The Moving Picture Girls at Oak Farm | Page 5

in character.
Mr. Pertell was the manager and owner of the Comet Film Company,
and I have already mentioned the principal players. Ruth and Alice
were the newest members. Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon were from
the vaudeville stage, and you could see this without being told. They
were a bit jealous of the DeVere girls.
Mrs. Maguire, who was billed as "Cora Ashleigh," was generally
played in "old woman parts." And she played them well. Her two
grandchildren, Tommy and Nellie, occasionally had small parts in the
plays. Mr. Switzer was the comedian, and, opposite to him, was Pepper
Sneed, the "grouch." Wellington Bunn seemed always to have a
grievance because he had not made a success in Shakespeare.
Pop Snooks was the "Old Reliable" property man of the company, and
what he could not manufacture in the way of "props" at short notice
was hardly worth mentioning.
The company of moving picture players and the other train passengers
found a scene of desolation awaiting them as they alighted. But it was
not as bad as might have been expected, and no one had been killed. In
fact, no one was hurt, save the fireman and engineer of the passenger
train, and they only slightly.
What had happened was this: A freight train, on a siding, had overrun a
switch, and one of the cars encroached on the main line tracks. The
passenger engine had "side-swiped" it, as the railroad term has it. That
is, the engine had struck a glancing blow, and had been derailed. The
baggage car, directly behind the engine, had been smashed, but a quick
survey on the part of Mr. Pertell showed that the company's baggage
had not been damaged.

The wreck was bad enough, however, and meant a delay until the track
was cleared. The members of the company, and the other passengers,
gathered about, looking on while the railroad men held a consultation
as to what was best to be done.
"Look, there's Russ, taking pictures!" exclaimed Ruth, pointing to him.
The young operator had gone to the baggage car and obtained the
tripod of his camera. This he had set up in an advantageous position,
and was industriously grinding away at the handle, taking pictures of
the wreck on the moving strip of celluloid.
"This will be all right for our newspaper service!" he called to Mr.
Pertell.
"That's right! Good work, Russ! But this will mean a delay in getting to
Oak Farm."
However, there was no help for it. One of the trainmen went to the
nearest station to telephone for the wrecking crew. Fortunately it was
not necessary to bring one out from Hoboken, since at Dover, a station
some miles down the line, such an equipment was kept. And a little
later the wrecking crew was on the scene.
"I'll get some fine pictures now!" exulted Russ. "I'm glad I'm here,
though I wouldn't want a railroad collision to happen every day. We
might not get off so lucky next time."
"Luck! Don't mention luck!" grumbled Mr. Sneed. "The idea of starting
out on track thirteen! I told you something would happen."
"Den you vas not disappointmented alretty yet!" laughed Mr. Switzer.
The work of getting the engine back on the track was comparatively
easy, and it was found that the train could proceed, since the running
gear of the baggage car was intact.
The train was almost ready to go on again, when a woman, flashily
dressed, and wearing many diamonds, came bustling up from the parlor

car.
"Is my dog safe?" she inquired of the baggageman. "Is he hurt?"
"No'm, he's all right; or he was a little while ago," the man answered.
"He was tied in the corner, just where you told me to put him. I guess
he's there yet. His end of the car wasn't hit. But he howled a lot."
"Poor Rex! Let me see him." The lady went to the open door of the
baggage car, and looked in. "Why, he's gone!" she cried. "My dog--my
darling dog--is gone!"
"Can't be!" exclaimed the trainman. "He was tied right there a minute
ago."
He jumped into the shattered car and looked about.
"Is he there?" cried the woman.
"No, ma'am, he's gone," was the answer. "But I don't see how it could
be."
"Did he break loose?" the lady asked, with much eagerness.
"No, the strap is gone, and he couldn't possibly untie the knot I put in it.
Someone has taken him, ma'am."
"Then this company is responsible, and I shall sue it!" the lady cried,
bristling with what might be righteous anger. "My dog was a valuable
one. Rex III has taken prize after prize, and I was on my way with him
to a dog show now. Oh, Rex! Who