Victor Appleton

“ During a momentary hush they could hear a long boom as if a giant wave was pounding the beach. Then a great lot of water sluiced in under the doors.
“Open up, Pep,” directed Frank, “we must see to this right away.”
The moment the doors were opened a lot of water flowed in. But for the incline it would have swept clear over the floor of the playhouse. Meeting the rise in the seats, however, it flowed in about fifteen feet, soaking the matting and coming nearly to the boys’ shoe tops. Then it receded and dripped away over the platform outside. ”

“ There had never been a better engineer on the lake near 12 Fairlands than our hero. He was so perfectly at home with a launch that the owner of the one he had immediately sprung into could not repress a “Bravo!” as Frank seemed to slip the painter, spring to the wheel and send the craft plowing the water like a fish, all with one and the same deft movement.
Frank estimated time and distance and set the launch on a swift, diagonal course. He made out a rowboat headed in the same direction as himself, and Randy was in it. Frank saw a flying form leave the end of the long pier in a bold dive. ”

“ If there was a being in the world the motion picture chums had reason to feel kindly toward it was this same Ben Jolly. A free wanderer, taking things easy, tramping flower-fringed country roads, making his way, willing to meet any task that came along, Ben Jolly had dropped into their life at the critical moment when they were discussing the prospects of their first motion picture show at Fairlands. ”

“ A desperate resolve came into Pep’s mind, as glancing ahead he caught the glint of water. At the end of a steep incline a bridge spanned a small river. Pep got his free hand ready. Just as the front wheels of the machine struck the first timbers of the bridge, his hand shot out for the tin 180 box in its pillow case covering, lying on the cushion between himself and his captor.
It was all done quick as a flash. A grab, a whirl, a splash, and the hurling object disappeared beneath the calm waters just beyond the outer bridge rail. The man beside Pep uttered a shout. ”

“ That night, however, the Wonderland had never had a more enthusiastic audience. It was comprised of an entirely new crowd—people themselves in the entertainment business and general trade lines, who could pick only a slack business period to seek enjoyment. They knew what a good thing was when they saw it and their generous approbation of the flood film and of Hal Vincent’s ventriloquial acts with his dummies made up for the lack of numbers. ”

“ Frank had picked up the coat from the pavement where Vincent had flung it and he now offered it to him.
“That you, Durham?” hailed the ventriloquist, mopping his perspiring brow—“and the rest of the crowd? Howdy—I declare, I was ruffled. I can stand anything but ingratitude.”
“Who is the fellow, anyway?” inquired Jolly.
“Oh, he’s been a hanger-on at the movies and a sponge and dead beat for a long time. His name is Jack Beavers.”
“What’s that?” cried Pep, sharply. “Why, that’s the name of the ‘big New York man’ who is going to start the new show with Peter Carrington and his crowd.” ”

“ Pep felt that he was on good behavior with the eyes of their lady patronesses upon them. When they arose to leave at the end of the hour he slipped over to the operator’s booth and advised Frank of the presence of their distinguished company. The little party drew aside for a moment or two out of the path of the dispersing audience.
“We must certainly compliment you on your well ordered place, Mr. Durham,” said Mrs. Carrington.
“And your tasteful selection of films,” added Miss Porter, brightly. “As to your pianist, he is an expert, and your usher system perfect.” ”

“ I have been unfortunate enough to have various accidents with my machine. A month ago I ran down a man. About all he did was to stub his toe, but he’s sued me for twenty thousand dollars damages and has a doctor ready to swear he is crippled for life. Last week I ran over a valuable dog at Seaside Park and the magistrate fined me fifty dollars for speeding over the limit, and said if there was another complaint he would give me a jail sentence. Ugh! fine thing to be rich; isn’t it?”
Mr. Tyson really looked so disgusted that Randy could not refrain from smiling. ”

“ Long since Frank had calculated all the risks and chances of success in his new enterprise and had decided that it could scarcely fail.
“Mrs. Carrington,” he said in a straightforward way, “I would not allow any person to invest money in a business where there was the remotest risk of loss. We lack a few hundred dollars to start a photo playhouse at Seaside Park in the right way. If you feel in a position to advance it or become responsible for what we need, I wish to secure you so that in case the venture goes wrong we will be the only losers.” ”

“ Gregory Grayson,” answered Pep, his nostrils dilating, but Peter was too obtuse to read between the lines.
“Well, I’ve got an idea,” chuckled Peter. “Anybody has a right to start a movies show; haven’t they?”
“If they want to, I suppose.”
“Well, since I can’t make a deal with that Durham, I’m going it on my own hook. I can raise the money; Greg’s father is rich and he can help. All we need is someone who knows the practical end of the business. ”

“ Frank was into the sheet iron booth in a jiffy. Jolly sat prim and precise at the piano. Randy was in place in the little ticket office just as Pep threw open the front doors. 131
Pep tried to look and act dignified, and did very well, but he felt so elated as the crowd poured in that he was all smiles and made everybody feel at ease instead of awed. Wonderland could not have opened at a more favorable moment. A better advertisement than the cornet solo could not have been devised. The crowd attracted by the music lingered, and most of them decided to take in the show. ”

“ But the disgusted Pep waved documents and remark away with disdain.
“Burn ’em up; throw ’em away—don’t care what you do with them,” he declared. “I am sick of the whole business. I want to forget how mean money makes a millionaire, and just get back into the gladness and bustle of the old motion picture proposition.”
“All right, Pep,” said Jolly blandly, pocketing the papers. “I’ll just take care of the documents for you. They may bob up in a new way some time; you never can tell.”
“What about moving the outfit down from Fairlands, Mr. Jolly?” here interrupted Frank. ”

“ Pep Smith gasped as Jolly recounted all this over again to him in the living room back of the photo playhouse.
“What are you going to do with all that money, Pep?” inquired Randy.
Pep waved the precious bit of paper gaily and jumped to his feet with glowing eyes.
“What am I going to do with it?” he cried. “And what could I do but put it into the Wonderland business fund! Why, just think of it! When the season is over at Seaside Park we have got to look for a new location; haven’t we?” ”

“ Randy led the course of the narrative to his visit to Brenton, the peculiar situation in which he found Pep, and detailed the contents of the two letters he had received from their absent partner.
“Well, Pep,” hailed Frank heartily, at the end of the story. “I suppose you’ve turned out an adopted son or great favorite with this Mr. Tyson.”
Pep had just finished a second helping of Jolly’s famous rice pudding and was ready to talk now.
“Oh, yes, I have! See me!” he retorted in a scornful and disgusted way. “Say, the next fellow who plays me for an invalid will be a good one, I tell you. ”

“ For several days the ears of our young hero had buzzed with little besides “movies” chatter. When Frank had first gone into the business and had bid in at auction the outfit now at Fairlands, he had learned the basis of the trade through an interesting day spent at a motion picture supply house in the small city near his home. He found New York on a larger scale, however. Even within the few months that had elapsed since he and his chums had started the Wonderland photo playhouse there had been improvements, innovations 88 and new wrinkles without number. ”

“ It embarrassed Frank the first time Vincent, in his breezy showman’s way, introduced him to the proprietor of the National Film Exchange. According to the versatile and voluble ventriloquist, Frank and his chums, Randy and Pep, were young prodigies who had built up a mammoth photo playhouse enterprise at Fairlands out of nothing and had scored a phenomenal success. And still further, according to Vincent, Frank had secured a most favorable contract at Seaside Park, and was about to reap profits from a project that would set the pace in summer outing resorts for the season. ”

“ It was no wonder that Pep Smith burst forth in his usual responsive way with the declaration:
“It’s simply great!”
“When you come to think that I got all those traps and forty dollars in cash to boot for that impossible old rig of ours,” observed Jolly, “you will see that I made a very interesting dicker. What do you say, Durham; we can make a neat cut in expenses, eh?”
“Why, it makes easy the hardest part of our whole proposition,” declared Frank.
“Yes, and here we can always be right on the spot,” spoke Randy.
“I’m something of a cook,” boasted Jolly. ”

“ Carrington, “and I shall be satisfied. My nephew has told me enough about your business plans to convince me that you are at a critical point in your career, where a little capital may be everything to you. I am a wealthy woman, Mr. Durham. I do not wish to offer you a gift. Simply as a business woman who has confidence in you, let me know about your affairs and help you in a business way.”
Frank’s head drooped. ”

“ Randy had dashed down the beach to where there was a light rowboat overturned on the sand. Pep was making for a long pier running out quite a distance, pulling off his coat as he went. Frank had his eyes fixed upon a small electric launch lying near the pier. He did not know nor notice what course his chums had taken. He realized that if help came to the people in peril on the motor boat it must come speedily to be of any avail. ”

“ Frank was minded to treat the intruder civilly and resumed his chair. Suddenly Pep flared out:
“Have you been waiting out in the hall there, listening to our private conversation?”
“Guess I have; glad I did,” chuckled the thick-skinned Peter. “I heard you say you were short of funds and something about a partner. What’s the matter with me? I suppose you know my aunt is rich and we’re some folks here. We live up on the Terrace—most fashionable part of the town. Why, if I had an interest in your show I could fill your place with complimentaries 30 to the real people of Seaside Park. ”

“ Never was there a cleaner, brighter, more manly boy than Frank Allen, the hero of this series of boys’ tales, and never was there a better crowd of lads to associate with than the students of the School. All boys will read these stories with deep interest. The rivalry between the towns along the river was of the keenest, and plots and counterplots to win the championships, at baseball, at football, at boat racing, at track athletics, and at ice hockey, were without number. Any lad reading one volume of this series will surely want the others. ”