make that out? The play made 
 three hundred thousand dollars." 
 
 " Yes running about three years. Call it 
 ninety weeks solid running. Suppose you allow 
 fifteen thousand a week and that's liberal. 
 We've got to show to twice that many people to 
 have a big winner, because we'll have at least 
 twelve performances a week, and more likely 
 twenty-one. No we've got to figure on the 
 people who didn't see the show who only just 
 heard about it. A lot of them will be movie fans 
 and we've got to please them. We've got to 
 build this picture up for the people who've never 
 seen the play. We're dealing with a new genera- 
 [157]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 tion. All we've really got to worry about is get- 
 ting out a good film. That's why I'm making all 
 these changes." 
 
 There were changes of other sorts, too, for 
 Martyn was figuring on expense in every scene. 
 As he went along he was making notes of the 
 settings, jotting down ideas for exteriors. Scene 
 after scene reminded him of some spot he knew. 
 
 " You're like a Baedeker guide," said Lansing. 
 " Only you must have gone around New York 
 looking at every place you saw as a possible setting 
 in a picture." 
 
 " Sure," admitted Martyn. " That's my busi- 
 ness. I'm like the man who sat down and cried 
 the first time he saw Niagara. When they asked 
 him why, he said he was thinking about all the 
 power that was going to waste ; and he didn't begin 
 to cheer up and enjoy the sight till they told him 
 that the power was being used." 
 
 Lansing had to laugh at the way Martyn 
 schemed to save a single setting. 
 
 " It all counts," said the director. " It isn't just 
 
 what it costs us to build the scenes, either. It's 
 
 the time. That's where doubling up on exteriors 
 
 counts. The salaries you pay go right into the ex- 
 
 [158]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 pense record, you know, and I guess I've doped 
 out ways of cutting the time of this production 
 down by a week or ten days already supposing 
 we get some decent weather. You can make a 
 scene look entirely different by changing the set-up 
 moving the camera. Remember, I don't say 
 a good director, someone used to doing the 
 same thing himself, wouldn't catch on. But not 
 the public. And what they don't know won't 
 hurt 'em." 
 
 " You're tarred with the same brush as Haz- 
 zard and the rest of them," said Lansing. " Any- 
 thing goes if you can get away with it. That's 
 the motto of this whole business nowadays, it 
 seems to me." 
 
 " Well, it's got to be our motto on this film," 
 said Martyn. " Oh, you needn't worry! Give me 
 some velvet to work on for the next production 
 and I'll spend money so fast you won't be able to 
 see it go. Say I jewed Chambers down to 
 forty-five. And he's been getting seventy-five from 
 Western Film. If he hadn't had a row with 
 Haines we couldn't have touched him. But Roche 
 threw me down hard. There's a little girl that's 
 going to wind up with real money. She wouldn't 
 [159]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 look at less than a hundred and a quarter, and I 
 wouldn't sign her for that." 
 
 "For the lead, eh? I don't know, Cliff I 
 suppose we'll have to spend pretty nearly that, 
 won't we? " 
 
 " Not if I can help it. I've got another iron 
 or two in the fire. And I can get Roche at that 
 figure any time I want her. She'd like to work 
 with us, I guess. Trouble is, it's hard to get a 
 woman lead with the right sort of face and enough 
 experience for this sort of part. They've gone 
 crazy with their long-haired, soulful-eyed matinee 
 idols lately. About seventy-five per cent of the 
 films you see released now are playing up someone 
 like Warren Kerrigan or Frank Bushman." 
 
 Lansing had been waiting for just such an op- 
 portunity as this. Very casually now he made his 
 first suggestion regarding the cast. 
 
 " Say I used to know a girl who might do," 
 he said. " I worked with her when I was learn- 
 ing the ropes. She looked then as if she might 
 be pretty good when she got some experience. But 
 she's never played leads." 
 
 " That wouldn't matter," said Martyn. " I'd 
 just as soon have a woman that didn't know it all. 
 [160]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 If she had the stuff I could bring it out. Who is 
 this dame? " 
 
 " I'll try to find her and bring her around," said 
 Lansing. " Of course, it's up to you." 
 
 " Of course," said Martyn seriously. 
 
 Lansing grinned. And he didn't blame Martyn, 
 either. Yet from the beginning of this enterprise 
 he had intended that Mary Brewster, the girl he 
 had first seen on the ferry, crossing to Fort Lee, 
 should play opposite to Morgan. He had never 
 forgotten the impression she had made on him on 
 that first day, when her intuition for the right 
 effect had distinguished her so absolutely from 
 the automatons who were obeying the orders that 
 Haines flung at them. 
 
 He had seen a good many moving-picture 
 actresses since then. He had seen good ones and 
 bad ones, and many who touched all the notes that 
 lay between those extremes. He had seen pret- 
 tier ones than this girl but he had seen none 
 who were able to blur at all the sharp, distinct 
 impression she had made upon him. He had 
 taken the trouble to follow up the film in which 
 he had made his first appearance before the 
 camera, and had seen it two or three times in 
 [161]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 different theaters. And the effect of her quick, 
 carefully calculated bit of business had been as 
 sharp, as vivid on the screen as in the studio. 
 Moreover, it had won its tribute of a quick catch- 
 ing of the breath from those who sat near him. 
 
 It had always surprised him that this girl had 
 not been recognized that no director had seen 
 her possibilities, and done his part in making her 
 famous. But he wasn't disposed to quarrel with 
 his luck. From the beginning he had hoped that 
 some stroke of fortune would delay her success 
 until he could have a hand in it. Selfish? Of 
 course ! Lansing was pretty human. Nothing that 
 has been told about him has been set down with 
 any idea of making him appear to be what he was 
 not. He had the ordinary merits and defects of 
 mankind. And he had a consuming ambition, to 
 which everything had to be subordinated. 
 
 So he was glad, as he set out to find Mary 
 Brewster, that her name hadn't become a sort of 
 household word. He expected her to be a big 
 factor in that process of realizing his ambition to 
 which he had already consecrated Ralph Morgan 
 and Cliff Martyn. He wanted, very passionately 
 now, to make good. Lansing's had gone down 
 [162]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 again; the great store that his father had built up 
 was closed, and this time definitely. The reor- 
 ganization had kept it alive for only a few months. 
 And he had heard echoes of talk that connected 
 him with the failure. He wasn't blamed for it, 
 but there was talk a sort of intimation that he 
 was like the sons of many other successful fathers. 
 It wasn't only for the sake of having as much 
 money as he had had before that he wanted to 
 succeed, of course. Though, as a matter of fact, 
 if this enterprise with u Crandall's Revenge " did 
 fail, he was going to be poor in good earnest. 
 Failure would mean the need of getting a job and 
 a salary just to live upon. 
 
 He supposed that finding Mary Brewster would 
 be a simple matter. But it wasn't. He took a 
 taxicab to the address he had kept ever since that 
 first day at the Western studio, forgetting, if he 
 had ever known, the impermanence of such New 
 York addresses. She wasn't there, and there was 
 no one in the building who had ever heard of her. 
 This was the first small check he had encountered 
 since he had taken Cliff Martyn to the Turkish 
 bath, and it annoyed him out of all proportion 
 to its importance. Then he called up Haines, at
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Fort Lee and found that he knew nothing 
 about the girl and cared less. 
 
 " I had to can her six months ago," said Haines. 
 " She couldn't get along with Miss Trainor; got 
 to thinking she owned the studio, I guess." 
 
 So he had to institute a regular search. This 
 was unfortunate, for it seemed that he was the 
 only man in the industry who thought of Mary 
 Brewster as a real actress, and there were some 
 suggestive glances that made him pretty angry 
 when he made his inquiries. He couldn't explain 
 himself and his quest; on Martyn's advice, re- 
 enforced by his own common sense, he had kept 
 his intentions quiet. Hazzard had been angry at 
 his desertion; Cramer and Howell, and the big 
 interests behind them, blamed him because through 
 his, Lansing's, intervention, Hazzard had twice 
 escaped the traps they had set for him. They 
 were likely, he knew, to do all they could to beat 
 him, once they knew what he was doing. 
 
 Here and there, in the course of three days of 
 visits to the studios about New York, in Flat- 
 bush, over on the Palisades, in Yonkers, and the 
 Westchester hills, Lansing heard of the girl. Al- 
 ways she had been around looking for work. But 
 [164]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 he couldn't catch up with her, and the trail, any- 
 how, seemed to be about three weeks old. And 
 then, one morning, when he had been to Coytes- 
 ville, and was returning, just before noon, he met 
 her in Manhattan Street. She was thin and very 
 pale, and she was hurrying, as best she could, to 
 catch the boat. He stopped her, and swore to 
 himself at the hunted look that sprang into her 
 eyes as she turned to face him. 
 
 " Miss Brewster! " he said. " I've been look- 
 ing for you all over the place." 
 
 She remembered him in a moment. 
 
 " I haven't I haven't been very well," she 
 said. " I was going over early this morning to 
 try to find something to do, but I had to lie down 
 again." 
 
 Certainly she didn't look well. She looked 
 shabby, too, which was worse, almost, so far as 
 her chances of getting work went. 
 
 " Well you've found something to do, all 
 right ! " he said happily. " I'm it ! Look here 
 let's get into a taxi and run down to some place 
 near here for lunch. Then we can come to terms. 
 I'm not going to let you out of my sight, now that 
 I've found you."
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 He got her into a cab while she was hesitating. 
 And, in the restaurant, he found out part of what 
 was the matter with her. The girl was hungry. 
 She tried to save her face with some remark about 
 not having felt well enough to eat breakfast, but 
 Lansing's intuitions had become sharper, and he 
 knew. 
 
 " Look here," he said, after she had eaten, and 
 when the food and the rich, hot coffee had had 
 some effect. " I'm going to throw my cards down 
 on the table for you." 
 
 He told her a good deal of his story, and she 
 stared at him, wide-eyed, while she listened. 
 
 "Well?" he said finally. 
 
 " Oh I think you're going to win ! " she said. 
 " I don't see why you shouldn't. I always won- 
 dered why you were working as an extra be- 
 cause you didn't look at all as if you needed to. 
 Most of the men who do that well, you know ! " 
 She shrugged her shoulders to dispose of them. 
 " But where do I come in? Are you going to 
 give me a little part, or some work as an extra? 
 I I suppose I haven't any shame any more. I 
 need it dreadfully! " 
 
 " No that's not what I want you for," he 
 [166]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 said. " I've got an idea that you and I can help 
 to make one another's fortunes, Miss Brewster. 
 I think you might be, in six months, the best known 
 woman in the movies. But it's all up to Martyn. 
 I've told you about him what sort of a crank 
 he is. If you went to him right now he wouldn't 
 look at you twice. You know I don't mean to 
 be unkind " 
 
 Her face was crimson, but she nodded pluckily, 
 
 " I know," she said. " I look oh, dread- 
 ful " 
 
 " We'll make old Cliff the victim of a little 
 conspiracy," he said cheerfully. " You're going 
 to take this money and buy some pretty clothes. 
 And you're going to dine with me tonight in some 
 awfully swell place, where we'll feel like bloated 
 millionaires just because they let us in. And in 
 the morning you're going to put on the very nicest 
 of all your new things, and you're coming down 
 to the office with a hang-over of that millionaire 
 feeling and let Cliff persuade you to play the lead 
 in ' Crandall's Revenge ' ! Aren't you? " 
 
 " I I oughtn't to, but I'll do whatever you 
 say," she said weakly. And then, suddenly, she 
 flamed up. " I don't care," she cried, " I think 
 
 [167]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 you're right, Mr. Lansing! I believe I am a 
 good actress! " 
 
 " Now I know it's going to be all right! " he 
 said triumphantly. 
 
 [168]
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE conspiracy was a great success. Mary 
 Brewster managed to surprise even Lansing, 
 such wonders had she worked with the money he 
 had supplied. She had refused to take all he 
 offered, but it was obvious that she had had 
 enough. Martyn talked with her for five min- 
 utes, making little thumb-nail sketches of her, full 
 face and profile. He dropped a book, seemingly 
 by accident, and got the quick reflex action of her 
 features. He tried a dozen other tricks with which 
 Lansing, by this time, was familiar, tricks that 
 aroused varying emotions in the girl, and so served 
 to show the mobility of her features. And then 
 he engaged her for the lead. 
 
 Picking the rest of the company was easy. Mar- 
 tyn, indeed, had practically cast the picture, ex- 
 cept for the three or four really important parts, 
 as he read the novel and made his preliminary 
 schedule of the scenes. He made no attempt to 
 get well-known people; he shared Lansing's belief 
 that most of them were simply automatons, the 
 [169]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 limit of whose ability was reached when they did 
 exactly as a director told them. Moreover, those 
 whose reputations hadn't yet been made were 
 cheaper. Even so, the weekly pay roll was enough 
 to make a capitalist with as meagre a qualification 
 as Lansing's for the role gasp. But he didn't 
 wince. Too much economy, he knew, would be 
 as dangerous as the most wanton extravagance. 
 
 " Well," said Martyn, at last, " I'm ready to 
 start ! I've fussed around, and I've been slow 
 but I've worked that way on purpose. We don't 
 want a lot of things turning up to hold us back 
 after we do start, because the pay roll starts when 
 we do. So I've tried to anticipate everything. I 
 can't see any reason now why we shouldn't make a 
 sprint out of this. Six weeks I'm allowing for 
 the making of the picture, and you can go ahead 
 with your plans for handling it on that basis. 
 Allow another ten days, say, for cutting and piec- 
 ing, and for putting in titles and inserts. We may 
 save some time, but that ought to be an outside 
 limit, barring accidents." 
 
 " It's up to us to bar the accidents, all right," 
 said Lansing soberly. " The longer I stay in this 
 game, Cliff, the more it's brought home to me 
 
 [170]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 that the chap who said time was money had the 
 right dope. Time's money with us, all right, and 
 we can figure it out to about six places of decimals, 
 too, if you're interested." 
 
 " Don't do it on my account," said Cliff. " I 
 haven't got any head for figures. But I've got the 
 general idea, all right. We've got to finish her 
 up while the bank roll still needs a rubber band 
 to keep it together. All right! Just at present 
 you see a fairly human being. Tomorrow morn- 
 ing I'll have Simon Legree backed off the boards. 
 By tomorrow night that whole crowd, from Mor- 
 gan down, will be ready to slip rat poison into my 
 coffee but they'll be too scared to do it; and 
 they'll work like blazes, just to get it over and 
 done with! " 
 
 Lansing grinned. He allowed for a certain de- 
 gree of exaggeration, but he knew that Martyn 
 would have to hold a whip of some sort over the 
 people who were to transform " Crandall's Re- 
 venge " from an idea to a five-reel feature photo 
 play. Opinions might differ they do, in fact 
 as to the degree of art in moving pictures. But 
 he knew that even a grand-opera company couldn't 
 teach very much about the artistic temperament
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 to the inmates of the aver- 
 age studio during the mak- 
 ing of a picture. The work 
 is done, nearly always, at 
 high speed, and under a 
 terrific strain. Nerves get 
 tight; tempers are always 
 near the vanishing point. 
 Regarding Ralph Morgan, 
 Lansing hoped for the best. 
 After he had seen Martyn at work 
 Lansing's hopes waxed very high. Never before 
 had he seen Martyn directing a picture. Martyn 
 wanted no outsiders in the studio while he was 
 working, and it had happened that Lansing, when 
 [172]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 he was working as an extra man, had never found 
 work with him. It was Martyn's reputation 
 among film men, and the pictures of his making 
 that he had seen, that had led him to choose him. 
 
 " Crandall's Revenge " began very quietly. On 
 the first day there were no extras present at all, 
 though Lansing knew that they had already been 
 selected, and knew just when to report. The prin- 
 cipals, when he got to the studio, were grouped 
 in what the movie world knows, technically, as an 
 " interior, parlor, wealthy." And Martyn, walk- 
 ing up and down and gesturing freely, was telling 
 them the story of the play. He told it very well, 
 describing the various climaxes that would be 
 made in the film, and his reasons for various 
 changes and alterations of the original novel and 
 play. 
 
 Then he took up the characters in detail. In 
 terse, picturesque sentences, he described the peo- 
 ple who were going to move through the five 
 thousand feet of film that would-be the result of 
 their work. 
 
 " Think of them as real people," he urged. 
 " Then think of yourselves as having become those 
 people. Get into these characters, so that you 
 
 [173]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 keep on acting your parts even when you're rest- 
 ing for lunch or waiting for your cue. Some of 
 the best business, some of the best bits we'll have 
 in this picture, you'll supply. If you imagine 
 yourselves as really doing these things, really 
 swayed by the emotions and ambitions of these 
 imaginary people, you can't help giving little nat- 
 ural touches to your work that I'd never get. 
 Maybe some directors wouldn't admit this, but I 
 know it's so. I've never made a picture yet in 
 which my actors haven't been responsible for about 
 half the good stuff I got credit for." 
 
 Lansing went out and shook hands with himself 
 solemnly. He thought of Haines, who didn't even 
 let his people know, when they acted a scene, what 
 its relation might be with the one before it or 
 the one after it. He went off about his own work 
 with a light heart. He felt that he could trust 
 Martyn absolutely. Since he had returned from 
 Maine he hadn't shown a single symptom of want- 
 ing a drink, and Lansing was ready to believe 
 that his drinking had been due less to a craving 
 for liquor than to a general and easily accounted 
 for depression, that had made some sort of stimu- 
 lant a necessity. He had heard of such cases be- 
 
 [174]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 fore, cases in which hard, important work, with 
 something vital at stake, had furnished all the 
 stimulant necessary. Martyn had that sort of 
 work now, and it looked as if he would be too 
 busy even to think about his former resource. 
 
 And, meanwhile, Lansing's own work was cut 
 out for him. Having no illusions about Cramer, 
 Howell, and company, and not being too sure that 
 Hazzard, too, wouldn't enjoy a chance to hurt 
 him, he realized that he had a double problem. 
 He had to keep his movements covered as long as 
 he could until all his arrangements were made. 
 And then he had to get publicity for " Crandall's 
 Revenge," and get it in large doses. Having 
 given up deliberately the ordinary ways of reach- 
 ing the public with his product, he had to organ- 
 ize his selling campaign, to put the thing in terms 
 of commerce. 
 
 His theatrical knowledge, limited as it was, 
 made him a little wary of New York. It might 
 be easier to launch the film on Broadway; it was 
 almost sure to be easier to get a theater in that 
 Mecca of amusements. But failure in New 
 York would probably mean complete, irredeem- 
 able disaster. Many and many a play, as he knew, 
 
 [175]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 had gone to the storehouse after a single dis- 
 astrous week or two in New York, when, had it 
 been shown first on the road, it might have made 
 a good deal of money. The road, and cities like 
 Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, will not accept a 
 play that has failed in New York. But they do 
 not demand the stamp of metropolitan approval; 
 they will approve a play, if they like it, that has 
 never been nearer Broadway than a try-out on the 
 Atlantic City or New Haven dog. 
 
 Lansing wasn't sure that this precedent would 
 hold good for a feature film like " Crandall's Re- 
 venge." As a matter of fact, of course, he had 
 nothing to go by. The thing hadn't been done 
 before, and he had to make his own precedents. 
 But, on general principles, he decided to try for a 
 theater in a smaller city first, knowing, as he did, 
 that New York isn't half as ready to greet a new 
 thing as it would like the rest of the country to 
 believe that it is the most hidebound, conserva- 
 tive old lady of a town in America, if only the 
 truth were known. Not that he didn't entertain 
 a considerable affection for his native city. He 
 did. But he had no illusions about it, either. 
 
 There was another reason, too, for his decision 
 [ I7 6]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 to stake everything on a try-out in another city. It 
 would be easier to keep his potential enemies in 
 the dark. Cramer and Howell, he knew, were 
 very close to the great powers in the theatrical 
 world. It happened that there was a temporary 
 truce between the two embattled theatrical groups 
 at this time. That would keep him from playing 
 one against the other, which might prove desirable. 
 So, through Hazen, to keep the thing covered, 
 he began to negotiate for theaters in two or three 
 available cities. Also, he arranged for the print- 
 ing of the positive films from the negatives that 
 would come from the studio. He had no equip- 
 ment for this, of course, but there were, by this 
 time, various independent film companies that 
 were glad to do the work, which held a comfort- 
 able profit. For various reasons, he split up the 
 job, arranging to get a thousand feet from a plant 
 in New York, another thousand in Philadelphia, 
 and so on. This was important work. The long 
 strips of film on which a photo play is taken are 
 precious things, once they have been developed. 
 And they are as fragile, as sensitive, as easily 
 destroyed as they are precious. The task of print- 
 ing the positive is a delicate one, intrusted to ex- 
 
 [177]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 perts in the manipulation of the almost human 
 machine that does the work, with its spitting spark 
 flaming blue in the dark room, so many times a 
 second, recording a minute photograph with each 
 flash of electric flame, while the film moves on. 
 
 There were chances for Lansing to make mis- 
 takes, glorious blunders. But, in the main, his 
 was routine work, and not to be compared to the 
 task that lay in Martyn's hands. What he had 
 most need of was patience which is the most 
 useful possession of any man who is trying to do 
 something unsanctioned by successful precedent. 
 
 Barring the possibility, and he considered it a 
 remote one, of interference by some hostile inter- 
 est, Lansing hadn't anticipated any real difficulty 
 in getting a theater, wherever he chose to look 
 for it. His plan was to open just at the end of 
 the regular theatrical season, when road compa- 
 nies are ending their tours, and no new produc- 
 tions, except a few musical comedies, are being 
 made. By so doing, he reasoned, he would find 
 many theaters dark, closed for the summer. Rent 
 goes on, whether a theater is closed or open. So 
 do a good many other overhead charges. 
 
 " Let me put in my film on the regular shar-
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 ing basis," was his proposition. " All you're 
 gambling is the trifling cost of keeping the box 
 office open and providing ushers and lights." 
 
 It seemed to him the sort of proposition that 
 any alert manager would jump at a chance to 
 make money in what had always been a losing 
 period of the year. But he encountered objections 
 on all sides. The objections simmered down to 
 one principal stumblingblock. 
 
 " I've got a first-class theater," said one man- 
 ager after another. " I play two-dollar attrac- 
 tions thirty weeks a year. People know that I 
 only book the best plays." This wasn't true, in 
 nine cases out of ten; what that manager, and 
 pretty nearly every other manager, did was to 
 take what the central powers in New York sent 
 him! " I can't afford to lower the tone of my 
 house by letting in a moving-picture show. I can't 
 have my house classed with the ten-cent movie 
 theater around the corner. And I'd be a sucker 
 to boost this movie game, anyhow. It's beginning 
 to cut in on our profits. We're not selling half the 
 gallery seats we were before all these cheap pic- 
 ture houses started up ! " 
 
 Lansing had arguments to overcome every ob- 
 
 [179]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 jection. But they weren't strong enough to con- 
 quer the managers men who, as a class, are at 
 once bolder and more timid than any other body 
 of adventurers under the sun. It was pure luck, 
 not skill, as he was fully ready to admit, that got 
 him his theater at last. Hazen heard of the owner 
 of a fair-sized theater in a city within fairly easy 
 reach of New York who was in serious financial 
 difficulties. It wasn't the sort of theater Lansing 
 had hoped for, but it would do, at a pinch. He 
 went to its owner, armed with his knowledge of 
 the man's difficulties, and this time he got action. 
 
 " A year ago I'd have turned you down flat," 
 said Roth. " But some one's been putting you 
 wise to the hole I'm in. If your film goes over I 
 might get going again. You can have the Apollo 
 
 but you got to give me five hundred dollars ad- 
 vance for an option. Then I'll give you the option 
 
 good for four weeks from date. I got to 
 protect myself, see? There was a sucker talking 
 about a summer-stock season " 
 
 Lansing ventured to doubt it. But he wrote his 
 check. It was the Apollo or an attempt to get a 
 New York theater, and he fought shy of that 
 alternative. 
 
 [180]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " You can thank the crooked politicians in this 
 town for your chance to get the Apollo 1 " said 
 Roth bitterly. " Just because I wouldn't pay the 
 graft they were after they swore they'd get me 
 and I'm here to say they came near doing it! " 
 
 Lansing knew that story. It was a sordid and 
 not unfamiliar tale. Roth, enjoying the easily 
 purchased favors of certain city officials, had 
 quietly defied most of the building ordinances for 
 years. New politicians, acquiring power, had un- 
 dertaken an upward revision of the scale of prices 
 for protection. Roth had refused to pay. Each 
 side had been bluffing. The grafters had gone a 
 little too far in giving publicity to the violations 
 of the law at the Apollo, and had to make their 
 bluff good. Though Roth yielded, in frantic haste, 
 and agreed to pay the new scale, public opinion 
 had demanded the alterations that were necessary 
 to make the Apollo safe. The result had been 
 a theater closed for ten or twelve of the best 
 weeks of the season, canceled bookings, and the 
 loss of enough money, when it was added to 
 ruinously expensive changes in the theater, to put 
 Roth in a bad hole. The plain truth was that 
 Roth couldn't carry the house until the opening 
 [181]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 of the new season unless something turned up, so 
 he and Lansing were both satisfied. 
 
 But Lansing's satisfaction was tempered by a 
 telegram that reached him at his hotel when he 
 went back to pack his bag for his return to New 
 York. 
 
 " Come at once," it read. " Your presence 
 imperative." 
 
 It was signed by Mary Brewster. He did not 
 enjoy his ride to New York. He knew, somehow, 
 that this girl he had discovered was not the sort 
 to be frightened without cause.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 HIS train was delayed, and he didn't reach 
 the city until too late for a visit to the 
 studio so-called by courtesy. He called Mar- 
 tyn on the telephone and left word for the director 
 to call him up. And then, to his annoyance, he 
 found that he didn't have Mary Brewster's ad- 
 dress. He waited, with as much patience as he 
 could muster, for Martyn to call him up. But no 
 call came. Still, he was not really uneasy because 
 of that. Martyn might not have got his message 
 in fact, renewed telephoning to his boarding 
 house proved that he hadn't. Any number of 
 things might have kept him from going home. 
 
 But it was annoying, to put it mildly, to have 
 to wait until morning to discover the reason for 
 the telegram, and it meant a night in which sleep 
 played a small and inconsequential part. Most 
 of the hours of darkness were passed in intricate 
 calculations. Expenses were mounting; unfore- 
 seen items were coming up with a regularity that 
 was not less depressing because he had foreseen
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 something of the sort, and had tried to leave a 
 safe margin. 
 
 Still, unless something really serious had gone 
 wrong at the studio, Lansing felt that they ought 
 to pull through. He had his theater now, and that 
 had for several days been his chief source of 
 anxiety. Now it was a comparatively simple ques- 
 tion of finishing the film on the expenditure that 
 his diminishing bank roll made possible. He was 
 tempted, more than once, to remember his friend- 
 ship with Sandy Brangwyn, who would advance 
 any sum he might need. But he crushed that 
 thought down remorselessly. He was willing to 
 gamble with his own money, but not with Brang- 
 wyn's. And he knew that if Brangwyn put up 
 money it would be out of friendship, and not at 
 all because of any expectation of profit. And that 
 was just what Lansing couldn't allow. 
 
 He woke up late, to his annoyance, having gone 
 to sleep finally as dawn was breaking. He was 
 irritable already, and the discovery, made by tele- 
 phone, that Martyn hadn't been home at all dur- 
 ing the night increased his irritability. He hit the 
 Fort Lee trail a little late, and crossed, this time, 
 with the aristocrats of the movies, who didn't have 
 [184]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 to be on hand for the very early work. There 
 were half a dozen famous stars, and several of 
 them nodded to him. As a matter of fact, he knew 
 about every one on the boat who was bound for 
 the studios. His diligent haunting of the Screen 
 Club had increased his acquaintance remarkably, 
 and his brief connection with Hazzard had rather 
 marked him. 
 
 By this time, too, every one in the game knew 
 something about the picture Martyn was making. 
 Too many people were engaged in it for it to be 
 kept a secret. No one knew Lansing's plans he 
 had told those only to the very few whose cooper- 
 ation was indispensable. And so, though his con- 
 nection with the making of " Crandall's Revenge " 
 was known, he had been able to cover such activi- 
 ties as his deal with Roth. Most of the wise 
 players of the movie game thought the whole en- 
 terprise of " Crandall's Revenge " a colossal joke. 
 They guessed that Lansing and Martyn intended 
 to dispose of it through the State's rights men, 
 and, knowing something of how much the picture 
 was costing, amused themselves by speculating 
 as to how much money its backers would lose. 
 
 But they liked Lansing, and he made up some
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 of his lost time by accepting one star's invitation 
 to go up the hill in his automobile. 
 
 " I should think you'd have a boat of your 
 own," said the star, with the frank disregard for 
 money of one who had, less than two years before, 
 been in vaudeville for forty dollars a week. 
 
 " Can't afford it," said Lansing, cheerfully 
 truthful, and knowing that to tell the truth was 
 the best way to practice deceit in any branch of 
 the amusement business. 
 
 " Ha-ha ! " laughed the star. " That's a good 
 one ! " 
 
 Lansing knew that he was supposed to be much 
 better off than he was. He encouraged this belief, 
 not because of any false pride, but because he 
 hoped that Cramer and Howell would share it. 
 If they did, they might be a little more careful, 
 if they tried to spoil the success of " Crandall's 
 Revenge." Their ignorance of the facts, both as 
 to his finances and his plans, was one of Lansing's 
 best assets. He hoped that they were counting on 
 his comparative inexperience; that they thought, 
 as Martyn had done in the beginning, that he was 
 trying to follow a road that the failures of other 
 men had already proved to be a blind alley. 
 [186]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 r 
 
 4 " Here you are," said 
 the star, at last. " I'll drop 
 you if I don't get to the shop 
 pretty soon old Haines will have 
 a fit." 
 
 " Fine much obliged," said 
 Lansing; " when my ship comes 
 home I'll return the compliment." 
 
 He had only a short distance to walk. The 
 studio was a makeshift affair, built up around the 
 nucleus of an abandoned barn. And he was sur- 
 prised to see two or three of the principals sun- 
 ning themselves outside as he walked up to the 
 office. Inside, Lathrop, Martyn's assistant and 
 property man as well, was going over a list of 
 small items that had lent verisimilitude to a scene 
 [187]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 in an English country house, and must now be 
 returned to the theatrical warehouse from which 
 they had been hired. He nodded to Lansing and 
 bent over his work again. 
 
 Lansing went on into the studio, which should 
 have been a scene of bustling activity. It wasn't. 
 Morgan, looking supremely bored, was reading a 
 London newspaper. Others of the cast stood and 
 sat around. But of Martyn there was no sign. 
 Mary Brewster came to him with a rush. 
 
 "Oh I'm so glad you're here!" she said. 
 "It's happened what I was afraid of when 
 I wired! Mr. Martyn isn't here." 
 
 " So I see ! " said Lansing. " What made you 
 think he wouldn't be? " 
 
 " He was very peculiar yesterday," she said. 
 " Especially after we stopped for lunch. Usually, 
 you know, he grudges us ten minutes. But yester- 
 day we were all back and waiting for half an 
 hour before he came. And afterward we couldn't 
 do anything to please him. He and Mr. Morgan 
 had the most dreadful row! I was out of the 
 picture for nearly an hour, while they made the 
 club scene, and I slipped down to Hovey's and 
 telephoned that telegram to you. I'd happened 
 [188]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 to hear Mr. Martyn say where you were going 
 to be. And that's not all " 
 
 " It's pretty nearly enough," said Lansing 
 grimly. " Go ahead! " 
 
 " Mr. Martyn let us off early. He said we 
 were all working like dogs, and he was tired of it. 
 And he went off in a big touring car with Ed 
 Rackett, of the Iris studio ! " 
 
 " The dickens ! " said Lansing. He knew Rack- 
 ett; every on.e did know the big Iris director, who 
 had a reputation from California to Florida as 
 a " good fellow." He and Martyn, as Lansing 
 knew, had been great friends once. And Cra- 
 mer was supposed, since his break with Hazzard, 
 to be one of the principal backers of the Iris 
 Film Corporation. It didn't require the methods 
 of Sherlock Holmes to lead Lansing to the deduc- 
 tion that his enemies had succeeded in striking 
 their first blow. 
 
 " All right! " said Lansing. " Good for you, 
 Miss Brewster! I'll take hold right away." 
 
 He went back to Lathrop. 
 
 " Where's Martyn? " he ashed. 
 
 "I don't know!" said Lathrop. He lifted 
 sullen eyes to meet Lansing's frank gaze. 
 [189]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Yes, you do," said Lansing. " He's gone off 
 on a toot, and you know it as well as I do. Look 
 here, Lathrop I suppose you figure that Martyn 
 hired you, and you owe him your loyalty, and all 
 that sort of thing. I don't know how much he's 
 told you about this deal we're putting through. 
 But I'll tell you now, if he hasn't, that it's big, and 
 that we're working against time to get it finished. 
 And you're taking my pay." 
 
 " I don't know where he's gone," said Lathrop, 
 still sullen. " If you think I'm taking your money 
 without working for you I'll quit " 
 
 " Forget it ! " said Lansing. " Cliff's going to 
 be just as sore at himself when he comes to as I 
 am. He's got as much at stake as I have, too. 
 What I want you to do is to go on in there and 
 get those people to work. You can make a few 
 scenes. Maybe he'll throw them out when he 
 comes back, but the thing is to keep them work- 
 ing. It'll be demoralizing if they hang around and 
 wait for him. And if you know where to find 
 Martyn, you'd better get word to him that I'm 
 after him." 
 
 Lathrop got up. 
 
 " I'll put them to work, all right," he said. 
 [ 190]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " But we'll just waste the film. He'll never stand 
 for any one's butting in on his work." 
 
 " All right waste it, then. Anyhow, get 
 busy. And call me up tonight at nine o'clock. I 
 may need you. Here's my number." 
 
 He went down the hill then, and had recourse 
 first to the telephone in Hovey's, the general store 
 that had acquired a new lease of life and general 
 prosperity since the movies had come. As he ex- 
 pected, the Iris studio reported that Rackett was 
 " away." Out of town, it was believed. Then, 
 systematically, Lansing called up every one of the 
 places Martyn had been wont to favor. In none 
 of them had he been seen. He called Mary 
 Brewster, on top of the hill, and asked for what 
 he had forgotten before a description of the 
 car in which Rackett and Martyn had left the 
 studio. Here he struck his first bit of luck. Rack- 
 ett, like most of the people connected in any way 
 with the amusement business, thought of publicity 
 as he did of food and drink. The car was a 
 quiet, tastefully decorated affair, bright yellow, 
 with touches of salmon pink. Mary Brewster 
 thought there was, probably, only one such car 
 in the world.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 "Armed with that piece of information, Lansing 
 took up the trail. He telephoned to a Hoboken 
 garage, that was sometimes called upon to supply 
 cars for pictures, and hired the services of a 
 chauffeur and a high-speed runabout. He stipu- 
 lated that the chauffeur should have an intimate 
 acquaintance with the road houses of northern 
 New Jersey. When the car arrived the driver 
 bent a judicial eye upon him. 
 
 " All alone ? " he said. " I rather guessed you'd 
 have company, and I brought a three-seater." 
 
 " That's all right," said Lansing, weighing him. 
 " What's your name, and do you like twenty- 
 dollar bills?" 
 
 " My name's Steve, and I eat 'em," said the 
 driver. 
 
 " If we're pinched I'll put up bail, or pay 
 double wages while you're in jail," said Lansing. 
 " There's no telling just what we may have to do." 
 
 "Sure sure not!" said Steve sympathetic- 
 ally. " I ain't got no use for these people that's 
 always planning things out ahead. I'd rather 
 not rob a bank, and if it's murder I'd like to select 
 the corpse. But anything else I'll " 
 
 " Only what they might call atrocious assault, 
 [192]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 here in Jersey, and a little kidnaping on the side, 
 perhaps," said Lansing. " Now listen. Suppose 
 you'd started from about here yesterday afternoon 
 in a bright-yellow car with salmon-pink trim- 
 mings where would you be most likely to be 
 now?" 
 
 " Was I thirsty when I started? " 
 
 " You were and then some ! " 
 
 " Well," said Steve, throwing in the clutch, " I 
 might be one place, and then again I might be 
 another. Let's go see. I'm beginning to make 
 you, boss." 
 
 On the whole, Lansing felt, he had fared well 
 in his chauffeur. Steve had the air of one who 
 was in the habit of starting what he finished. And 
 he did not seem to be overburdened with scruples. 
 They started for the open country, where road 
 houses lend a certain distinction to the rather flat 
 rural portions of the State of New Jersey. 
 
 The way was long, and it was dusty. And yet 
 it seemed that Ed Rackett had maintained a con- 
 siderable discretion. They traveled many miles 
 before their inquiries bore fruit. And then, not 
 very far from Trenton, they came to a wayside 
 inn that remembered the yellow car hopefully. 
 [ 193]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Hopefully, because its occupants had promised to 
 return on the homeward trip. 
 
 " Very lively gentlemen, they were, sir," said 
 the host. " They said they were going to cross 
 the Delaware on the ice, like Washington, and 
 hoped they wouldn't have to wait too long for it 
 to freeze." 
 
 After that the trail grew warmer. Two road 
 houses out of three, at least, fulfilled the function 
 of blazed trees in a woods path. The way led 
 them down into a country where the salt air from 
 the sea mingled in their nostrils with the vigorous 
 breath of the pines. 
 
 " I've got their number now," said Steve, in 
 a place called Hammonton. He spoke with in- 
 tense satisfaction. " They'll be in Atlantic City. 
 That's where I guessed, but we had to make sure." 
 
 " Too bad," said Lansing. " If we have to do 
 business on the board walk I'm afraid we may 
 attract too much attention. But " 
 
 " We'll invite 'em to some nice, private spot," 
 suggested Steve. 
 
 They found the yellow car, minus one lamp, 
 and somewhat bruised as to its mud guards, in a 
 garage. And later they learned that even Atlan- 
 
 [194]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 tic City, which is indifferent to most celebrations 
 that involve alcohol, was disposed to sit up and 
 take notice of Rackett and Martyn. Even so, it 
 took some time to find them. But Lansing and 
 Martyn came face to face at last, near the Inlet. 
 Rackett was there, too, but he was not alert. It 
 was easy for Steve to persuade him that they 
 were old and bosom friends, the while that Lan- 
 sing led Martyn down from the board walk to 
 the beach. 
 
 [195]
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 MARTYN remembered Lansing very well 
 indeed, it seemed only not as Lansing. 
 In five minutes, down on the beach, with the surf 
 pounding in his ears, Lansing heard himself hailed 
 as Christopher Columbus, as Thomas A. Edison, 
 and as Johnny Evers, of the Boston Braves, all, it 
 seemed, intimate friends of Martyn. If the thing 
 hadn't been so serious, so infuriating because of 
 the possibilities of disaster involved, it would have 
 been wildly funny. But Lansing didn't find it at 
 all hard to overcome what little inclination to 
 laughter Martyn's condition aroused in him. 
 Disgust very soon overcame every other emotion. 
 And disgust brought with it the desire for action. 
 The case was one that called for heroic treatment, 
 and it received just that. 
 
 Salt water, plentifully applied, worked won- 
 ders. Taking the chance of being seen from the 
 almost deserted board walk, Lansing took his vic- 
 tim down to the water's edge, first relieving him 
 of coat and shirt, and held him forcibly in a place 
 [196]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 where the big waves, rolling in, must break on 
 him. At the first shock of the cold water Martyn 
 almost got away. But Lansing was too much for 
 him, and he had to take his medicine. Each wave 
 
 added to the effect; ten minutes, in which they 
 were both soaked, did the work. Martyn was still 
 far from being his normal self, but he had trav- 
 eled a long way on the road back to consciousness 
 and understanding, and he recognized Lansing. 
 
 "I don't know how this started!" he said. 
 "Say I'm sorry " 
 
 [197]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " You're not half as sorry as you're going to 
 be," Lansing told him grimly. " And I know how 
 it started, too. You didn't have the backbone to 
 refuse to take a drink. Lord, I thought I could 
 trust you ! " 
 
 He said a good deal more, and it was an indi- 
 cation of Martyn's chastened mood that he did not 
 resent anything. Martyn was humble, and he was 
 contrite. And he didn't say a word when they 
 got back to the board walk, and Lansing sent 
 Steve for the car. 
 
 " Bring it to the bottom of the ramp that leads 
 down from the board walk here," he said. " And 
 hustle." 
 
 Rackett was surveying them with a glazed, in- 
 quiring eye. He wanted to know if Lansing was 
 Martyn's friend. Then he wanted to celebrate 
 the reunion. And finally he went to sleep. Mar- 
 tyn thought they ought not to leave him. 
 
 " It wasn't his fault ! " he said generously. " I 
 just happened to be with him, Bob." 
 
 " I know. And you're going to happen to go 
 
 home with me, the same way. Don't you know 
 
 yet that he laid for you? He knew you better 
 
 than I did and so did the crowd who sent him 
 
 [198]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 to get you away from the picture! They knew 
 you'd backslide the minute you saw a good 
 chance." 
 
 Martyn was too tired to argue. And he was a 
 good deal ashamed of himself, too. The salt 
 water hadn't fully cleared his brain, because he 
 had gone too far for any treatment to do that 
 without a night's sleep to aid it. And he had no 
 more than got into the car when he was snoring. 
 
 " This the kidnaping? " asked Steve. " Looks 
 pretty easy." 
 
 " It was but I couldn't know he'd come so 
 peaceably. Don't worry, though. We'll get 
 action before we're through. It's only postponed, 
 not called off." 
 
 It was pretty late, but nothing was farther 
 from Lansing's thoughts than spending the night 
 in the resort city. His one object was to get 
 Martyn back to the studio in time to start work 
 at the regular hour the next morning. Lansing's 
 mouth was set in a hard, straight line, and there 
 was a vicious glint in his eyes. He remembered 
 the combined promise and threat he had made to 
 Martyn, and he was awaiting the time for its ful- 
 fillment. Steve drove on, with a cheerful disre- 
 [ 199]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 gard for speed laws and his own fatigue, and 
 Lansing waited. It was already a little light in 
 the east when Martyn gave signs of life, and 
 finally roused himself. He looked sheepishly at 
 Lansing as memory came to him. 
 
 " Gee! " he said. " I guess I made an awful 
 ass of myself! How did you find me? I'm glad 
 you did." 
 
 " Stop her! " said Lansing to Steve. He turned 
 to Martyn. " Feeling pretty rotten? " he asked. 
 
 " I sure am," said Martyn. " Never again! " 
 
 " That's what you said before," said Lansing. 
 He took off his coat and slipped out of his seat. 
 " Come on! " he said. " Remember what I told 
 you would happen if you didn't stick to our agree- 
 ment? " 
 
 " Oh, come on I didn't mean to do it, and 
 I'm sorry " 
 
 "I keep my word!" said Lansing briefly. 
 " Help him out, Steve. I'm going through with 
 the atrocious assault now. I'm going to do a low- 
 down, dirty thing. I'm going to hit a man when 
 he's in no condition to give me a scrap ! " 
 
 " Your funeral," said Steve indifferently, light- 
 ing a cigarette. 
 
 [ 200 ] . .
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Say I'll admit I'm not feeling right," said 
 Martyn dangerously. " But if you think I can't 
 fight" 
 
 " I hope you can," said Lansing cheerfully. 
 " I can lick you much worse if you can put up a 
 halfway decent scrap." 
 
 And he proceeded, very thoroughly, but very 
 dispassionately, to make good his threats. He 
 wasn't angry any more. He understood almost 
 as well as if he had seen the whole affair how Mar- 
 tyn had been tricked into this breach of their 
 compact. And he knew, too, that Martyn was 
 still very much under the influence of the liquor 
 he had drunk. He had seen drinkers like Martyn 
 before. He understood the peculiar psychology 
 that had been at work. 
 
 Martyn had kept sober as long as he had for 
 several reasons. One was his own desire to make 
 good, another his self-respect. But, among the 
 others, a certain awe of Lansing had been, in all 
 probability, predominant. He hadn't consciously 
 been afraid of Lansing; he might, when he was 
 normal, have forgotten Lansing's threats. But 
 subconsciously, the impression of them had 
 lingered. He had broken his word in a sort of 
 
 [201]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 defiance curiously like that of a child deliberately 
 doing what it has been told not to do. Nervous 
 strain, exhaustion, had induced the mood. And if 
 Martyn went back to work, he would be under a 
 more severe nervous strain than he had yet under- 
 gone; he would come even closer to exhaustion. 
 Lansing felt that it was vitally important to re- 
 enforce that lurking fear that had helped to keep 
 Martyn straight, so that, the next time the defiant 
 mood came upon him, there might be something 
 to offset it. 
 
 So there was nothing as petty as a desire to vent 
 his anger in his determination to make good his 
 threat. He was simply applying what he knew of 
 psychology to the case, which did not prevent him 
 from doing the business in a manner that evoked 
 Steve's warm approval and respectful admiration. 
 It was a most scientific thrashing that Martyn had 
 to take. 
 
 " And never a mark on his face for any one 
 to see in the morning," said Steve, when matters 
 were settled. 
 
 " Exactly," said Lansing. " You'll feel better 
 pretty soon, Martyn. Sorry but it had to be 
 done." 
 
 [202]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 It was a 
 
 most scientific 
 
 thrashing 
 
 Martyn said nothing at all. But he was think- 
 ing pretty hard. On the ferry, as they crossed to 
 Cortlandt Street, he turned to Lansing suddenly. 
 
 " I understand, I guess," he said. " If I go 
 wild again the way I did before I started out with 
 Ed Rackett I'll remember that scrap. I wish you'd 
 been around. Morgan drove me crazy. Say 
 I think he's trying to make trouble. His con- 
 tract's binding, isn't it? " 
 
 [203]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " As much so as any contract," said Lansing. 
 " But I wouldn't worry about him, Cliff. Keep 
 hold of yourself, and everything else will be all 
 right" 
 
 " I've had my blow-out," said Martyn, flushing. 
 " Lord feel that wind, coming up off the bay ! " 
 
 Lansing gave Steve Martyn's address. When 
 they came to the boarding house he had a new 
 idea. 
 
 " Go in and pack some fresh clothes in a bag, 
 Cliff," he said. " Then we'll run up to my joint. 
 You can have a cold shower there, and I guess 
 we can all do with some breakfast. I'll cook that 
 myself." 
 
 It was so ordered, except that Steve insisted on 
 doing the cooking. And while he filled the little 
 apartment with the savory smell of frying bacon 
 and hot coffee Lansing made Martyn lie down, 
 and pounded and rubbed and kneaded until his 
 skin glowed pink, and the muscles were smooth 
 and resilient. 
 
 " Now the shower cold, as it runs ! " he said. 
 " Then you'll feel like a new man." 
 
 Over his second cup of coffee, he yawned 
 luxuriously and looked at his watch. 
 [204]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " The way of the transgressor is hard, Cliff," 
 he said. " Time for you to be off. Take him over 
 to Fort Lee, Steve, and drop him at the studio." 
 
 Martyn stared at him. 
 
 "Aren't you coming?" he asked, astonished. 
 
 " I ? Lord, no ! I'm going to turn in. I've got 
 some arrears of sleep to make up, thanks to you, 
 Cliff." 
 
 " I suppose this chauffeur wouldn't let me go 
 anywhere but to the studio? " said Martyn, after 
 a minute, sullenly. It was a last flaring up of the 
 devils of nervousness and desire that had precipi- 
 tated his escapade. 
 
 " You haven't got any orders like that from me, 
 have you, Steve? " said Lansing. And the driver 
 shook his head. " Don't be a fool, Cliff ! " Lan- 
 sing went on. " What happened last night's 
 rubbed off the slate. You're not going to do it 
 again. You're going back, and you're going to 
 work more like a dog than ever. By the way 
 I haven't had a chance to tell you. I got the 
 Apollo." 
 
 Martyn's eyes brightened. His hand came out 
 heartily. 
 
 " Now that's something like," he said. " Good 
 
 [205]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 work! Bully for youl Come on, there, Steve, 
 I've got to get on the job." 
 
 From the window, Lansing watched them drive 
 off. His last thought, before he dropped off to 
 sleep, a few minutes later, was of Cramer and 
 Howell. Their first blow had failed to strike 
 home. Where would the next one be aimed? 
 But the thought didn't keep him awake. 
 
 [206]
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 E.NSING slept through most of the day, and 
 woke up, hungry and fresh, about five o'clock. 
 Another icy shower finished the process of re- 
 furbishing, and he went downtown for a sort of 
 combined breakfast and dinner. When Debrett 
 passed through the restaurant he hailed him. He 
 liked the cynical little journalist there really 
 is no other word to describe him, much as Debrett 
 would have resented such a title, after his news- 
 paper training. If Debrett was looking out for 
 the main chance all the time, and if he had few 
 scruples as to how he got money, so that he got 
 it, he was frank about it, at least, unlike most of 
 the walkers of the Rialto. 
 
 "Hello!" said Debrett. He sat down and 
 gave his order. " I've been meaning to look you 
 up. What are you trying to bring off? " 
 
 " Nothing much," said Lansing innocently. 
 " We're just making a feature that looks rather 
 good to us." 
 
 " So? " said Debrett. " You've got Cliff Mar- 
 [207]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 tyn for your director. You've rigged up a patch- 
 work studio. You've bought the film rights of 
 ' Crandall's Revenge,' and you're making a five- 
 reel feature of it. Cliff went on a bender night 
 before last, and you followed him down to Atlan- 
 tic City and brought him back. Before that you 
 took a lease on the Apollo Theater in Adelphia 
 and gave Max Roth five hundred dollars to bind 
 the bargain. And you haven't been near any 
 of the regular people who buy or lease films 
 State's-rights men or exchanges or any one else. 
 Anything else about your recent movements you'd 
 like to know? " 
 
 Lansing gasped, and stared at him. And he had 
 supposed that his tracks were well covered ! De- 
 brett sat and grinned. 
 
 " How do you know all this? " Lansing asked 
 finally. 
 
 Debrett closed one eye and opened it again in 
 a prodigious wink. 
 
 " I've got my own sources of information," he 
 said. " And one reason is that I've never split on 
 any one who told me anything and I never will. 
 If you ever get into this game that's something 
 to remember. You don't need any morals I 
 [208]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 gave 'em up years ago. You can get away with 
 about anything short of murder or sticking up 
 some guy that's got a pull at head-quarters. But 
 if you start blowing on the people that give you 
 tips you're through. It's enough for you to know 
 I know all this. If I know it, some other people 
 do, too. And if you can think of any one who's 
 in a position to crab your game because they know 
 you'd better act accordingly. I haven't told you 
 anything see ? " 
 
 " Yes, I see," said Lansing. " And I'm just as 
 much obliged as if you had. Is that about all 
 you know? " 
 
 " Ye-es," said Debrett regretfully. " It is right 
 now. But by tomorrow I ought to be able to tell 
 you the size of your bank roll." 
 
 " I think not! " said Lansing, with decision. 
 
 He understood the significance of the state- 
 ment. And he had known from the first, anyhow, 
 that it would be vitally important to keep possible 
 enemies from discovering the real thinness of the 
 ice on which he was skating. Debrett, of course, 
 had really told him a good deal. He had strength- 
 ened the inference Lansing had drawn from the 
 attempt to corrupt Martyn. Some one was suffi- 
 [ 209]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 ciently interested in his movements and plans to 
 have spied upon him very successfully. It was 
 a fair guess that from now on matters would move 
 fast; that there would be a definite attempt to 
 prevent the finishing of " Crandall's Revenge," 
 and, if that failed, to prevent its production. 
 
 There was every reason, as a matter of fact, 
 why there should be such an attempt. The more 
 Lansing thought of his method of reaching the 
 public, greater did its possibilities seem to be. And 
 it threw open the whole movie business to a host 
 of people who hadn't yet seen a chance to dabble 
 in it. If he succeeded, and he felt sure, now, of 
 success, any one with the money to spend could 
 follow in his footsteps. He would bring about the 
 open market at which Hazzard and his enemies 
 alike had scoffed. The little theaters would no 
 longer be obliged to take what the exchanges chose 
 to give them they could take what they liked, 
 wherever they liked. The whole industry would 
 have to turn to the production of good films, qual- 
 ity films, and the possibility of a vast, closed cor- 
 poration, making ninety-five per cent of all the 
 films released, would pass forever. Not that this 
 condition wouldn't come anyhow, whether he 
 [ 210]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 failed or succeeded. He knew it would, and had 
 seen it almost from the beginning. But he 
 wanted to be the pioneer, the man who blazed the 
 trail. 
 
 Debrett hadn't improved his appetite. He hur- 
 ried through the rest of his meal and made an 
 excuse to get away from the man, who had half a 
 dozen suggestions for the rest of the evening. As 
 he left the place he caromed into Hazzard, who 
 caught him by the shoulder and held him fast. 
 Hazzard was in one of his most jovial, expansive 
 moods. He bore Lansing in with him and planted 
 him at his table, roaring as he did so, so that 
 every one in the restaurant turned to stare at him. 
 But when he really began to speak his voice 
 couldn't be heard at the next table. 
 
 " Look here, son! " he said. " I handed it to 
 you pretty rough when you said you wanted to sell 
 your stock. I thought you were scared. But I 
 guess you weren't. If you're going to stay in this 
 business, we ought to be together. I'll make you 
 a proposition. Bring this feature you're making 
 along and come back. It can be released under 
 one of our brands, and then you won't be taking 
 any chances. You can turn in a statement of what 
 
 [211]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 it's cost you as far as you've gone. We'll make 
 good on that, and take over any contracts you've 
 got." 
 
 " Sorry," said Lansing. " But this is my own 
 gamble. I'll have to play the hand as it lies." 
 
 Hazzard's face was swept by one of those sud- 
 den storms of passion, so terrifying to those who 
 were not used to the man, which he seemed always 
 to be able to call up at the right moment. 
 
 " You've seen me in action," he said savagely. 
 " What chance do you think you've got against 
 me if Cramer and Howell, with all that's behind 
 them, couldn't beat me? I'm giving you a chance 
 to come in out of the rain and I'm telling you 
 it's going to rain pretty hard! " 
 
 " I'm sorry," said Lansing again, " but I'm 
 hanged if I see where you come in, Hazzard. By 
 George, I think you've got an awful gall I You 
 think I've got a good thing, and you try to hold 
 me up for a piece of it by telling me you'll try 
 to break me if I don't hand it over! Isn't that 
 the size of it? " 
 
 It was a long time since any one had defied Haz- 
 zard in such fashion. He was purple with anger, 
 and the veins in his forehead were swelling. 
 
 [212]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " You can't bluff me, you know," Lansing went 
 on, getting angrier and angrier every second. 
 " That's how you beat Cramer and Howell and 
 you wouldn't even have had the chance to bluff 
 them except for me. I'm going to keep on mind- 
 ing my own business, and if you don't want to get 
 hurt, you'd better do the same thing. Good 
 night!" 
 
 The quarrel with Hazzard wasn't of his own 
 seeking; but, as he went out into the street, Lan- 
 sing knew that it had done him a world of good. 
 He had been close, at one time, to falling under 
 the spell of Jim Hazzard's personality. Even 
 now, he admired the big man as much as he had 
 ever done. But his admiration was all for the 
 primal, brute force of the man for his remorse- 
 less smashing through whatever barriers might lie 
 between himself and his desire. And the fact that 
 he had suddenly become such a barrier was bound 
 to temper Lansing's feelings. He felt a sort of 
 contempt for Hazzard as he strode uptown, work- 
 ing off his anger with the exercise. But the con- 
 tempt lasted only until the first flush of his anger 
 wore off. For he knew that Hazzard could, and 
 would, fight if he had to that there were other 
 [213]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 weapons in his arsenal that could be called upon 
 if bluff failed. 
 
 " Even if they beat me, between them, they 
 won't win," he thought, as he walked on. " Some 
 one else will come along and do what I couldn't 
 do." 
 
 The thought only stiffened his resolution. He 
 decided that he wouldn't fight the worse for know- 
 ing, positively, that he had enemies. A new joy 
 of battle came to him that mingled with the de- 
 light he had begun to feel as he realized that he 
 was actually doing pioneer's work. He swung 
 aboard a bus finally and climbed to its top. All 
 the way up Riverside Drive, he could look over to 
 the Palisades and see the flaming lights of an 
 amusement park, a sort of Coney Island in min- 
 iature. That glare of light was in the very heart 
 of the film colony. A little to the north of it was 
 the very heart of his enterprise. So he thought, 
 as he looked. He was wrong, of course. The 
 heart of that enterprise was wherever he himself 
 happened to be. 
 
 He found Martyn at home, tired and cheerful, 
 exhausted and optimistic. And, though it savored 
 of cruel and unusual punishment, he kept the di-
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 In the studio 
 
 rector up for three hours, talking over their task. 
 
 " I guess my break didn't do much harm," said 
 Martyn, " Teddy took hold in fine style so far 
 as I can see, the scenes he made will fit in all 
 right. We've made something over thirty-five hun- 
 dred feet of film. I suppose we'll have to make 
 nearly as much more. Then I'll start cutting. It's 
 a big wastage, but I'm trying some new things, 
 and I've had to give myself room to make a choice 
 here and there. About three weeks more ought 
 to see us through. Your Brewster girl is a won- 
 der. Morgan's better than I ever dreamed he'd 
 be but he's cutting up, just as I told you." 
 
 "What's his trouble?" 
 [215]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " He doesn't know, but I guess it's the rush. 
 He has to get an effect in ten feet of film that he 
 uses up ten minutes to get on the stage and 
 he can't use that English accent of his to help out, 
 either. He can't see the importance of footage, 
 and I'm tired trying to make him see it. 
 
 " But you needn't worry. We're coming on all 
 right. Morgan's beginning to get the hang of 
 things much better, and today he sized up a cou- 
 ple of scenes right all by himself, without a word 
 from me. Brewster bothers him a little he 
 knows how good she is. But he doesn't quite see 
 why, and it makes him fretty. Of course, he 
 hates me. I suppose that over in England they 
 have comic-paper Americans, like our comic-paper 
 Englishmen. And he thinks I'd make a fine model 
 for a series, all right. When this is over I'm 
 going to buy him a drink and " 
 
 He stopped, flushing. 
 
 " Take him to tea somewhere it'll make 
 more of a hit with him," suggested Lansing, with 
 a grin. " By the way, Cliff I don't want to 
 rake up what's over with. But you thought Ed 
 Rackett just happened to come along. Listen! " 
 
 And then he told him of his talk with Debrett. 
 [216]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Martyn, of course, knew Debrett very well, and 
 he listened, with rising anger and wonder. 
 
 " You see, we thought we were being careful," 
 said Lansing. " But we weren't careful enough. 
 Now you can go to bed." 
 
 "How about Roth?" said Martyn thought- 
 fully. "Think you can trust him? Don't you 
 suppose it's he that's given away that part of the 
 game?" 
 
 " I don't see why he should," said Lansing. 
 " I don't trust him or distrust him, either, for 
 that matter. Seems to me he doesn't count at all. 
 And I suppose there are plenty of ways they could 
 have found out I was doing business with him 
 without getting it from him. I think he'll play 
 fair for he needs us as badly as we need him. 
 If the picture makes good he saves his theater 
 and gets a new stake. If it doesn't he's done." 
 
 " Well, he'll bear watching, anyhow," said 
 Martyn. " I've just got a hunch that that's our 
 weak spot. You want to make awful sure that 
 nothing can keep us out of the Apollo when we're 
 ready." 
 
 " I wish everything else were as sure as that! " 
 laughed Lansing. "So long I" 
 [217]
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 E.NSING was up and out early the next morn- 
 ing, with a score of trifling things to keep his 
 morning occupied. He saw two or three men who 
 might do for the important job of getting scien- 
 tific publicity for " Crandall's Revenge " in its new 
 form; publicity specialists, these, and far ahead of 
 the old-fashioned press agent. These men he 
 sounded cautiously and tentatively; until he made 
 his choice, he didn't intend to be lavish with infor- 
 mation. And other tasks kept him busy until 
 lunch time, when, foregoing that pleasant meal, he 
 crossed the river and made for the studio. Not 
 once all morning was he where he might reason- 
 ably have been expected to be, and so all of Mar- 
 tyn's frantic efforts to reach him by telephone 
 had been vain. 
 
 He knew something had gone wrong as soon 
 as he saw Martyn's face. When he went in a 
 scene was being made. Mary Brewster was 
 working alone, at the moment, in a close-up, and 
 Martyn didn't check the action to speak to him. 
 
 [2,8]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Sitting on his stool, just under the camera, he 
 glanced around once, and went on. But his face 
 was eloquent, and it spoke of trouble of trou- 
 ble spelled with a big T. And when the scene was 
 finished he turned to Lathrop. 
 
 " Get the extras and make that scene of the 
 run on the bank the exterior," he directed. 
 " The set-up's all ready. We'll need about a 
 hundred feet we'll be cutting back and forth, 
 and we can repeat on some of the action." 
 
 Lathrop nodded and sprang into life, vitalizing 
 as well the group of extra people who were loung- 
 ing at one side, and Martyn came over to Lan- 
 sing. 
 
 " Did you get any of my messages? " he asked. 
 Lansing's face supplied the negative answer. 
 " Morgan's quit! " said Martyn. 
 
 "Quit! What do you mean?" said Lansing 
 slowly. " Why he can't quit ! He's got a 
 contract that would be binding in any court I " 
 
 " Well he's quit just the same ! Don't tell 
 me he can't because he's done it. Suppose his 
 contract is binding. You can go ahead and sue, 
 and get damages, maybe. What good will they 
 be?" 
 
 [219]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Sometimes, it is said, a man who has been shot 
 will go on for several seconds, perhaps even 
 longer, without knowing that he has been hit. 
 Something of the sort was true of Lansing now. 
 For a minute he was filled with the idea that it 
 was impossible for Morgan to have quit, because 
 he could be held liable for breach of contract. 
 Absurdly, the thing that brought him to his senses 
 and made him realize the truth was a sudden mem- 
 ory of George Ade's old quip about the man 
 whose lawyer visited him in jail! "They can't 
 put you in jail for that! " said the lawyer indig- 
 nantly, when he heard the charge. And the man 
 in the cell answered that that might be so but 
 that he most certainly was in jail! 
 
 From that point to the full realization of what 
 Morgan's desertion meant, and the need of in- 
 stant action, didn't take a second. 
 
 " I thought you'd get it! " said Martyn grimly. 
 " Either we get him back, or thirty-five hundred 
 feet of film and three weeks of solid plugging 
 aren't worth a counterfeit nickel I " 
 
 "There's no chance to double him?" He 
 knew the suggestion was futile, even as he made 
 it. Martyn shook his head impatiently. 
 [220]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " It would be ten to one against our getting a 
 ringer for him that would fool anyone for a hun- 
 dred feet," he said. " And, if we did, Morgan 
 or whoever got him to quit would give it away. 
 You can guess how quickly it would kill the film 
 if people thought we were working such a game 
 as that!" 
 
 " No we can't do that," admitted Lansing. 
 " We've got to get him back. He's one of our 
 biggest assets even if we could retake all we've 
 done. Featuring the original star of the original 
 production " 
 
 " They've got to him, of course," said Martyn. 
 " He'd never have thought of anything like this 
 by himself the shrimp ! They've made it worth 
 his while, every way, to clear out promised him 
 as much as he stood to make with us, and a good 
 bit more! " 
 
 " The damned little fool! " said Lansing sav- 
 agely. " He couldn't see that the biggest thing 
 he stood to win out of this film was another chance 
 to make a great big hit. The regular managers 
 would have been standing in line to get at him if 
 he'd made good in this " 
 
 " We don't know who's done it," interrupted 
 [221]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Martyn. " But you want to remember that 
 Cramer and Howell, just for instance, have pull 
 enough with the theatrical syndicate to get any- 
 thing in reason. Couldn't they have promised 
 Morgan a fat part as fat a part as Crandall 
 was when the show was turning them away? " 
 
 " Of course! " said Lansing bitterly. " Oh 
 it's easy enough to see now what a chance we gave 
 them with Morgan." 
 
 " Yes and I guess we know now where they 
 found out all you were doing, too! You didn't 
 keep very much back from Morgan, did you? " 
 
 "No! I had to tell him everything we were 
 planning to get him to take a chance! " 
 
 They stared at one another for a minute. Each 
 of them hated himself, blamed himself for the 
 disaster that had overtaken the whole enterprise. 
 For it was a disaster. Unless they got Morgan 
 back they might as well acknowledge defeat. 
 There wasn't money enough in reserve to finance 
 the retaking of half the film, involving loss of 
 time and a staggering addition to the pay roll. 
 
 " Roughly what's the footage of the scenes 
 you've still got to take that Morgan has to be 
 in? " asked Lansing finally. 
 
 [222]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " I'll figure it up," said Martyn. He got his 
 working scenario and began to make calculations 
 on a pad. Martyn might be temperamental, but 
 there was never a moment in the taking of any 
 picture when he could not calculate his footage to 
 a nicety. One of the things that had been a bone 
 of contention between himself and former em- 
 ployers was his waste of film, but it was a highly 
 methodical waste, always. 
 
 " About seventeen hundred feet," he said, look- 
 ing up, when he had covered a page with figures. 
 " He's off stage a whole lot in parts three and 
 four, and the first of five. The last five hundred 
 feet, of course, all centers around him and the 
 woman lead." 
 
 " Can you cut that any? And could you make 
 all the scenes he's in in a bunch shift the others 
 forward and get along without him till you were 
 ready to go right through? And how long would 
 it take you to do all the scenes he was in work- 
 ing as hard as you could? " 
 
 " I can't cut much. The order of the scenes 
 doesn't make any difference, if we look out for 
 changes of costume and keep a record of all de- 
 tails, to duplicate exactly. And it would take 
 [223]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 eight days maybe seven to take all his 
 scenes." Martyn answered the questions; then 
 asked one of his own. "Why?" he said. 
 " What's in your mind? " 
 
 " I'm not sure yet," said Lansing. " I'm try- 
 ing to dope this thing out. All I know is we've 
 got to get him. I'm trying to have any informa- 
 tion that may be useful handy. And so far I 
 don't even know where he is! " 
 
 " It's a lovely mess," said Martyn. " Well 
 shall I go ahead? If we don't get him, every 
 scene we take means that your bank roll gets just 
 that much slimmer and you might need it for a 
 new start." 
 
 " No go ahead 1 " said Lansing. " I'll worry 
 about a new start when I have to make it. Well 
 I'll be off. It's a cinch the first thing to do is 
 to find out where that rat is now." 
 
 "Right!" said Martyn. "I'll go see how 
 Teddy's getting on with that exterior." 
 
 Lansing started for the trolley. But he hadn't 
 gone far when Mary Brewster's voice stopped him. 
 
 " Mr. Lansing! " she cried. He stopped and 
 turned, and she came running toward him, her 
 skirts flying in the wind, and here eyes, heavily 
 [224]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 blackened, showing her anxiety. Somehow, even 
 in the sunlight, which is not merciful in such mat- 
 ters, her painted face didn't look ridiculous. 
 
 " Mr. Morgan's gone, hasn't he? " she asked, 
 when she came to him. 
 
 " He's taking a little vacation that's all," 
 said Lansing. 
 
 " Mr. Lansing! " She stamped her foot. " I'm 
 not a fool and I'm not a child, either I Don't 
 you suppose I want to see you win? And per- 
 haps I know more than you think ! Anyhow I 
 saw Mr. Martyn's face, and I saw the way the 
 two of you looked when you were talking! Isn't 
 it so ? Hasn't Mr. Morgan broken his contract ? " 
 
 " I think he thinks he has," admitted Lansing, 
 after a moment's thought. " But I hope to be 
 able to make him change his mind." 
 
 " You won't," she said. " But perhaps I 
 can." 
 
 " You ! " he said wonderingly. " Why, what 
 on earth " 
 
 " You don't even know where he is," she said. 
 " I do. He's in a little hotel near Fifth Avenue, 
 and he's going to sneak on the Baltic tonight and 
 sail tomorrow morning for England." 
 [225 ]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " For heaven's sake! " 
 said Lansing. There was 
 no doubting her. It was 
 perfectly obvious that she 
 told the truth, and that she 
 knew what she was talking 
 about. " How do you 
 know?" 
 
 " Because that 
 wasn't his original plan," she 
 said defiantly. " He wanted to go the 
 other way and he wanted me to go with 
 [226]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 him. He said if we went West we could get mar- 
 ried somewhere where they weren't particular 
 about a license, and have a trip around the world. 
 I turned him down pretty hard. I told him I 
 couldn't even think of leaving before the picture 
 was finished. I thought that might make him 
 stay." 
 
 "Well I'll be jiggered!" said Lansing. 
 Then he seized on the salient point. " A trip 
 around the world, eh? He must have got hold 
 of some real money. Well, we can guess where 
 it came from." 
 
 " I'm afraid so," she said. "I well, I didn't 
 think he'd really do it. But, of course, I knew, 
 when he didn't turn up." 
 
 " What hotel is he at? " asked Lansing curtly. 
 " I'll get over there right away " 
 
 " You will if you take me with you," she 
 said. " We've got to get him back, and I can see 
 what you're planning in your eye. Wait a min- 
 ute I'll tell Mr. Martyn I'm going, and wash 
 my face." 
 
 He had to wait, and she was back in five min- 
 utes, as a matter of fact, so that they had plenty 
 of time to catch the next car. 
 [227]
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 ON the car, on the ferry, in the subway, when 
 they had crossed the river, Lansing pro- 
 tested that it was his affair; that he, and he alone, 
 should have the handling of Morgan. But Mary 
 Brewster was adamant, she was firm. And then, 
 within a block of the hotel, she exercised her 
 feminine prerogative and changed her mind. 
 
 " You go first," she said, " I don't believe 
 you'll be able to do anything, because I know they 
 must have gone pretty far to get him to quit like 
 this." 
 
 So it was Lansing, alone, who went in and asked 
 for Mr. Robinson, that being the undistinguished 
 alias that Morgan had chosen. It served him ill 
 in this case, for expecting visits only from those 
 who were in his confidence, he had taken no pre- 
 cautions. Lansing was shown up to his room at 
 once. The actor was walking up and down nerv- 
 ously, and at the sight of Lansing his jaw dropped. 
 But he recovered himself at once. 
 
 [228]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " What ho 1 " he said. " You'll have a drink 
 
 what?" 
 
 " No," said Lansing. " Look here, Morgan 
 
 what do you mean by this? Don't you realize 
 that that contract you signed with me is binding? 
 You've absolutely no excuse for breaking it that 
 a court would consider for a minute " 
 
 Morgan waved that aside. 
 " My dear chap what do we know about the 
 bally courts? That's what we have solicitors for 
 
 eh, what? But you know, you deceived me. 
 False pretenses, it'd be called, I dare say! Of 
 course, you didn't mean to do it, my dear old 
 chap, but you know, the silly ass of a law doesn't 
 care what you mean. It's what you do what ? " 
 
 " How did I deceive you? " 
 
 " Why, you made all sorts of promises. I dare 
 say it was all your American swank, you know 
 you Yankees are rippin' at that top hole, you 
 know. You jolly well did have me on. I fancy 
 I'd have gone on believin' it all, too, if those other 
 Johnnies hadn't explained it all. I mean to say, 
 I'd have gone on thinkin' I was goin' to get lots 
 of oof, and never dreamin' your bally old cinema 
 show wouldn't even be shown once." 
 [229]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Whoever told you that lied," said Lansing 
 quietly. 
 
 " Oh, no, my dear old chap you mustn't say 
 that, you mustn't, indeed. They're no-end friends 
 of yours, these other Johnnies. They understand 
 it all, and they want to keep you from now, 
 what did they call it ? Holding the valise ? Keep- 
 ing the sack? Holding the bag. That was it." 
 
 " Suppose you tell me who told you those 
 things?" 
 
 " Oh, no, old chap, couldn't think of it." 
 
 For nearly an hour, then, Lansing employed 
 every resource of the English language, as he 
 spoke it, without making the slightest impression 
 on Morgan. The actor absolutely refused to dis- 
 cuss the legal consequences of his flight. That 
 sort of thing, he said, must be left to the lawyer 
 chappies. Lansing was baffled. He didn't know 
 whether Morgan, bought off, and understanding 
 precisely what he was doing, was playing a deep 
 game, or whether the man was really the fool he 
 seemed. But he decided that the last theory 
 wouldn't hold, because the only absolute fact that 
 emerged was that he hadn't budged Morgan an 
 inch. 
 
 [230]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 He had had some idea of bluffing of pre- 
 tending that he could have Morgan arrested. But 
 he abandoned that even without a trial, because it 
 was so infernally obvious that Morgan was not 
 to be bluffed. Moreover, his reiteration of the 
 hopelessness of going on with the picture did ring 
 true. It made Lansing uneasy, after a time. Per- 
 haps the opposition did have something up its 
 sleeve, and had confided its plans to Morgan. In 
 that case, he might not even have been bought off ; 
 he might, instead, be playing the true rat's part of 
 deserting a sinking ship. 
 
 And there was nothing to be done. He stood 
 by the door, at last, looking at the actor, immacu- 
 late, insignificant, in this wholly undramatic set- 
 ting, wondering that he and his whole enterprise 
 should be so absolutely at the mercy of this one 
 queer, illogical creature. He wanted to spring on 
 Morgan, to take him by the throat and shake him 
 until he promised to finish his work. He knew 
 that it wouldn't do any good, but he was close to 
 doing it, none the less, for the sheer satisfaction 
 of hurting this man who had him so absolutely in 
 his power. Just then the telephone sounded, and 
 as Morgan went to answer, that mood passed. 
 [231]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 "Hello are you there? Who is that?" 
 asked Morgan. " Oh, I say is that you? My 
 word! Lansing? Yes. Rather I'll tell him. 
 Half a mo' ! " 
 
 He turned to Lansing, visibly excited. 
 
 "It's that rippin' Miss Brewster! " he said. 
 " She wants me to put you through to her." 
 
 Lansing jumped for the telephone without cere- 
 mony. 
 
 " You've had plenty of time," said Mary Brew- 
 ster's cool voice, unmelodious still, but not un- 
 pleasant. " Bring him down here to me, and we'll 
 see what I can do. I suppose you've failed? " 
 
 " Absolutely," he answered. " I think I'd have 
 throttled him if you hadn't called up. Where are 
 you?" 
 
 " Downstairs," she said. " I'm glad I didn't 
 wait any longer. I was afraid you might get 
 violent." 
 
 She laughed, and broke the connection. 
 
 Morgan made no objection to going down. He 
 had remarkably few nerves, but the interview was 
 beginning to affect them. 
 
 "Right-o!" he said. "Come on, old chap. 
 Sorry, you know, about your bally old cinema.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 You quite made me believe it was quite all right. 
 But now that I've explained it, you quite under- 
 stand, don't you? I mean to say, you see there's 
 no bally use goin.' on? " 
 
 Lansing sighed and followed him to the eleva- 
 tor, without answering. And, in the lobby, they 
 met Mary Brewster. She smiled at Lansing and 
 made a grimace that bade him efface himself. And 
 then she slipped her arm through Morgan's, while 
 a fatuous smile spread itself over the actor's face, 
 and led him to a sofa near a window. Lansing 
 planted himself in a chair where he commanded a 
 good view of them, and surveyed them morosely. 
 
 He couldn't hear what was being said, of 
 course. But he could see. Mary did most of the 
 talking at first. She spoke vigorously, and, Lan- 
 sing judged, without restraint. Once or twice 
 Morgan protested, in a sudden rush of words, but 
 she silenced him quickly each time and went on. 
 Suddenly his face lighted up, and he half caught 
 her hand. But she drew it away and talked quickly 
 again for a minute. Then she let Morgan assume 
 the burden of the conversation. He seemed to be 
 pleading; she shook her head repeatedly, in nega- 
 tion of something he was pressing her to do. But 
 [233]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 at last she nodded 
 and blushed. Lansing admired 
 that blush with every fiber in 
 him that had to do with the 
 theater, for he was sure that it rep- 
 resented an act of will, pure and 
 simple. And then Mary jumped up and came 
 toward him, beckoning, and Morgan followed 
 her. 
 
 " I say, old chap I may be a silly ass, you 
 know," he said. " But I'm going to see you 
 through, since you make a point of it. It won't 
 be a bally bit of good, you know, but well " 
 " Mr. Morgan and I are engaged sort of," 
 said Mary, blushing again, as she met Lansing's 
 amazed and horrified eyes. " It's a provisional 
 engagement, and it may be ratified the day ' Cran- 
 dall's Revenge ' is finished." 
 
 [234]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Morgan beamed. He expected congratula- 
 tions obviously, and Lansing, feeling very sick, 
 shook his hand with an affection of heartiness. 
 
 " Owe it all to you, you know, old chap," said 
 Morgan. " Never have met the dear girl, except 
 for you. Tell that Martyn chappie I'll be over at 
 the studio in the mornin'." 
 
 Lansing was angry and bewildered and filled 
 with a profound admiration for Mary. But he 
 wanted to shake her, too, and he felt no exulta- 
 tion at all at the thought that Morgan would 
 finish the picture, after all. For the first time, 
 perhaps, he was considering Mary Brewster as a 
 woman, a girl a thing of flesh and blood and 
 the other human attributes, anyhow. Hitherto 
 she had just been an actress whose unique talent 
 he himself had discovered. He had to readjust 
 his whole conception of her, and he didn't have 
 much time for the task. 
 
 " We've got to run along now Ralph," said 
 Mary. " You'll be over tomorrow? You won't 
 let them make you change your mind again? " 
 
 " Word of honor I " he promised. " But I 
 say aren't we even going to have dinner to- 
 gether? " 
 
 [235]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " I never dissipate while I'm working," she 
 laughed. " And we're only provisionally engaged, 
 you know ! I've got to make over a dress tonight 
 that I'm going to wear tomorrow. So I'm going 
 to let Mr. Lansing take me home." 
 
 Morgan thought it wasn't quite right, but while 
 he was making up his mind what to do about it, 
 Mary and Lansing got away. And, in the street, 
 he turned on her furiously. 
 
 " I won't have it! " he stormed. " If that's the 
 only way to keep him here let him go back to 
 England or to Timbuktu if he likes ! I won't let 
 you sacrifice yourself that way to save the pic- 
 ture " 
 
 " You've got nothing to say about it I " she told 
 him, with spirit. " Haven't I got something at 
 stake in that picture, too? Don't you realize what 
 it means to me to have it a success? I've never had 
 a real chance before. Every time I've had a part 
 I've lost my job because I couldn't I simply 
 couldn't do what I was told by some stupid 
 director when I knew a way that was a thousand 
 times better. I'd do anything to have this turn 
 out a success " 
 
 " Well you've done it 1 " he said grimly. 
 [236]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Even to pretend to be engaged to that miserable 
 rat " 
 
 " He's nothing of the sort! " she said furiously. 
 " It isn't his fault if those people have lied to him 
 and he's believed them. Even now he thinks go- 
 ing on is a waste of time. They've told him some- 
 thing that's made him believe ' Crandall's Re- 
 venge ' will never be produced." 
 
 " I beg your pardon," said Lansing stiffly. " I 
 didn't understand that you might have had some 
 other motive than the success of the picture " 
 
 "Oh!" she said, and was speechless for a 
 moment. "You you're just a man! But I 
 don't think I ever did know one before who didn't 
 understand quite so many things! Good night, 
 I'm going to take this bus ! " 
 
 They were at Fifth Avenue, and she sprang on 
 the low step of a bus just as it began to move, 
 leaving him staring after her. He was full of 
 anger and of admiration at once. And suddenly 
 a curious, amazing thought came to him. Was it 
 possible that he was jealous ? When he had never, 
 until that afternoon, thought of her except in the 
 most impersonal way? 
 
 [237]
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 BUT, though it was true enough that hitherto 
 his thoughts of the girl had been impersonal, 
 Lansing understood perfectly that it could never 
 be true again. He realized, with a sort of keen, 
 stabbing pain, that she had come to fill a very 
 great space in his life, a space that had always 
 before been empty. He recalled, now, the day 
 when he had found her, after his search for her. 
 She had been hungry, then, and shabby. It was 
 with a very real shame that he remembered his 
 momentary relief at finding that she had not 
 advanced in her work; that she had, indeed, failed 
 utterly, so that she was available for his own 
 purpose. 
 
 He had enjoyed, of course, the opportunity that 
 circumstances had given him to make her accept 
 the help that he had offered, for there had never 
 been any sort of question in his mind as to the 
 absolute refusal with which she would have met 
 any offer of help from him or any other man had 
 such circumstances not existed. And he could 
 t *38 ]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 trace now, as he looked back over the strenuous 
 time that had elapsed since then, the change in his 
 feeling toward her. 
 
 In the beginning he had been interested in her 
 simply because of the possibilities he saw in her. 
 It had not been until he saw her daily that he had 
 begun to appreciate those inherent qualities that 
 lay under her ability. But he could see now, of 
 course, that the enthusiasm for the picture that 
 she had shown was all of a piece with the way in 
 which she threw herself into the part she was 
 playing. 
 
 And he could see something else; something 
 that had to do with his own recognition of her 
 ability, and that might, in some measure, explain 
 the blindness of Haines and the other men who 
 had overlooked it. Essentially, down at bottom, 
 she was the sort of woman he had always hoped 
 to find. She could feel things as wall as under- 
 stand them. And she had a high courage that 
 had held her up in spite of failure and discourage- 
 ment, that had led her to ignore the opportunities 
 that, he knew, must have come to her ; opportuni- 
 ties the very thought of which, in the light of what 
 he knew of the moving-picture business, and of 
 
 [239]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 men like Ed Rackett, made him flush with a hot 
 anger. 
 
 There was, he saw, a spiritual kinship between 
 them. Why, she looked at this enterprise as he 
 did ! A thousand things that she had said, during 
 the long talks they had all had, came back to him. 
 Even more than Cliff Martyn she shared his own 
 enthusiasm. She hated and resented, just as did 
 himself, the thing that had threatened to cheapen 
 the newborn industry and strangle it before it 
 reached its growth ; the thing that she herself had 
 put into words for him one day. 
 
 " It's the same everywhere," she had said. 
 " These movie people don't say: ' What can we 
 do? What can we produce that people will want ? ' 
 but: 'What can we put over? What can we 
 make them stand for next? ' ' 
 
 And now she had saved the day for him. After 
 all, his feeling when he understood what she had 
 done was the real touchstone. He was jealous. 
 And he was baffled, too, and mystified by her 
 anger. Had she really meant to defend Morgan? 
 Was it possible that she cared for him? Lansing 
 gave up the riddle in despair! He had little 
 choice, indeed. There was so much for him to 
 [240]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 do in the next few days that he had to try to put 
 the girl from his mind. But he couldn't do it. 
 She was in his thoughts permanently, and he 
 stopped, after a time, his perfectly futile effort to 
 banish her. He wanted her, and it took all his 
 strength to concentrate his mind on the work he 
 had to do. 
 
 In the task, however, he had the whole-souled 
 and enthusiastic aid of those who were on the 
 other side. For the enemy began to show his 
 hand openly now, or, at least, as openly as a due 
 regard for the laws against conspiracy allowed. 
 And, as the taking of the picture progressed to- 
 ward the end, Martyn and the rest were compelled 
 to let Lansing himself do all the other things that 
 had to be done. 
 
 Martyn, delighted by Morgan's return, and car- 
 ing so little about how it had been brought about 
 that he was not curious enough even to ask a sin- 
 gle question, switched his plans. He rushed the 
 making of the scenes in which Morgan figured, as 
 a precaution against another desertion. 
 
 " We'll use him while we've got him ! " he said. 
 
 He adopted heroic measures, too, and a sort of 
 camp was established at the studio. There Mor-
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 gan, protesting bitterly, had to spend his nights 
 as well as his days. Martyn managed that, with 
 a little help from Mary Brewster. And the studio 
 was practically under martial law. Martyn aver- 
 aged about four hours of sleep a night now, and 
 Teddy Lathrop, who worshiped him, got little 
 more. Suspicious characters, and in the eyes of 
 Martyn and Lathrop everyone who wasn't work- 
 ing in or about " Crandall's Revenge " was sus- 
 picious, couldn't get past the wire fence Martyn 
 had built. 
 
 Martyn and Lathrop practically stood guard 
 all night, and they had the able assistance of a 
 pair of dogs of uncertain lineage, afflicted with 
 insomnia, and utterly without faith in human 
 nature. 
 
 " Not that I think they've got the nerve to do 
 it," said Martyn. " But I don't know anything 
 that burns any quicker than film, and someone 
 might just happen to drop a match. We'll take 
 no chances, anyhow. I read a stdry about some 
 guy that retook about three reels of film in a 
 week, and maybe it can be done in a story. I'm 
 not hankering to set any record like that, though." 
 
 Three minor characters folded their tents and 
 [242]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 silently stole away in the week that followed Mor- 
 gan's return. But they could be doubled that 
 is, other actors were brought in, made up to re- 
 semble the deserters. More serious was the sud- 
 den disappearance of a property automobile a 
 plain case of theft, perpetrated, probably, before 
 the increased vigilance of the guards. The car 
 had been a find, in the first place it went back 
 to the early days of the automobile industry. 
 Martyn, on seeing it, had instantly visualized the 
 laugh it would get, and had assigned to it an im- 
 portant part. Now, when it was needed for later 
 scenes, it wasn't to be found. 
 
 " That's the trouble with a thing like that ! " he 
 raged. " People see it, and it's a good thing it 
 impresses them. And they remember it. You 
 know how important that car is in the action. 
 We've got to get one like it that's all! " 
 
 But this was easier said than done. Martyn 
 did the talking, and turned to some other task, 
 leaving Lansing to do the work. An inspiration 
 saved him. A classmate in college had been the 
 son of a famous automobile manufacturer. Lan- 
 sing fled to Detroit overnight, amused his friend 
 with the tale of his difficulty, and found the mate 
 [243]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 of the lost car, carefully guarded in the museum 
 of a great factory. At that, he nearly had to steal 
 it, but he prevailed upon the company to lend it to 
 him at last. 
 
 " Think of the publicity! " he said. " You see 
 the idea is that Crandall gets the old car out 
 when it hasn't been used for fifteen years. It runs 
 as well as ever and we'll give you an insert, 
 with the name of the car. It'll be worth thousands 
 to you! " 
 
 He got the car and didn't realize, until later, 
 that the publicity would be double-edged that 
 " Crandall's Revenge " would cut a considerable 
 figure in the advertising of that particular car 
 during the life of the film. 
 
 Lansing was too busy to visit the Screen Club 
 or the eating places that were the haunts of the 
 moving-picture men very often. He saw Hazzard 
 once or twice, and Hazzard regarded him always 
 with a good-natured, tolerant, pitying wonder. 
 Debrett was gloomy; he didn't speak out, but did 
 suggest that what had happened was only a be- 
 ginning. And one night, Brewer, with whom he 
 had worked for Hazzard, and who was still Haz- 
 zard's right-hand man, found him. 
 [244]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " You're playing the fool, Lansing," he said. 
 " You haven't got a chance." 
 
 " Oh, tell Hazzard I'm not the scaring sort," 
 said Lansing wearily. " You people make me 
 rather tired." 
 
 " Hazzard's got nothing personal against you," 
 said Brewer. " And, say you want to under- 
 stand that you're up against a whole lot more than 
 Hazzard. You've got the whole industry lined 
 up against you. Men you don't even know by 
 sight are working to queer your game. And 
 they're going to get you. Hazzard hasn't got any 
 choice. He's working to protect himself, rather 
 than to smash you. He knows you can't win out. 
 And that's why he's offered to save your hide by 
 taking you back with us." 
 
 " Nothing doing ! " said Lansing. " I'll believe 
 that there are others in this game, but it isn't going 
 to make any difference. If Hazzard wants to line 
 up with the crowd that has been looking for his 
 scalp just to get me, why, I think I ought to be 
 flattered." 
 
 " I didn't say he was with them," protested 
 Brewer. " But he may feel he's got to go in with 
 them, before he's through. You're marked for 
 
 [245]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 slaughter, that's all. It won't make much differ- 
 ence to you who uses the ax, you know." 
 
 " Exactly," said Lansing. " Good night, 
 Brewer!" 
 
 Luck and good management combined to avert 
 most of the threatened dangers. Most of them 
 were petty enough. After the automobile inci- 
 
 Jim tested his 
 developer every 
 time he used it. 
 
 dent, Lathrop checked off his properties every 
 night, but small things turned up missing at almost 
 every roll call. Some of the people of the cast, 
 some of the extras, two or three of the carpenters 
 and sceneshifters, quite obviously, had listened to 
 the siren song of the enemy's campaign fund. The 
 trouble was to determine who was guilty. Two 
 hundred feet of perfectly good film were ruined 
 [246]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 in developing and after that Jim Blunt tested 
 his developer every time he used it. 
 
 Blunt, incidentally, though he got less glory, 
 worked as hard as anyone. He was at his camera 
 all day long, and half tke night he spent in. de- 
 veloping film, in the small but perfectly equipped 
 dark room. He, too, slept at the studio. And 
 one morning, after a hasty trip down to the river 
 for a swim, he appeared, with a satisfied smile and 
 skinned knuckles. 
 
 " Big Jim Hazzard's man, Brewer," he said, 
 " offered me a job out on the coast. Offered me 
 a bonus to start West tonight. I pasted him one. 
 He pasted me back, and then we had breakfast 
 together, and he sent his regards to the boss." 
 
 These were pin pricks. Gradually the disloyal 
 ones were weeded out. Martyn and Lansing, af- 
 ter consultation, took the rest of the force into 
 their confidence, and after that volunteer watchers 
 took a lot of the burden of protecting the plant 
 from assault. 
 
 " They'd finish this film without another pay 
 day, now! " said Martyn. " Of course, I picked 
 some lame ducks but most of this crowd I 
 chose, knowing we were liable to run into trouble." 
 
 [247]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " They've got life jobs, the whole lot of them, 
 if we pull through," said Lansing, with en- 
 thusiasm. " And I believe we are going to. The 
 opposition must be beginning to see that they're 
 wasting their time." 
 
 But not five minutes later, as he left the studio, 
 a slinking creature, with furtive eyes and visible 
 breath, accosted him, and slipped a paper into his 
 hands. It was the summons and complaint in an 
 action for breach of copyright and gave notice 
 of an attempt to secure an injunction against any 
 public performance of " Crandall's Revenge." 
 
 The papers had been drawn, it appeared, at the 
 instance of one Charles Hoover. Lansing had to 
 search his mind for a moment before that name 
 began to mean anything to him. But then he 
 remembered that he had, soon after the fact that 
 he intended to produce " Crandall's Revenge " 
 became known, received two or three letters from 
 Hoover, demanding recognition as one of the 
 authors of the original play. The man had no 
 standing; Lansing had satisfied himself abundantly 
 as to that, having had Martyn's warning in mind. 
 
 His first instinct was to laugh at the summons. 
 But the papers, so far as he could judge, were 
 [248]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 properly drawn, and they bore the name of a 
 famous legal firm ; a firm that had been involved in 
 many great cases. And Hazen's manner, when the 
 lawyer saw the papers, dispelled any tendency on 
 Lansing's part to give way to mirth. 
 
 " Bad business! " said Hazen, frowning, as he 
 went over the complaint. " I don't like this; and 
 I've been a little afraid that something of the sort 
 might come up." 
 
 " But the fellow's got no rights," protested 
 Lansing. " You'll find no trouble in beating him, 
 will you?" 
 
 " That's not what's worrying me," said Hazen. 
 " There's no sort of question as to the soundness 
 of our case. But suppose this ties up your produc- 
 tion?" 
 
 " You don't mean to say they can get an in- 
 junction?" said Lansing incredulously. "The 
 play's been in stock ever since Morgan dropped 
 it, and this fellow's never done anything about it 
 and he's never collected any of the royalties, 
 either. It's a strike suit." 
 
 " You needn't tell me that," said Hazen. " But 
 it's not so very long since a man who held about 
 one share of stock tied up a hundred-million-dollar 
 [249]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 bond issue by United States Steel. He didn't have 
 any better case than this chap, but he was able to 
 hold them up. Figured he'd be bought off, prob- 
 ably, but he wasn't. They could afford to fight, 
 and spent a year or two at it. Probably you can 
 beat this, too, if you take the time but they'll 
 get their temporary injunction." 
 
 " It's an outrage! " exploded Lansing. 
 
 " In this case yes. But it doesn't always 
 work that way. The courts are pretty free with 
 temporary injunctions on the theory that it's better 
 to prevent any possible injustice. Probably they'd 
 make this fellow Hoover give a bond. You can 
 guess how much trouble he'll have getting it." 
 
 "Well, what am I to do?" 
 
 " I don't know yet. There ought to be some 
 way to beat it, but I don't want you to think it's 
 going to be easy. When a man can get a firm 
 that includes an ex-secretary of state, a United 
 States senator, and a former judge of the court 
 of appeals of the State of New York to handle a 
 case like this he's probably covered most of the 
 loopholes." 
 
 " Hazzard's firm? " said Lansing. 
 
 " Exactly." But the lawyer's eyes lighted up. 
 [250]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Still, I've crossed swords with them once or 
 twice before, and I haven't always lost, by any 
 means. Give me a night to think about it." 
 
 Having no choice, Lansing gave him the night. 
 Martyn wasn't surprised. 
 
 " I was afraid of it," he said. " I remember 
 this chap Hoover. He collaborated with Redfield 
 on ' Crandall's Revenge ' the play, you know. 
 It was Redfield's novel, and Hoover was a good 
 hack playwright, the sort who'd take a scenario 
 and hand over the first act next day." 
 
 " That's what Redfield told me when I closed 
 the deal with him," said Lansing. " He paid him 
 outright Hoover never was supposed to get 
 any royalty. Never claimed any, either, while the 
 play was running. Redfield told me that when the 
 play was making such a mint of money for him he 
 handed Hoover a hundred-dollar bill once in a 
 while, out of charity." 
 
 " He's been down and out for two years 
 touched me for a half dollar even after we started 
 this picture," said Martyn thoughtfully. " Won- 
 der how he's living now? " 
 
 " You might ask Hazzard. He could tell you 
 if he would I guess." 
 [251]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " I suppose so," mused Martyn. " Say, Haz- 
 zard sent for me today. I wasn't going to pay 
 any attention, but now I think I'll go see him. If 
 your ears start tingling you'll know I'm telling him 
 a few choice things about you." 
 
 " Better look out! " advised Lansing wearily. 
 " He's a tough bird, Cliff." 
 
 " So'm I," said Martyn briefly. " You go and 
 hold Hazen's hand. But take it from me, all the 
 lawyers in the world aren't going to call Hoover 
 off in time to do us any good. You'd better tell 
 Hazen to figure out some way to beating that in- 
 junction after its been granted. Something like 
 the time when old Larry Lajoie jumped the Phil- 
 lies and landed in Cleveland with the American 
 League. They respected the injunction sure ! 
 He got some days off every time the schedule took 
 Cleveland into Philly for a series with the 
 Athletics." 
 
 " Copyright's in the Federal courts and their 
 writs cross State lines," said Lansing. " Still, 
 Hazen's pretty good. If there's any way of beat- 
 ing this game he'll find it." 
 
 " Maybe so," said Martyn. " But what we 
 need just now is a lawyer or a conjuror or some- 
 [252]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 one that can find a way when there isn't one. Shall 
 I give your love to Hazzard? " 
 
 Lansing grinned, and let him go. He was de- 
 termined to be very cheerful, very optimistic. He 
 refused to worry about this latest attack until he 
 had to. And he went home trying to hypnotize 
 himself into believing that Hazen would find a 
 way. 
 
 It was about midnight when the insistent ring- 
 ing of his telephone roused him. He answered it 
 sleepily, resentfully. And his resentment wasn't 
 lessened by the discovery that it was Sandy 
 Brangwyn who was at the end of the wire. 
 
 " For heaven's sake, don't you know I'm work- 
 ing these days, Sandy? " he said irritably. " I've 
 resigned from the all-night society! " 
 
 " You'd better reconsider," said Sandy, with 
 undiminished good nature. " Your little friend 
 Martyn's trying to corner the available supply of 
 the demon rum. I've been hearing about him 
 since ten o'clock he's making quite a dent, even 
 for Broadway. I've just caught up with him, here 
 in Priest's. Come on down, and I'll leave word 
 for you, if I can. Anyhow, I'll stick right to him, 
 and telephone for you back here, if he moves on." 
 [253]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Lansing was wide awake now. 
 
 " Thanks, Sandy," he said. " I apologize. 
 You're all to the good. I'll be down as soon as I 
 can get dressed." 
 
 His thoughts were lurid, as he flung himself 
 into his clothes. He might have known that Haz- 
 zard would overcome Martyn 1 But surely Martyn 
 had behaved, since his trip to Atlantic City, like a 
 man who could be trusted. He hesitated for a 
 minute. After all, was it worth while to go down ? 
 Was there any hope that he could influence Martyn 
 again? But he went. 
 
 In his play time, in the days before the failure 
 of Lansing's he had been able to find his way 
 about among the white lights, though he had never 
 made a cult of the pursuit of pleasure that goes 
 on under their glare. But even in the compara- 
 tively short time that had passed, things had 
 changed. He saw few familiar faces as he en- 
 tered Priest's. A new generation of pleasure 
 seekers seemed to have sprung up. There was a 
 message for him; his " party," the boy at the tele- 
 phone told him, had gone on to a noisier place. 
 For nearly an hour, while the crowds everywhere 
 thinned out, Lansing wandered about, always find- 
 [254]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 ing messages from the faithful Sandy, but never 
 quite catching up. 
 
 At last, however, Sandy met him at the door of 
 a place west of Seventh Avenue a place he 
 could not have entered alone, since the legal clos- 
 ing hour had passed. Sandy's easy " Friend of 
 mine, Bill," proved sufficient, however, and they 
 passed into a dark, narrow passage. 
 
 " Easy, Bob! " said Sandy. " You want to go 
 slow here. Hazzard's just come in. He's pretty 
 happy himself, and he's opening wine as fast as 
 they can bring it. Tried to ring me in on the party 
 said he remembered my face, though he didn't 
 know why. I slipped out. I think he's trying to 
 get a little souse away from Martyn. Martyn's 
 ugly. He's come up to me about six times and 
 threatened to punch my head said he knew 
 what I was doing, all right that I was watching 
 him, so as to tip you off. Then he said he hoped 
 I'd do it that he'd like a chance to tell you what 
 he thinks of you." 
 
 " Wonder if I couldn't look on a bit without 
 being seen," suggested Lansing. 
 
 " I've spent money enough here to have a pull," 
 said Sandy. " I'll see." 
 
 [255]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 This was a place where such a request did not 
 seem strange. It was easily arranged, and Lan- 
 sing smiled sourly when he saw his quarry. Mar- 
 tyn sat with his arm about a fat, bloated little man 
 Hoover. And he was defying Hazzard. 
 
 " All HT palsh togesher ! " he said. " Go 'way, 
 Hazzard! Tryin' shpoil party! " 
 
 He seemed to be overcome suddenly by a sort 
 of futile rage. Also, he was quite sure that it was 
 his mission in life to care for Hoover. First he 
 denounced Hazzard. Then, with an abrupt tran- 
 sition of his mood, he grew tearful, and promised 
 to see that Hoover was at Hazzard's office next 
 morning. He would send him by parcel post, if 
 necessary, he promised. Hazzard considered the 
 matter, gave up reluctantly, and moved ponder- 
 ously to the door. Brangwyn, scouting, watched 
 him into a taxicab. And then Lansing advanced 
 openly upon Martyn. Not more than a dozen 
 people were left in the place now, and these were 
 concerned with their own affairs. 
 
 Martyn was not too far gone to recognize Lan- 
 sing. Nor was he abashed. On the contrary. 
 He began at once a tirade of abuse. Lansing, he 
 complained, was a slave driver. He wanted to 
 
 [256]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 deny to those who worked for him those common 
 rights life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
 ness guaranteed to all free-born Americans by 
 the Constitution. Lansing didn't have a chance to 
 get a word in edgewise. 
 
 " That's the stuff, ol' boy! " said the admiring 
 Hoover. It was a long time since anyone had 
 made much of Hoover; Martyn's friendship had 
 gone to his head quite as much as had his pota- 
 tions. But these had been busy, also. 
 
 " Suppose you cut out this foolishness, and 
 come home," said Lansing savagely. 
 
 "Home!" said Martyn suddenly stricken. 
 The word struck some responsive hidden chord. 
 His shoulders shook, and he covered his head with 
 his hands. " Home! " he said tearfully. " Hoo- 
 ver, look at tha' man, there Lanshing! " 
 
 " I'm looking," said Hoover, striving for dig- 
 nified utterance. " Shall I soak him one, pal? " 
 
 " Look at him again! " said Martyn. " Hoo- 
 ver, ol' frien', he'sh been father, mother, sishters, 
 aunths, whole family t' me ! An, thish ish how 
 we treat him! Hoover, you pal o' mine? " 
 
 Hoover had no words to express the degree 
 of his affection for Martyn.
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Hoover," said Martyn. " If I had million 
 dollarsh, I'd give it all t' him. Any man'sh pal o' 
 mine got to prove it. What would you give tha' 
 man Lanshing? " 
 
 " Anything at all ! " said Hoover passionately. 
 And broke down. He was destitute no better 
 than a beggar, he explained. He forgot, of 
 course, that for two years this had been literally 
 true. There was a conspiracy against him. Some- 
 one he couldn't remember who it was had 
 lately tried to rob him even of his share of " Cran- 
 dall's Revenge " the noblest child of his brain. 
 
 " Th'sh it you give him that ! " said Martyn, 
 as one suddenly inspired. " You're no cheap 
 shport you're my pal ! You'd never let me give 
 him million dollarsh an' not give him anythin' at 
 all!" 
 
 " Never! " agreed Hoover. He made a mag- 
 nificent gesture, directed at Lansing, upon whom 
 a great white light was slowly breaking. " It'sh 
 yoursh all yoursh! " he said. 
 
 " Got t' be in writin' ! " said Martyn solemnly. 
 " Waiter, bring me paper 'n' pen 'n' ink." 
 
 Only Sandy Brangwyn and Lansing, exchang- 
 ing quick looks, saw that the paper that Hoover 
 [258]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 signed with trembling hand was not the one that 
 Martyn had scribbled upon, but another sheet that 
 Martyn had taken from his pocket. Brangwyn 
 was one witness, the manager was another. 
 Hoover signed, and promptly went to sleep. And 
 Martyn stood up, a little unsteady, but in remark- 
 ably good condition. 
 
 " I'm not saying I feel fresh," he said. " There 
 were times when I couldn't spill it on the floor 
 especially when Hazzard was around, and early 
 in the evening. But I guess you won't stick to 
 your treatment this time, Bob ! " 
 
 "You were planning this all the time?" said 
 Lansing. " Why didn't you let me know? " 
 
 " No use, till I knew I had a chance to put it 
 over," said Martyn. " And I knew old Brangwyn, 
 here, would tip you off." He looked at Hoover. 
 " Seems pretty low down," he said regretfully. 
 " But it was the only chance I saw. It was just a 
 holdup he didn't have any more of an interest 
 in that show than the head usher of the theater it 
 played in." 
 
 " It might be charitable to keep him out of 
 Hazzard's way for a while," suggested Brangwyn. 
 
 " I guess it's up to us to look out for him," said 
 [259]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Lansing. " I doubt if there's any chance of 
 straightening him out but I'll see what one of 
 these cures can do. We'll call it pay for his assign- 
 ment of his interest in the show. By the way, is 
 that in good legal form, Cliff?" 
 
 " If it isn't, it's up to Hazen," said Martyn 
 dryly. " I gave him a hint of what I thought of 
 doing. He said that, as a lawyer, he couldn't sanc- 
 tion any such procedure, but that if I should bring 
 it off, I ought to use such and such a form, and 
 then he called in a stenographer and dictated it. 
 He said it was all purely hypothetical." 
 
 " It was," said Lansing. " But it isn't now. 
 Well, I guess we've got them beaten now, Cliff ! 
 You finish the camera work tomorrow, don't 
 you?" 
 
 " Today," said Martyn. " I guess you'll see 
 some rosy streaks of dawn when we get outside. 
 Come on, there's a hotel 'round the corner where 
 they'll look after Hoover, if we pay in advance. 
 I'll bunk with you."
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 E.NSING'S conscience troubled him when he 
 thought of Hoover. True enough, Hoover 
 deserved no consideration. He had simply let 
 himself be used by Hazzard, and he didn't even 
 have the excuse of thinking that he had some in- 
 terest in " Crandall's Revenge." But even if the 
 end justified the means, if it was fair to use fire 
 against fire, it went against the grain. And so, 
 after he had seen Martyn off to the studio, he 
 went down to the Tenderloin hotel where they had 
 left Hoover. The hotel people were used to such 
 guests, and they had restored him to some sem- 
 blance of manhood. He was eating a breakfast 
 skillfully devised to appeal to one in his condition 
 when Lansing went up to his room. And he 
 regarded Lansing with hostility and without 
 recognition. 
 
 " Who the devil are you? " he inquired. 
 
 " My name's Lansing, and you met me last 
 night early this morning, maybe while you 
 were with Martyn."
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Oh, Martyn yes," said Hoover. He 
 passed his hand before his aching eyes. 
 
 "Look here!" said Lansing. "Do you re- 
 member anything at all about the way you've been 
 acting lately? About letting Jim Hazzard use 
 you to keep me from producing ' Crandall's Re- 
 venge ' ? About swearing to some false state- 
 ments " 
 
 "Oh, you're that Lansing, are you?" said 
 Hoover. His voice rose until, at the end, he was 
 fairly screaming. " You can't bluff me ! " he 
 cried. " You say I lied prove it ! I'm not 
 afraid of you. Jim Hazzard's back of me and 
 he's big enough to break you in little pieces " 
 
 "Hold on!" said Lansing. "Hoover, we 
 played a pretty low trick on you last night, Mar- 
 tyn and I. Do you remember signing anything? " 
 
 Hoover started. His lips parted, as if he were 
 about to say something. But then a light of low, 
 animal cunning shone in his eyes. 
 
 " You can't come anything like that over me," 
 he said defiantly. " What are you trying to get 
 at?" 
 
 " I've got at it already, Hoover," said Lan- 
 sing. " You're a pretty poor sort of thing. You're 
 [262]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 about as low as I've ever seen a man who had a 
 decent chance get. For two years you've lived 
 by cadging, and you haven't even tried to do any- 
 thing for yourself. Now you've let Jim Hazzard 
 turn you into a blackmailer. We couldn't hope 
 to argue with you so we fooled you. You 
 signed an agreement last night giving me any pre- 
 tended interest you had in * Crandall's Revenge.' 
 I'll give you three guesses about what Hazzard 
 will do when he hears about it." 
 
 "It's a lie!" screamed Hoover. "And if I 
 did, it isn't binding ! I was drunk I wasn't 
 responsible ! " 
 
 " Binding enough," said Lansing, with a shrug 
 of his shoulders. " Your perjury made it likely 
 you'd get an injunction and this thing you've 
 signed offsets that. Hold on, now I told you 
 it was a pretty low trick, no matter what you'd 
 done. I don't enjoy dipping into mud just because 
 my opponent has done it. But I had to." 
 
 Hoover wasn't much of a villain. He had the 
 will to be a rascal, perhaps, but dissipation had 
 sapped his whole being. A man who wants to 
 succeed in crooked paths needs good nerves, a 
 clear brain. Quite suddenly, and without the least 
 
 [263]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 warning, Hoover broke down completely, which 
 was the last thing Lansing expected. 
 
 " I might have known it," he wailed. " Haz- 
 zard told me it was safe. I guess it was for 
 him. He didn't care what happened to me." 
 
 And he went on. He confessed everything, and 
 he threw himself on Lansing's mercy. It wasn't 
 a pretty sight. Waves of disgust swept over 
 Lansing, and he wanted to get away. 
 
 "Shut up!" he said finally. "Look here, I 
 want to do something for you. You used to have 
 some sort of ability. If you could do jobs like 
 the dramatization of ' Crandall's Revenge,' you 
 must have had a sort of talent. Suppose I give 
 you a chance to straighten out ? I'll pay your way 
 through some sort of cure, and when you come out 
 I'll see that you get work, or money provided 
 I'm not broke then." 
 
 Hoover only stared at him dully. 
 
 " I can't blame you for trying to hold me up," 
 Lansing went on. " You're not responsible for 
 that it's up to Hazzard. And I'm figuring that 
 if you'd made a clean-up you might have had a 
 chance to get on your feet. So I'll give you that 
 same chance. Will you take it? " 
 [264]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Oh, sure!" said Hoover. "I will now! 
 My head feels as if a couple of fellows were 
 standing over me with big clubs, hammering the 
 way they do when they're driving piles first 
 one, then the other. I always want to quit the 
 stuff in the morning, after a toot. But it's differ- 
 ent at night." 
 
 Lansing knew a doctor who had handled cases 
 like Hoover's. He telephoned to him now, ex- 
 plained the circumstances, and guaranteed the ex- 
 penses. And then, with a lightened conscience, he 
 departed. He stood in the sunshine, when he got 
 to the street, and breathed deep. There was 
 something infinitely depressing about Hoover. He 
 represented one of the by-products of this game 
 that Lansing was playing. It was a game, a life, 
 in which old standards were twisted. It was a 
 game that rested upon the creation of illusion, and 
 in which it was fatally easy to substitute deception 
 for illusion. It was a game of easy victories as 
 well as hard, fine struggles. It was a game in 
 which the trickster, the sharper, won, or seemed 
 to win, as often as the honest man who wanted to 
 earn his rewards. 
 
 And was the game worth the candle? Was 
 
 [265]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 there real profit to be found in it profit, that is, 
 aside from the money a man might make? He 
 thought of Hazzard, caught up in the fierce swirl, 
 seeming, now, to prefer trickery, downright dis- 
 honesty, to the fierce, clean fighting by which he 
 had got his start. He thought of Martyn, an 
 artist, crushed and discouraged, swept into a back- 
 water, until he had nearly become like the pitiful 
 creature he had just left. And then he thought 
 of Martyn again, responding to the call of oppor- 
 tunity, rallying himself, holding to the ideal he 
 had formed. He indulged in that rarest of things, 
 a moment of self-analysis. 
 
 And he knew, with a great rush of pride, that 
 it was worth while. He knew that he was fighting 
 not for money, but for success, to prove his own 
 quality to himself. And he knew that if he won, 
 it would be because he could supply a public need 
 and that he need not be ashamed. He and 
 Martyn had met fire with fire, they had beaten 
 tricks with tricks, but all that was beside the point. 
 Deep down, they were playing a clean game 
 cleanly. 
 
 Yet there were things that rankled, and most 
 of all the memory of how Morgan had been won 
 [266]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 over to stay and finish the picture. Was Mary 
 Brewster simply playing with the Englishman? 
 Had she reasoned that it was as fair for her to 
 trick him as for him to break his contract? Or 
 did she really intend to marry him? He swore, 
 at the thought of that. 
 
 He knew his own feeling well enough by this 
 time. He was angry not alone because of his 
 natural, male resentment at owing success to a 
 woman, but because he was in love with her. The 
 uncertainty he felt about her; and his inability to 
 devote the necessary time to clearing things up, 
 maddened him. 
 
 As for her, she had been tantalizing, provok- 
 ing, both to Morgan and Lansing. She had 
 evaded Lansing's few and tentative efforts to dis- 
 cuss the matter. And she had absolutely refused 
 to let Morgan claim any of the rights of an en- 
 gaged man, as she had refused to announce that 
 an engagement existed. None did, she insisted 
 it was a purely provisional arrangement. Morgan 
 had raged, but he hadn't been able to do anything 
 about it. 
 
 Lansing reached the studio in time to witness a 
 celebration. Martyn, with a touch of sentiment, 
 [267]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 had reserved the final scene of the picture to be 
 taken last, although the scenes that had led up to 
 it had been taken in what must have seemed, to 
 anyone except the director himself, a hopeless and 
 inextricable confusion. At his entrance, Martyn 
 cried out. 
 
 " We've been waiting for you I " he said. 
 " Here we are the last scene of the last reel! 
 Picture!" 
 
 At the word, action began. The film began to 
 run, with Jim Blunt, alert, steady, turning the 
 crank, and counting mechanically. Swiftly, surely, 
 the action proceeded. Lansing, in the background, 
 warmed to the way these people did their work. 
 They had authority. They made their points 
 tellingly, without wasting a second or a foot of 
 film. Martyn sat almost silent ; only once or twice 
 did he bark out a short sharp suggestion. And 
 then 
 
 "Break!" he cried. 
 
 At once the tension relaxed. Everywhere a sort 
 of gasp went up. It was all over. The picture 
 was finished. The part that all these people had 
 been playing in it was accomplished, for better or 
 for worse, Lansing, looking around, understood 
 [268]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 what they felt, the sense of achievement that had 
 come to them. And he understood, too, that this 
 was not common -= that something had welded 
 all of them into an enthusiastic body such as had 
 never before taken part in the making of a picture. 
 They had absorbed the energy, the spirit, that he 
 and Martyn had devoted to the enterprise. It 
 was their enterprise as well as his. 
 
 For a moment there was silence. Then a storm 
 of talk broke out, hysterical, high-pitched from 
 the women ; eager and excited from the men. 
 Words emerged from the jumble. " Wonder- 
 ful! " " A great picture! " " Epoch-making! " 
 Half crying, half laughing, Mary Brewster flung 
 herself upon Martyn and kissed him. 
 
 " Oh, I say! " complained Morgan. " That is 
 a bit thick what? " 
 
 So she kissed him, too. Lansing, outside of it 
 all, somehow caught the spirit of it the childish 
 delight they all took in what they had done. It 
 was naive, it was absurd. But there was a sort 
 of significance to it, too. These people could not 
 do the work they did, could not create that magical 
 atmosphere of illusion that was the secret of suc- 
 cess, unless they were capable of just such out- 
 [269]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 bursts of emotion, frank, naive, unashamed. And 
 he was fired, seeing and understanding, with a 
 new realization of his own part, of how absolutely 
 imperative it was that he should let nothing inter- 
 fere with ultimate success. That was up to him. 
 These people had done their share. He could not 
 fail them. 
 
 Martyn's voice broke in on the celebration. 
 
 " General call for Saturday morning," he 
 said. " You've all done well and more than 
 well. Maybe I've been pretty rough at times. 
 But I'm mighty well satisfied now. Work stops 
 right now but pay goes on until Saturday, for 
 extras as well as principals. On Saturday, I'll 
 make an announcement about future plans. And 
 now clear the studio, if you please. I've still 
 got a little work to do." 
 
 There was a general laugh, for they knew, these 
 professionals, how much work he really had to do. 
 And in five minutes they were gone, scattered to 
 the improvised dressing rooms, and only the echo 
 of their laughter remained. Blunt was develop- 
 ing; Lathrop was gathering up his properties. 
 The mechanical force was busily engaged in clear- 
 ing away the set-up. Electricians were discon- 
 [270]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 necting the wires of the great batteries of vacuum 
 lights and arcs. 
 
 f ' fcX^ ^2 Gathering up the 
 
 properties. 
 
 " We're on the home stretch! " said Lansing. 
 He drew a deep breath. " I've arranged with 
 the censorship people to view the picture Tuesday 
 morning. That gives you time enough? " 
 
 "Working nights yes," said Martyn. 
 " How about Adelphia? You've got to go up 
 against the local censors there, you know." 
 
 " They never dare to touch anything the Na- 
 tional Board passes," said Lansing. " But it's 
 arranged, anyhow - for next Wednesday morn-
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 ing. The paper goes up as soon as I wire releas- 
 ing it. We'll open a week from Monday night. 
 And we're just about coming through! When 
 I've cleaned up this week's pay roll and paid the 
 bills I'll have about five hundred left." 
 
 " Close figuring but we've had some unex- 
 pected expenses." Martyn grinned as he said it. 
 " I'd like to know what Hazzard and company 
 have spent. Say, I didn't tell you before didn't 
 have a chance. But when I went to Hazzard's 
 last night, Howell came out of his room just as 
 I went in." 
 
 " I thought they'd join forces," said Lansing. 
 " Hazzard never lets his personal likes and dis- 
 likes interfere with business." 
 
 " Well, we've got them licked, anyhow. Get 
 your telegram off. I've done some work on this 
 cutting and arranging already the first three 
 reels are practically ready. I'll keep Blunt here 
 tonight. If they don't fall down on us with the 
 positives we'll be all right." 
 
 Lansing knew that he should feel elated. He 
 and Martyn had done a thing that half the motion- 
 picture industry had pronounced impossible. 
 
 [272]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Crandall's Revenge " was completed. The 
 obstacles had been swept aside. In spite of every 
 fair and unfair attempt that had been made to spoil 
 the picture and to prevent it from being finished, 
 it was done. And yet Lansing, with the echo of 
 laughter coming to him from the dressing rooms, 
 felt oddly, unaccountably depressed. 
 
 It was the studio that did it, perhaps. For now, 
 with the camera standing deserted, with the stage 
 hands quickly striking the scenes and clearing away 
 the sets, all the illusion seemed to have vanished. 
 The mockery of solid sets that were solid only 
 within the camera's range, the trickery and pre- 
 tence that Martyn had relied upon to make up for 
 the lack of money, all this was emphasized. The 
 spirit was out of Lansing and out of the studio, too, 
 it seemed. 
 
 And then he began to reflect upon his own part 
 in all that had been done. What did that amount 
 to, after all? When Morgan had deserted them 
 the whole enterprise had hung in the balance. And 
 so, too, when Martyn had been lured away. But 
 if he, Lansing, had been the one who had turned 
 up missing there would have been no thought of 
 abandoning the picture. Everything would have 
 [273]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 gone on; some one else, Brangwyn, perhaps, would 
 have supplied the money and stepped into his shoes. 
 
 Lansing shook his head as he glanced up at the 
 great batteries of vacuum lights, dark now and 
 idle. And somehow he was shaken by a wave of 
 distaste for the whole game that he had played. 
 Once more those doubts that had assailed him after 
 his victory over Hoover came to plague him. Was 
 it worth while? Wasn't the whole thing cheap, 
 shoddy, meretricious? Had there ever been a real 
 chance to lift the movies up, to try to develop them 
 into a legitimate art form? Perhaps he was going 
 to make money. But money, after all, was not the 
 test of success; certainly, at least, it was not the 
 only test. His father had never measured success 
 wholly by money. Lansing laughed, rather bitterly, 
 at the thought that he had believed that he was 
 following in his father's footsteps, was playing the 
 part of a pioneer. 
 
 He remembered now the contemptuous allusions 
 of people he had known in the old days, before the 
 smash, to the movies. Indeed, he had talked in 
 that vein himself. He had not changed his opinion 
 of the pictures that had inspired him to say those 
 things; he had believed only that he himself could 
 
 [274]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 have a hand in productions that would deserve a 
 better fate. And it seemed to him now that he 
 had failed; that " Crandall's Revenge" was no 
 better, in essentials, than the old films he had 
 despised. 
 
 Only a few days before he had laughed as he 
 flung a letter from a society devoted to the uplift 
 of the drama into his waste basket. He had been 
 active in that society once, in its early days; he had 
 contributed money to efforts to interest New York 
 in the plays of Strindberg, Wedekind, and others 
 of the great Continental playwrights. Now, it 
 seemed, the society meant to turn its attention to 
 the menace of the movies. He remembered one 
 sentence in the letter. 
 
 It is the duty of all who are interested in the future 
 development of a native American drama, which is abso- 
 lutely dependent upon the fostering of a native American 
 taste for the best in the theater, to consider seriously some 
 means of checking the debasing and fast-spreading popu- 
 larity of moving pictures; a public devoted to the trashy 
 delights of the screen will never provide audiences for 
 the theater of ideas. 
 
 He had laughed at that ; but he didn't laugh now. 
 It seemed to him that it struck home; that he had, 
 [275]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 to restore his own fortunes, struck a blow at an 
 art that had meant much to him. It seemed to him 
 that he had deluded himself with the belief that 
 he could prove that the development of moving 
 pictures might be such as to develop at the same 
 time a taste for what was sound and good in the 
 spoken drama. 
 
 Inevitably this sort of thing led him on to the 
 feeling that nothing but failure lay ahead of him; 
 that the public, upon which the success of his exper- 
 iment depended, would reject it. He shook his 
 head at last, and walked slowly to the door and 
 out into the road. And as he made his way down 
 the hill toward the trolley his depression was 
 obvious in his listless walk, in the sagging of his 
 shoulders. Mary Brewster was beside him before 
 he was conscious of her presence. 
 
 " Oh, cheer up ! " she said. " It isn't as bad as 
 you think it is. Heavens ! Cliff Martyn's the only 
 one of the lot of us who doesn't feel blue and 
 that's only because he's got too much to do to relax. 
 I've had my spell, and I've got it out of my system. 
 Do you know what I did as soon as I got to my 
 dressing-room and locked the door? " 
 
 He turned to smile at her, without answering. 
 [276]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 But he felt already the contagion of her invincible 
 cheerfulness. 
 
 " I sat down and howled ! " she confessed. " I 
 hated the picture and myself and everything and 
 everyone in the whole world. And then I began 
 to look back and I knew I was wrong. Oh, 
 wait till you see that picture run off. You know it, 
 you know it inside out, the way the rest of us do ; 
 but you'll want to get up and cheer, just the same. 
 You'll see that we've made your dream come true." 
 
 " My dream? " he said, and she looked at him 
 in quick concern. For a moment there was a mes- 
 sage in her eyes that the stupidest man might have 
 read. But he did not see it. " Mary, I think that's 
 just it. You may be right, but what have I had to 
 do with it?" 
 
 "Everything!" she said. "Just everything; 
 that's all. I know these people, remember. I've 
 seen them work, and I've seen the pictures they've 
 made. And well, this is something new for 
 them. They had a chance, you see, and it was the 
 chance you gave them." 
 
 " Martyn," he interrupted. " You mustn't for- 
 get that the picture is his " 
 
 " No more than yours," she said. " He's never 
 [277]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 made a picture like this before, has he? And it 
 isn't only because they wouldn't let him. It's 
 because he had to wait for you to come along and 
 show him and the rest of us that moving pictures 
 and real drama could go together. After this 
 everyone will fall into line; but you're the one who 
 showed the way." 
 
 He drew a deep breath. 
 
 " I think you mean that," he said; " but how did 
 you know that that was just what I wanted to hear? 
 Listen, this is what I was thinking about before 
 you came." 
 
 And he told her of the letter he had, quoting 
 to her, as nearly as he could, the sentence that had 
 stayed in his memory. She laughed, almost con- 
 temptuously. 
 
 " Oh people like that ! " she said. " I know 
 them. They shrug their shoulders at anything the 
 public likes. And I tell you the public likes the 
 best thing it can get, in nine cases out of ten. It 
 makes mistakes; it likes some things that are bad, 
 and very, very often it doesn't like things that are 
 good. But I think if I were a writer or a painter 
 I'd always believe that the public had some good 
 reason for what it does. I'd look for something 
 [278]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 good in a popular thing I didn't like. I'd be pretty 
 certain that if I only looked deep enough I'd find 
 something bad in what I thought was good if the 
 public disagreed with me." 
 
 " I'd like to get you in a debate with the man 
 who wrote that letter," he said, with a laugh. 
 " You're awfully right. He's afraid of popular 
 things. But some of the stuff is pretty bad. You 
 can't defend the average movie and the public 
 likes it " 
 
 " I said it liked the best thing it could get," she 
 rejoined. " The movies haven't been an art 
 form, do you call it? They've filled a hole. People 
 have liked them because they gave them something 
 to do, and because they were exciting. But that 
 won't last. That's what the Hazzards haven't 
 seen. And it's what you have seen and its 
 what Martyn has been groping for, and a good 
 many others, too. You have only to wait and 
 see what the public's going to think of our 
 picture, and of the ones that are going to follow 
 that! " 
 
 They had stopped, half-way down the hill, to 
 talk. And now the car, that had been clanging 
 impatiently at them for two or three minutes, went 
 [279]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 off. They stared down, and then they faced one 
 another, laughing. 
 
 " That's what you get for making me talk," she 
 said. "But you do feel better, don't you? 
 You're not going to sag that way again? " 
 
 " No," he told her. " I'm not. You know 
 I think I ought to have you around all the time to 
 keep me up to the mark." 
 
 The color flooded her cheeks then, for a moment, 
 and she had to bite her lips before she could smile. 
 
 For a moment, as he looked at her, Lansing was 
 moved to go on. But then he remembered Mor- 
 gan, and her promise to the actor. And his old 
 doubt assailed him. Had she made the promise to 
 Morgan just to hold him in line ? Or had she some 
 feeling, after all, for him? 
 
 He had tried to sound her more than once, but 
 she had repulsed his efforts easily. Since the day 
 when she had saved him by her intervention she 
 had never referred to the matter; she had silenced 
 him when he had tried to bring the subject up. And 
 now he determined, suddenly, that he would have 
 his say; that he would not let her put him off. 
 
 " Mary ! " he said, " I can't bear to think of you 
 and Morgan of the promise you made him. 
 [280]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 You're not going to let yourself be bound by that, 
 are you? You know that no one would blame you 
 for treating it as if you had never made it? " 
 
 " I don't see why," she said, slowly. She had 
 changed her mind as he spoke. At first she had 
 tried to check him; then, with a certain curious sort 
 of resignation, she waited for him to have his say 
 out. " I made the promise. I suppose no one can 
 force me to keep it, unless I do that myself. And, 
 you see, that is just what I feel that I must do." 
 
 " But it's monstrous ! " he cried. " Mary ! The 
 man why, I suppose he's all right as an actor, 
 but in every other respect " 
 
 " I think you're a little unfair," she said, and her 
 eyes warned him that in another moment she might 
 lose her temper. " And I don't want to borrow 
 a speech from a society drama but just what 
 right have you to order my life? " 
 
 " You did it for me for the sake of the pic- 
 ture ! " he said. " You can't deny that " 
 
 " Say that I won't ! " she flashed. " I'll deny 
 nothing, because I need not." 
 
 " I hated to have you do it," he went on, as if 
 she had not spoken. " I'd rather have had him go. 
 But he was trying to play a trick and a particu- 
 [281]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 larly mean and contemptible one. Any means 
 could be fairly used to beat him." 
 
 " I don't want to quarrel," she said. Her eyes 
 were very bright; the color was flaming in her 
 cheeks. " But if you say another word " 
 
 He looked at her in amazement, and suddenly 
 he stiffened. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," he said. " I shouldn't 
 have spoken of it. I see that now. I won't annoy 
 you again." 
 
 It was what she should have wanted him to say. 
 And yet, she was not satisfied. She hesitated for a 
 moment, tapping her foot. 
 
 " I don't understand you," she said. " Why 
 should you care? What right have you to tell me 
 what I am to do? No one has tried to exercise 
 such a right no one has ever interfered with me 
 since I grew up ; but you " 
 
 " I'm sorry," he said, again. " You're per- 
 fectly right, of course. I had no right to speak as 
 I did none whatever. Will you try to forget it 
 and to forgive me? And will you believe that I 
 am grateful? Not only for the way you have 
 worked, but for the things you have just been 
 saying? " 
 
 [282]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Oh, I haven't done anything for you," she 
 said, impatiently. " It's very much the other way. 
 But I wish I do wish I knew why you thought 
 you could speak to me as you did. It was not like 
 you " 
 
 " Oh, yes it was," he said. " You see, I've been 
 catching Martyn's trick with you and the rest of 
 the company, I think. I haven't his paternal man- 
 ner, but it seems that I couldn't resist the impulse 
 to speak out when I thought you were going to 
 make a mistake. But I shan't offend again." 
 
 " Here comes your car," she said, abruptly. 
 " Don't miss it; you have a lot to do, I know. And 
 I've just remembered that I forgot some things I 
 want to take home with me they're in my dress- 
 ing-room. I'm afraid I won't have time to get 
 back and catch this car." 
 
 " I'm sorry," he said. " But I think I will 
 go on." 
 
 It was a very stiff and formidable back that she 
 saw as he went toward the car.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 E.NSING cursed himself after he had left 
 Mary Brewster, for his clumsiness. He had 
 angered her, but he was angry, too, and with her, 
 as well as with himself. She eluded him. He did 
 not believe that she could care for Morgan, and 
 yet was not sure. Never once, since he had known 
 her, had she let down the ultimate bars of her 
 reserve. He had glimpses into her mind from 
 time to time, and yet they never satisfied him. But 
 of his own feelings there was no longer any doubt; 
 nor of the necessity of concealing them from her. 
 
 Had there been less for him to do he might have 
 brooded about his relations with her; might have 
 done some foolish, reckless thing. But there was 
 work in abundance ready to his hand. The real 
 burden might be on Martyn's shoulders, but Lan- 
 sing found that his own share would make any- 
 thing that had gone before look like play. 
 
 Some time before he had engaged a press agent. 
 He had passed over a number of men whose repu- 
 tations were already secure. And this he had done 
 
 [284]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 for several reasons. He wanted a man who was 
 not bound by traditions. Some knowledge of mov- 
 ing pictures, it was true, was essential, but what 
 was even more important was readiness to blaze 
 a new trail. And he had found his man in a young 
 westerner, Clinton Baker, who had been in New 
 York about a year and had been picked up by a 
 motion-picture trade paper after a few months of 
 general newspaper work. 
 
 " I want you to go over to Adelphia and look 
 mysterious," Lansing had told him. " When I 
 wire you, cut loose. By that time you ought to be 
 friendly with every man who can help you. Spend 
 money in advertising. Don't ask for favors 
 make them come to you for news stories. Be 
 reticent, but drop enough hints for them to know 
 that there's something stirring on a big scale." 
 
 Baker had entered into the spirit of the game 
 from the first. He was an enthusiast for Lansing's 
 idea. After he had talked to Martyn, and had 
 seen parts of the picture, he was convinced that 
 " Crandall's Revenge " was to mark an epoch. 
 And his work in Adelphia did far more than fulfill 
 Lansing's hopes. Baker, a first-rate reporter, was 
 not content with the ordinary press matter; he sup-
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 plied each paper with specially written stories. 
 And Lansing gloated as he read the Adelphia 
 sheets, and was more than ever convinced that he 
 had been wise in deciding to avoid New York for 
 his opening. 
 
 Meanwhile he himself had enough to keep him 
 busy, in and around New York. There were slight 
 delays in the printing of the positives, and Lan- 
 sing had to take some routine work off Martyn's 
 shoulders. 
 
 " I'm pretty nearly all in, Bob," Martyn con- 
 fessed. " My nerves are screeching. A dozen 
 times I've rushed out to get a drink but I've 
 always stopped before I got it. And once I had a 
 glass in my hand! " 
 
 " Good enough," said Lansing. " You don't 
 need it, Cliff you only think you do. If I 
 thought it would help I'd tell you to go to it but 
 this is just the last fight you're going to have with 
 the Demon Rum, and you'd better beat him up 
 good and plenty and be done with him ! " 
 
 " Oh, I know," said Martyn, ruefully, " but 
 
 if you don't want to have to bail me out for murder 
 
 keep me away from anyone who gets in the way in 
 
 the next few days I I used to think I had a pretty 
 
 [286]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 good disposition. But ask Teddy Lathrop about 
 me since we made that last scene. Anyone but 
 Teddy would have brained me for some of the 
 things I've called him. I'm so sick of my own face 
 that I hate to see a mirror." 
 
 Lansing laughed at him, which was the best 
 thing he could have done. Also, he insisted, 
 despite Martyn's almost tearful protests, upon 
 taking him to the first performance of a new sum- 
 mer show, which, for general inanity, broke even 
 the New York record. 
 
 " Queer," said Martyn. " I feel better than 
 I've done in days ! " 
 
 That was after the show, and Lansing laughed 
 again. 
 
 "Bully show!" said Martyn, quite seriously. 
 " Best thing I've seen in the way of a musical show 
 since ' The Merry Widow.' " 
 
 " Glad you liked it," said Lansing, dryly. 
 
 That was the night before the review of the film 
 by the National Board of Censorship. Lansing 
 himself was nervous; in spite of the fact that the 
 board had no actual power to bar the film, he knew 
 how important was its approval. The National 
 Board is a voluntary body, maintained by the film 
 [287]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 manufacturers themselves. But its decisions are 
 accepted by many towns and cities, and the fact that 
 its censoring committees are not paid for the time 
 they devote to the work plays a great part in the 
 authority its decisions have acquired. 
 
 It seemed to Lansing that the picture was proof 
 against any censorship. And yet, when he arrived 
 next morning at the projection room he had hired 
 for the test he found Martyn, utterly unnerved, 
 raging against the committee. 
 
 " They want the gambling scene cut out! " he 
 cried. " They'd ruin the whole picture on a techni- 
 cality!" 
 
 " Steady, Cliff," said Lansing. 
 
 Patiently, carefully, he listened to the complaints 
 of the committee. Martyn's overwrought nerves 
 had given way at the first hint of criticism ; he had 
 antagonized the committee by his vehemence. A 
 little tact obviated most of the difficulty with the 
 censors; cutting and patching that could be done in 
 a single afternoon disposed of what little remained 
 to be done. 
 
 And in every other respect everything was mov- 
 ing smoothly. Baker's publicity work was begin- 
 ning to show results; the trade papers had sud- 
 [288]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 denly awakened to the importance of Lansing's 
 experiment. What was more significant, however, 
 was the space that was devoted to the picture in 
 the daily press. It was this that brought Lansing 
 the first promise of recognition. Two or three of 
 the more important State's-rights concerns scented 
 a coming opportunity, and began to make tentative 
 proposals to Lansing through their executives. 
 
 " If you put this thing over in. Adelphia you've 
 got us where you want us," said one of these men. 
 " You're offering us a big chance and I guess 
 I'm not too hidebound to see it! The manu- 
 facturers thought they had us on the run with 
 their big exchange systems but I guess this is 
 going to make them sit up and take notice 1 " 
 
 This was an accolade, really. It meant success 
 the big success that would justify everything. 
 For it meant distribution. Already, Lansing had 
 begun to think of the successor of " Crandall's 
 Revenge." It ought to be begun at once the 
 time to strike was while the iron was hot. His 
 depleted capital didn't worry him. Once the suc- 
 cess of " Crandall's Revenge " was assured he 
 could borrow all the capital he needed, and on his 
 own terms. 
 
 [289]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Off to Adelphia went Martyn, with Blunt and 
 Lathrop to act as escort to him and the five pre- 
 cious metal containers in which the five-thousand- 
 foot parts of " Crandall's Revenge " were packed. 
 Lansing, planning to leave next day and reach 
 Adelphia in time to hear the verdict of the local 
 censorship, waited to attend to final details. And 
 to his tiny office, late that afternoon, came Jim 
 Hazzard, unannounced, flinging open the door, 
 and filling the small room beyond the desk at 
 which Lansing sat. 
 
 "Hello!" said Lansing. He was bubbling 
 with triumph; exultation sent the blood dancing 
 through his veins like champagne. He couldn't 
 harbor anger. The man who has won seldom 
 can. " Come around to make up? " 
 
 " You said it ! " grunted Hazzard. " You're a 
 two-fisted man. You've put up a fight I'd have 
 been proud to make myself. You've come near to 
 licking us. And because of that I won't see you 
 go down. I'll do what I've never done before 
 I'll make again an offer that's been turned down 
 once. Western Film will take over your film as 
 it stands, pay what it cost to produce it. And you 
 can come in with me ! " 
 
 [290]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Lansing stared. Hazzard was looking straight 
 at him. And his eyes were the calm, confident 
 eyes of a man who has the game in his hands. 
 
 " We've got you, boy," he went on. " You've 
 beaten us up to now but this time we've left 
 nothing open. We could have beaten you before 
 if we'd known how little money you had but 
 none of us dreamed you had the gall to make a 
 play like this on a shoe string! I'm not bluffing 
 I can tell you, within fifty dollars, what you've 
 got left." 
 
 Lansing laughed. 
 
 " You've tried to bluff me before," he began. 
 
 " I know it," said Hazzard; " and you've called 
 our bluff. So this time we dealt ourselves the 
 cards. If we did it from the bottom of the pack, 
 that won't save you ! Hear me, now and un- 
 derstand it's facts I'm telling you. You'll not 
 open at the Apollo come Monday night. You'll 
 not show your picture in Adelphia at all. And 
 you've not the money to hang on while you find 
 another theater which you could not do with- 
 out building it, not if you had the subtreasury to 
 draw from ! " 
 
 For a minute they stared at one another. Not 
 [291 ]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 for a moment did Lansing doubt that Hazzard 
 spoke the truth. That he could not conceive of a 
 way in which this could be so mattered not at all. 
 There was conviction in Hazzard's whole appear- 
 ance. This time, at least, he was not bluffing. 
 
 "Come, what do you say?" said Hazzard. 
 " We've no hard feelings. It's to protect our- 
 selves we've fought you. You're trying to put 
 over something that would change the whole busi- 
 ness and we like it as it is. It's to show we've 
 no grudge that I make you the offer. Come 
 yes or no? " 
 
 " No," said Lansing very quietly, very quickly, 
 very finally. " Oh, I believe you ! " He cut off 
 Hazzard's words with a gesture. " But I'll take 
 my chance of losing it all. I won't sell out. 
 You've admitted the big thing that I'm on the 
 right track. And I'll tell you now even if you 
 smash me, someone else will do what I've tried to 
 do. So, even if you win, you lose." 
 
 Hazzard looked at him, weighed him. 
 
 "You're a fool, after all," he said. "My 
 offer's withdrawn. But remember it was made! " 
 
 He went out. Lansing sat for a long time, 
 thinking. And, curiously, he slept as well that 
 [292 ]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 night as he had ever slept in his life. This sur- 
 prised him when he woke up in the morning. A 
 few hours later, he was in Adelphia. And there 
 any lingering hope that Hazzard might, after all, 
 have been making one last, gigantic bluff, was 
 dispelled. 
 
 " They've refused to pass the film," Martyn 
 told him, " and they've served notice on Roth 
 that if it's shown he'll lose his license." 
 
 [293]
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 BAKER, almost sobbing with rage, had the 
 explanation ready. 
 
 " This town's boss ridden," he said. " Talk 
 about Tammany! Why, Tammany never even 
 dreamed of trying the things they pull off here 
 without batting an eye. The gang here has abso- 
 lute power, because it runs the State as well as the 
 city. And this moving-picture censorship was 
 created just because of the chance of graft. 
 
 " Hazzard saw it saw it before anyone. 
 While the other manufacturers fought the bill, he 
 backed it. And it's been in his pocket from the 
 start. Don't ask me what it costs him ; but I guess 
 he gets his money's worth. That's the only virtue 
 these crooks down here have. They stay bought. 
 When they've once taken your money, you own 
 them." 
 
 " There's no way of beating it? " 
 
 " I hired a lawyer, and he's trying to get an 
 injunction," said Martyn. " But he doesn't give 
 us any hope. He says the higher courts would 
 [294]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 probably give us a square deal, but that means 
 from six months to a year. And there's no way 
 of getting into the United States courts which 
 aren't for sale." 
 
 " Then we'll pass up Adelphia," said Lansing 
 crisply. " One thing I won't do bang my head 
 against a stone wall. Martyn, you and Baker 
 stay here till you hear from me. Keep your law- 
 yer busy. File notices of appeal. Baker, start a 
 campaign in the reform papers, if you can try 
 to kick up a scandal. Make it seem that we're 
 going to fight it out to a finish here. But don't 
 spend any real money." 
 
 " What are you going to do? " asked Martyn. 
 
 " I don't know yet. But I'm going down with 
 every gun that's above water firing! I'm going 
 back to New York. We're blocked here that's 
 sure. So the only thing to do is to try to win 
 somewhere else. That's why I want you two to 
 stay here and make a bluff. If Hazzard thinks 
 we're still hoping to come through here, he won't 
 be so watchful in other places New York, for 
 instance." 
 
 Hazzard had made good his threat. Certainly 
 his hand had been dealt from the bottom of the 
 [295]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 pack but certainly, too, it was the high hand. 
 Lansing, settled in his train, was in a cold rage. 
 
 Trick for trick chicane for chicane. Any- 
 thing was fair now, he knew any weapon might 
 be used that should come to his hand. But none 
 came. Looking out of the car window, he saw 
 the smoke of New York rising, the great sky line 
 piercing the clouds, before even the germ of an 
 idea came to him. 
 
 He knew precisely what forces were aligned 
 against him now. Cramer and Howell stood with 
 Hazzard. They would contribute to the unholy 
 alliance the great theatrical syndicate with which 
 they were connected. That closed more than half 
 the theaters in New York to him at once, and, 
 through its truce with the sometime independent 
 group, the syndicate could now bar him from the 
 rest. There were independent theater owners in 
 New York, of course. But they were helpless. 
 They would not dare to come to his aid, for the 
 plays they produced, to be profitable, must have 
 long road tours and the road was closed to 
 those who offended the syndicate or the group with 
 which it was temporarily allied. 
 
 If he had money, he could wait, bide his time, 
 
 [296]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 seize the chance that would surely come later. 
 But he had no money, and the enemy knew it. 
 He had staked all on a moment and the mo- 
 ment was passing. He did think of Sandy 
 Brangwyn, but only to cast the thought out. That 
 refuge he would not seek. 
 
 When he reached New York he hailed a taxicab 
 and made for a theater in the heart of the upper 
 Broadway region. In the old days, he had amused 
 himself, more than once, by taking an interest in 
 certain plays, productions made by the man he 
 was now on his way to see, who was the head of 
 those opposition managers now bound to the syn- 
 dicate by a temporary and, Lansing hoped, an inse- 
 cure truce. He depended upon his old connection 
 with Frobert for an interview, and not in vain. 
 But Frobert shook his head playfully, even while 
 he greeted him. 
 
 " I can guess what you want, Mr. Lansing," he 
 said. " I'd like to give you a theater but it 
 would mean a fight with the syndicate, and we are 
 not ready to start that again yet." 
 
 The frank cynicism of this didn't surprise Lan- 
 sing, nor did it disgust him. He knew his Broad- 
 way too well. 
 
 [297]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " I'm outside of this, you understand," Frobert 
 went on. " But I've had my orders you're not 
 to get a theater. Anything else I can do " 
 
 " Look here, Frobert," said Lansing. " I'm not 
 fool enough to appeal to you on sentimental 
 grounds. You're a business man, and I'm here 
 with a business proposition." 
 
 " Then I should turn you down, in any case," 
 said Frobert, evenly. " In this business it is by 
 being unbusinesslike that one makes money, Mr. 
 Lansing." 
 
 " Forget it ! " snapped Lansing. " Frobert I 
 used to think sometimes that you could look into 
 the future. Have you seen anything in the movies 
 except a new rival that's emptied your cheap seats? 
 And, even if you haven't, haven't you ever thought 
 of doing with this rival what you've always done 
 with every other combining? " 
 
 Frobert shook his head. 
 
 " I never think," he said. " I'm a theatrical 
 manager. Don't you read the editorials in the 
 papers? " 
 
 " I'm offering you the biggest chance you've ever 
 had," said Lansing. "Listen to me: the movies 
 are here to stay, and so is the big-feature film the 
 [298]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 film like mine. They may beat me. If you don't 
 help me, they probably will. But someone else will 
 come along whom they can't beat. And films like 
 that aren't going to be shown in ten-cent theaters. 
 They're going to help to fill up all the houses you 
 and Klanger have built against one another. 
 They're going to keep your theaters open in the 
 summer. And you're turning down a chance to 
 be the first to get the profit in this, Frobert 1 " 
 
 " I believe you," said Frobert, suavely. " But 
 why should we waste our time, Mr. Lansing? I 
 have an agreement. I shall stick to it. If you had 
 come to me when I was fighting Klanger, six 
 months ago, or if you had waited a year, when I 
 shall be fighting him again well, I should have 
 had a different answer for you. But now no." 
 
 There was finality in Frobert's voice; finality, 
 too, in the way in which he rose and moved toward 
 the door. 
 
 " I'm sorry, Mr. Lansing," he said. " Believe 
 me, I am really sorry. I like to fight fair. And I 
 think these people are wrong. I think they will be 
 hurting themselves as well as you. But " 
 
 He ended with a characteristic gesture, his 
 hands spread out before him. 
 [299]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Take my advice," he said. " Go to Haz- 
 zard." 
 
 " No! " said Lansing, " I'll be damned if I do. 
 I'll go down first! " 
 
 And an hour later he was prepared to admit that 
 down he would go. For not a theater in all the 
 town was open to him and his film. Hazzard and 
 his allies had overlooked nothing this time. Once 
 Lansing thought he had found a way out. He had 
 gone to the owner of a small theater, a man who 
 had had trouble with Klanger months before, and 
 had been on the black list ever since. His theater 
 was not desirable; it was badly located, and it was 
 so small that even if it were filled to capacity, at 
 the prices Lansing could charge, the profit would 
 be reduced to an insignificant figure. But if the 
 film could open there, the fight for a better theater 
 could go on. 
 
 But, after Lansing had made his offer, and when 
 his man seemed to be on the verge of accepting it, 
 the telephone rang out. Lansing had a premoni- 
 tion of what was coming. He saw the surprised 
 delight in the eyes of Hayman, the owner of the 
 house he hoped to get. And after the receiver was 
 replaced Hayman turned to Lansing. 
 [300]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " That was Klanger," he said, simply. " He's 
 taken me back. It's all off, Mr. Lansing. I can't 
 do business with you." 
 
 Lansing did not waste his strength in getting 
 angry. Hayman and Frobert were of the same 
 type ; they made no pretences. Idealism played no 
 part in business, as they saw it; it was every man 
 for himself. And, indeed, both had had occasion 
 to discover the value of that motto in the past, and 
 their lessons had been costly. 
 
 It was late in the afternoon when Lansing 
 finally gave up an effort that he had known for 
 hours was vain. He had gone through the whole 
 list of theater owners, for he was determined 
 to make it impossible for him to reproach himself 
 later with the thought that he had not done 
 everything that could be done. He came out 
 wearily into Broadway from the last office building 
 he had visited, and in the dusk he caromed into 
 Brangwyn. 
 
 " Hello ! " said Sandy. " Where have you 
 been? " He took a closer look, and then gripped 
 Lansing's arm. " You need a drink," he said, 
 firmly. " There's a place just over here where 
 they keep the very thing." 
 
 [301]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Not tonight, Sandy," said Lansing. " I'm 
 afraid I couldn't stand it." 
 
 " Been going about without eating? " said 
 Sandy. " Missed your lunch? Thought so. 
 How's your bally movie? " 
 
 " Busted ! " said Lansing. " Busted higher than 
 a kite, Sandy. They got me ! " 
 
 " I don't believe it," said Brangwyn. " What's 
 the matter? Money?" 
 
 " Oh, that's only part of it," said Lansing. " If 
 I'd had more than a shoestring for capital I sup- 
 pose I might hang on and beat them yet; but I 
 might not." 
 
 "Worth trying, isn't it?" asked Brangwyn. 
 "Look here, Bob, you're a hell of a friend! 
 Where do I come in? Haven't I got the right to 
 lend you money if I like? I won't stand for it! 
 You'd lend it to me like a shot if I needed it, 
 wouldn't you? " 
 
 " No," said Lansing, " because you wouldn't 
 take it. It's no use, Sandy. You're all right. But 
 I won't drag you into this game. It's too much of 
 a gamble." 
 
 " Well isn't there anything you'll let me 
 do?" asked Brangwyn, mournfully. "Good 
 [302]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Lord I've just made a pot of money and you 
 won't let me help. Can't I buy an interest? " 
 
 "No let's forget it, Sandy," said Lansing. 
 And then, to change the subject rather than 
 because he was interested: " You say you've been 
 making money? I suppose you do that every day, 
 but I didn't know you ever knew about it until they 
 brought you an income tax return to sign." 
 
 " This is different," said Brangwyn, with a 
 chuckle. " I swung a deal all by myself. Funniest 
 thing I ever saw." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Wait till I tell you. Jove that's why I'm 
 around here wouldn't have run into you except 
 for the deal. You know that bit of land I own up 
 the street here built up with a lot of old 
 stores?" 
 
 Lansing nodded, indifferently. 
 
 u Well, I was having lunch at the shack, as it 
 happened, and a blighter rang me up and said he 
 wanted to come to see me on business wanted 
 to buy some land. I told him to go to the devil 
 and to Harkness, my agent. But he wouldn't. 
 Kept on ringing, over and over again said his 
 name was Klanger, and this thing had to be done 
 
 [303]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 direct. So I let him come, finally, to get rid of 
 him." 
 
 " Abe Klanger? " said Lansing, chuckling in his 
 turn. " You'd have saved time if you'd given in 
 at once, Sandy! " 
 
 " I know it now," said Brangwyn, ruefully. 
 " Bob, he's terrible ! He had a taxicab, and he 
 made me come on over here with him. He wanted 
 an option on this property here. And he made me 
 so sore, finally, that I made him pay five thousand 
 more than Harkness was holding it for! " 
 
 " Then it was worth ten thousand more," said 
 Lansing. " But why did he have to deal with 
 you?" 
 
 " I don't know just wanted to be mysterious, 
 I think. He said he didn't want the transfer 
 recorded right away, or something, and he knew 
 he was safe in dealing with a gentleman. He gave 
 me his check for five thousand for the option." 
 
 And suddenly Lansing jumped. Little thrills 
 chased up and down his spine. For he saw, in that 
 moment, the significance of Brangwyn's story. 
 
 " Sandy! " he cried. " Did he make you prom- 
 ise to keep this deal a secret? " 
 
 " Not a bit of it," said Brangwyn. " He was 
 [304]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 too foxy for that. Oh, I saw through him, all 
 right. He thought if he told me not to talk, I'd 
 go and blab it right away, but that if he didn't I 
 might think it wasn't worth while. He wouldn't 
 trust me." 
 
 " Oh, Sandy ! " said Lansing, " you've done 
 more for me than all the money you wanted to 
 lend me would have done if I can tell one man 
 this story." 
 
 "Why not?" asked Brangwyn. "Go to it I 
 I'd like to see you shove a spoke in that blighter's 
 wheel." 
 
 " I'll tear the whole wheel off, Sandy ! Do you 
 know that Klanger's the man who stands in my 
 way? And, by Jove, you've delivered him into my 
 hands ! I've got him on toast ! Sandy go and 
 have a drink for me ; I'm going to be busy." 
 
 And he left the astonished Brangwyn gaping 
 on the sidewalk while he dashed for the nearest 
 taxicab. In ten minutes he was in Frobert's office 
 again; the news that Frobert had gone for the day 
 did not for a moment lower his spirits. He even 
 kept his temper when he understood that Fro- 
 bert's office force was purposely assuming igno- 
 rance as to his movements and guessed that 
 
 [305]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Frobert had anticipated another plea and deter- 
 mined to avoid hearing it. 
 
 " Look here," he said. " I'm going to look 
 around town for Mr. Frobert. But when he turns 
 up you tell him I've got some news for him that he 
 ought to hear and that he ought to hear in a 
 hurry. Tell him the whole situation has changed 
 since I saw him this afternoon." 
 
 But if Frobert got his message he did not take 
 it seriously; it was not until nearly midnight that 
 Lansing, aided and abetted by friends who formed 
 a cordon around the theater, succeeded in nailing 
 his man. 
 
 " Well you see me," said Frobert, resignedly. 
 " Come back to my office." 
 
 Lansing followed him into the deserted office, 
 and Frobert switched on the light. 
 
 " You're going to change your decision, Fro- 
 bert," said Lansing. " You're afraid of Klan- 
 ger " 
 
 " I'm not afraid of Klanger or anyone else," 
 said Frobert. " But " 
 
 " Hold on ! " said Lansing. " You and I know 
 one another of old, Frobert. You're just waiting 
 for a good chance to jump at Klanger's throat 
 [306]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Klanger and his whole syndicate, aren't you? 
 You're waiting till the time is ripe? " 
 
 Frobert shrugged his shoulders in an expres- 
 sive, oriental gesture. 
 
 " It may be," he said. " We have had differ- 
 ences before. I suppose we may have them 
 again." 
 
 " But right now you're observing a truce. 
 You're playing fair with one another. Neither 
 side is expanding? " 
 
 " That is so." 
 
 " Then how do you account for the fact that 
 Klanger holds an option on the Brangwyn prop- 
 erty three blocks from here the only available 
 theater site on Broadway that's coming into the 
 market in the next fifteen years? " 
 
 Frobert jumped up as if Lansing had shot him. 
 His face went dead white, and his small, beady 
 eyes were glittering. 
 
 "Is that true?" he cried. "If " 
 
 " I've got it from Mr. Brangwyn himself," 
 snapped Lansing. " I suppose you know that he 
 and I are old friends. If Klanger had had sense 
 enough to ask Brangwyn to keep it quiet, I couldn't 
 tell you. But he was so damned careful that he 
 
 [307]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 wouldn't even trust Brangwyn and was foxy 
 enough not to ask him to keep it quiet." 
 
 Frobert, small, dapper, raged up and down the 
 office. He held a fountain pen in his hand, and 
 suddenly he crushed it, so that the ink spurted 
 and covered his whole hand. 
 
 " And I thought Klanger would play fair! " he 
 said at last. "Mr. Lansing you may have 
 saved me from a very bad beating. You shall have 
 your pick of any empty theaters I control ! As to 
 terms we shall not quarrel. You have done me 
 a favor, and my worst enemies have never said I 
 was not grateful. Yes, you shall have the Thespis 
 it's the best. Telephone now to Adelphia and 
 have copies of all your paper sent over my own 
 people will get it out. By tomorrow we will have 
 the town covered. You shall open Monday, as 
 you planned but here, instead of in Adelphia."
 
 T 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 HERE was work for all of them who were 
 behind " Crandall's Revenge " in the last 
 days before its production. Baker proved himself 
 a jewel among press agents. Skillfully he allowed 
 just enough of the truth to leak out. People, 
 reading of the sudden fierce renewal of the 
 Klanger-Frobert feud, knew that it was connected 
 in some way with " Crandall's Revenge." 
 
 And then came Monday night. Over the 
 theater glittered the new sign, its electric lights 
 blazing out. Photographs, hastily designed 
 " paper," advertised the film. Lansing, accustomed 
 as he was to first nights, felt strange and nervous, 
 for so much was absent. There had been prac- 
 tically no advance sale ; many free tickets had been 
 distributed, of course, but Frobert had counseled 
 moderation in that respect. The dramatic critics, 
 in the main, stayed away; they felt, perhaps, that 
 it was beneath their dignity to notice a moving- 
 picture production. But all the papers were repre- 
 sented; the fact that the picture was advertised as 
 a legitimate production would have assured that. 
 [309]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 Martyn, as limp as a rag, white, and shaking 
 with nervousness, was waiting in the dark and 
 empty house long before the lights went up. Lan- 
 sing himself was there early; he and Martyn 
 standing about, trying to find topics of conversa- 
 tion that had nothing to do with the film, and get- 
 ting back to it, as if drawn by a magnet, in spite 
 of every effort. One by one other members of 
 the cast came in. And Morgan, it seemed, was 
 as nervous as any of them. 
 
 " Rum go, this, what? " he suggested. " My 
 word haven't had the shakes so since the first 
 time I ever went on in the 'alls. I say what do 
 the blighters do? Applaud, and all that sort of 
 thing? " 
 
 " Sometimes," said Martyn, sepulchrally. 
 
 "Oh, then, that's all right what?" said 
 Morgan. " I wondered how we'd know whether 
 they liked it." 
 
 Martyn and Lansing roared; the artless conceit 
 of the Englishman removed some of the strain. 
 
 Mary Brewster came in smiling, calmly confi- 
 dent. She had only scorn for the nervousness of 
 Martyn and Lansing. 
 
 " Of course it's going over! " she said. " There
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 isn't a chance for a failure ! I don't want anyone 
 to sit near me I want to be able to cry, all by 
 myself, when it looks as if Crandall was going to 
 lose!" 
 
 People came in slowly, but the theater, even so, 
 was filling up more rapidly than is usual on a first 
 night. The quality of the audience was strange; 
 very few of those who came were in evening dress. 
 It was interested; it was plain, by the novelty of 
 the idea, but there was a sprinkling, too, of real 
 movie fans. And it was snatches of conversation 
 that he overheard among some of these that first 
 brightened Martyn. 
 
 " They're the ones we want to get," he told 
 Lansing. " Even if we are going to a lot of new 
 people, we've got to have the old-timers to give us 
 our start and get the picture talked about! " 
 
 " Let's have a look in the lobby," said Lansing. 
 " The house isn't half full yet." 
 
 But the lobby was jammed; a line stretched out 
 into the street from the box-office window. 
 
 " Second balcony's full," whispered Frobert. 
 " Place will soon be packed. First time in two 
 years, too ! Mr. Lansing I think you told me 
 the truth this afternoon ! "
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 And then, a few minutes later, the lights all over 
 the house went out, and a beam of light shot down 
 and played upon the great white screen. Five 
 minutes later a ripple of applause ran through the 
 house at the first entrance of Morgan, as Crandall; 
 at the end of the first reel there was a real demon- 
 stration, swiftly checked as the next began. And 
 before the end there was no longer any doubt as 
 to the success of the picture. Spontaneous ripples 
 of applause ran over the house, and there was an 
 even, surer token of success in the enthusiasm of 
 the crowd as it filed out. 
 
 " It'll run all summer! " said Frobert, solemnly. 
 " I owe you something, Mr. Lansing ! You have 
 not only put me in the way of making money, but 
 you have also given me a good chance to get at 
 Klanger." 
 
 " It's all right," said Martyn, coming up to 
 them. " But there are one or two things we've got 
 to do, Bob. We'll have to fill up the evening some- 
 how it's too short as it is. But we can get a 
 short feature somewhere tomorrow, that will fill 
 the gap until we've had time to make a two-reeler 
 ourselves. And later we can arrange for some 
 topical news service, maybe. There's one thing
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 sure we can have anything we want, from any- 
 one, after tonight! Have you seen any of the 
 State's-rights men?" 
 
 " Not yet," said Lansing. " I'm not ready for 
 them yet. We've got to get a new deal from them, 
 Cliff. I think I'm not sure about him but I 
 think I can make Shelley see the real possibilities 
 in this thing. What we want is a new exchange 
 system. We've got to expand our idea, and do it 
 quickly. I don't mind borrowing money now 
 and my idea is to start two more big features at 
 once. You can put two men to work on the making 
 of the pictures, and keep an eye on both? " 
 
 " I can try," said Martyn. 
 
 " I want you as a sort of general director 
 but I don't believe you'll have time to make many 
 more individual pictures." 
 
 " Hold on I " said Martyn, laughing, " you're 
 going too fast for me. I need a little time to get 
 used to the idea that we've actually put this one 
 over." 
 
 " Oh ! " Lansing brushed their whole achieve- 
 ment aside with the exclamation, " what's done 
 doesn't count, Cliff ; it's what we'll do next we've 
 got to think about." 
 
 [313]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Go on over to the hotel," said Martyn. " I've 
 got one or two people to see. If we're really going 
 to start up again at once I might as well nail some 
 people that are around." 
 
 " All right you've got a free hand, Cliff." 
 
 He made his way through eager State's-rights 
 men, every one of them anxious to talk business, 
 and outside he met Hazzard. Hazzard's eyes 
 were twinkling; his huge frame shook with mirth. 
 
 " I'll forgive you for beating me, for the crimp 
 you put in Howell and Cramer and that swine 
 Klanger!" he roared. "And you can show 
 your film in Adelphia whenever you get ready. 
 I've sent word." 
 
 " Haven't you got any shame? " asked Lansing 
 curiously. But then he laughed. After all, this 
 was Hazzard an integral part of the man he 
 had admired in the beginning, whose personality 
 it was that had led him into this adventure that 
 had given him back his self-respect. 
 
 They shook hands as if nothing had ever come 
 between them. And Lansing passed on wearily, 
 but drawing in satisfaction with every breath of 
 the cool night air. People were looking up, as 
 he passed them, at the great electric sign that pro-
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 claimed the new film. His own name was linked 
 with that of the film, and he thought of the day 
 when he had seen people looking curiously at 
 the great bulk of Lansing's store, emblem of his 
 failure, his worthlessness, as they looked now at 
 something that symbolized his proving of his right 
 to the name he bore. 
 
 So he came to the restaurant where they were 
 to celebrate the little group who had helped 
 him to make this success. That had been Brang- 
 wyn's idea. Martyn would be there, and Baker, 
 Mary Brewster, Morgan, Teddy Lathrop, Jim 
 Blunt, one or two of the principals. At the 
 thought of Mary Brewster he flushed. And, curi- 
 ously, she was the only one who was in the private 
 room Sandy had engaged. 
 
 He saw that she looked tired; as tired as he 
 himself felt. But she brightened a little when she 
 saw him, and came toward him to greet him, with 
 both hands outstretched. 
 
 "Oh, I'm glad!" she said. "You did win; 
 I knew you would. And you'll be rich, and I'll 
 be famous " She made no effort to free her 
 hands from the firm grasp in which he held them. 
 
 " You " he began. " I don't believe I need
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 to tell you that I know the part that you and the 
 others took you more than any of them. 
 You're artist enough to have weighed all that, 
 and not to be falsely modest. And except for 
 you we'd never even have finished the picture! " 
 
 "Don't!" she said, sharply. "Don't let's 
 talk of that " 
 
 " We've got to," he said grimly. "I I wish 
 you had let it all go to smash, or that I'd been man 
 enough to stop you. Look here, you're not going 
 through with it? You're not going to marry Mor- 
 gan? You promised just to keep him in line? " 
 
 And then she did take her hands from him. 
 She moved away from him slowly, and he saw the 
 wave of color that swept up, staining her neck 
 and her cheeks. 
 
 " You've no right to say that," she said. It 
 seemed to be hard for her to speak. " You've no 
 right to think that, even to help you, I'd have " 
 
 She stopped, and he said nothing. And in a 
 moment she tried again. 
 
 " That I'd marry him " she began. 
 
 " You haven't! " cried Lansing. " You haven't 
 married him! Why, I " 
 
 Confession, avowal, pleading, were plain, not 
 
 [3-6]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 in his words, but in his eyes. He saw the look 
 of understanding that came over her, and checked 
 his swift step toward her, to stand, silenced by the 
 look in her eyes, abashed. 
 
 "You!" she said, slowly. " Do you care 
 like that? I thought and then I didn't dare to 
 think so! Oh " 
 
 The color receded slowly from her cheeks, and 
 the depths of her gray eyes grew somber, and lines 
 of despair seemed to settle about them, and in the 
 corners of her mouth. 
 
 "Oh!" she cried. "Oh my dear! I'd 
 stopped hoping that you'd ever care ! You didn't 
 then oh, you didn't ! If you had I suppose 
 I couldn't have done it! But I couldn't bear to 
 see everything go to know that you'd lost when 
 I could have saved it all for you. And now? I 
 must go through with it. You know that. He 
 kept his word I can't break mine." 
 
 It was the utter frankness of her revelation that 
 tortured Lansing most. He wanted to take her in 
 his arms, and hold her so, defying her conscience, 
 Morgan, everything that stood between them. 
 But he knew that she would be too strong for him. 
 He knew that she meant to pay, to keep her prom- 
 [317]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 ise. And then, while they still stood staring at one 
 another, and just as the strain was growing intol- 
 erable, Brangwyn came in, chuckling delightedly. 
 
 u Hello, you two! " he said. " I say this is 
 some night. You ought to hear the way they're 
 talking about you, Miss Brewster. Ears burning? 
 Shouldn't wonder ! But poor old Morgan your 
 little English friend is up against it for fair." 
 
 "What's the matter with him?" asked Lan- 
 sing. He was surprised at the indifferent sound 
 of his own voice. 
 
 " Oh, nothing much," said Sandy; " friend wife 
 hears he's making a pot of money and turns up to 
 get her share that's all." 
 
 " Morgan's wife? " cried Lansing. Exultation 
 shook his voice now. He looked at Mary Brew- 
 ster, and saw that the color had flooded her cheeks 
 again. 
 
 "Wife!" insisted Sandy. "Bad thing for a 
 matinee idol, a wife is. So he left her behind him 
 in dear old Lunnon, don't you know. She didn't 
 mind that so much. But it seems he wrote her a 
 while ago that it was all off that he was going 
 to get a divorce over here and pass her up. So 
 she came over to spank him and show him just
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 where he got off. She landed today, chased him 
 all over the shop, and finally heard about this 
 party. Heard I was giving it and pretty nearly 
 pulled my hair out. Then he came along, and 
 Martyn's with them now, trying to get them 
 calmed down. But I guess we'll have to celebrate 
 without him." 
 
 " Is this straight, Sandy? " asked Lansing. " It 
 isn't your idea of a joke? " 
 
 " You go and ask Morgan if it's a joke," said 
 Sandy, indignantly. " She scared the truth out of 
 him. He wanted to get hitched up with some 
 chicken he met here. Explained that he'd heard 
 you could stop off at Reno and get a divorce be- 
 tween trains. He's a great actor, maybe but 
 that lets him out." 
 
 And then Mary Brewster laughed, and Sandy 
 looked at her gratefully, because it had seemed to 
 him that an unusually good joke was falling very 
 flat, and that this was a reflection on his manner 
 of telling it. But Lansing caught the hysterical 
 note in her laughter, and he took Sandy, gently, 
 but very firmly, by the shoulders, and pushed him 
 through the door. 
 
 " Sandy go away from here ! " he said. 
 
 [319]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 " Get the others but don't come in or let any- 
 one else come in, for ten minutes." 
 
 He shut the door on Sandy's protest. And then 
 he turned toward Mary. She had dropped into 
 a chair, and he couldn't see her face, because it 
 was buried in her hands. He reached her in two 
 strides and caught her up in his arms. She was 
 crying, as he had been afraid she was, but she 
 was laughing, too. And she clung to him so that 
 for a moment her face was still hidden. And 
 then, when he had forced her back, so that he 
 could see her eyes, he was awed by the look that 
 was in them. 
 
 " Oh ! " she said. " Oh, my dear I can have 
 you, after all ! " 
 
 There was so little time and they had so 
 much to tell one another; but they could laugh at 
 that. And when Sandy came back, and Martyn, 
 and all the rest, except Morgan, trooped in with 
 him, Lansing and Mary were standing, most de- 
 corously apart, the width of the room between 
 them. Mary's cheeks were flushed, and Lansing 
 was biting his lips, but no one thought that 
 strange. And later, after Sandy had, ponderously, 
 and with a quite extraordinary gathering of all 
 [320]
 
 BEHIND THE SCREEN 
 
 the stock phrases of the last five years, proposed 
 a toast to the great film and the many that were 
 to follow it, Lansing rose to answer. And he pro- 
 posed the health of those who had done the work, 
 as he put it. 
 
 " I hope you'll all be in films that will put this 
 one to the blush," he said; " but I'm afraid Cliff 
 Martyn won't forgive me very easily, because I'm 
 going to rob him of his biggest asset! " He raised 
 his glass to Mary, and she blushed again, so that 
 there was no need at all for Lansing to tell them 
 his great news !
 
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