“You belittle your own kindness, I am sure,” said Hazel.  “And that dear boy who got me out of the river—­Where is he?”

“Unseeable at present,” laughed Ruth.  “He is dressed in some of Uncle Jabez’s clothing, a world too big for him.  But Tom is one of the dearest fellows who ever lived.”

“You think a great deal of him, I fancy?”

“Oh, yes, indeed!” cried Ruth, innocently.  “His sister is my very dearest friend.  We go to Briarwood Hall together.”

“Briarwood Hall?  I have heard of that.  We go there soon, I understand.  Mr. Hammond is to take some pictures in and around Lumberton.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Ruth.  ’That will be nice!  I hope we shall see you up there, Miss Gray, for Helen and I go back to school in a week.”

“Whether I see you there or not,” said the young actress with a sigh, “I hope that I shall be able some time to repay you for what you do for me now.  You are entirely too kind.”

“Perhaps you can pay me more easily than you think,” said Ruth, bashfully, but with dancing eyes.

“How?  Tell me at once,” said Miss Gray.

“I’m just mad to try writing a scenario for a moving picture,” confessed Ruth.  “But I don’t know how to go about getting it read.”

Miss Gray smiled, but made no comment upon Ruth’s desire.  She merely said, pleasantly: 

“If you write your scenario, my dear, I will get our manager to read it.”

“That awful Mr. Grimes?” cried Ruth.  “Oh!  I shouldn’t want him to read it.”

Hazel Gray laughed heartily at that.  “Don’t judge, the taste of a baked porcupine by his quills,” she said.  “Grimes is a very rough and unpleasant man; but he gets there.  He is one of the most successful directors Mr. Hammond has working for him.”

“You have mentioned Mr. Hammond before?” said Ruth, questioningly.

“He is the man I will show your scenario to.”  Then she added:  “If I am still working for him.  Mr. Hammond is a very nice man; but Grimes does not like me,” and again the girl sighed, and a cloud came over her pretty face.

“I would not work under such a mean man as that Grimes!” declared Ruth.  “You might have been drowned because of his carelessness.”

“It is my misfortune—­being an actress—­often to work under unpleasant conditions.  I want to get ahead, and I would like to please Grimes; he puts over his pictures, and he has made several film actresses quite famous.  Of course, although my first consideration must necessarily be my bread and butter, I hope for a little fame on the side, too.”

“Oh! you have achieved that, have you not?” said Ruth, timidly.  “I thought you had already made a name for yourself.”

“Not as great a name as I hope to gain some day,” declared Hazel Gray.  “But thank you for the compliment.  I was carried on to the stage when I was a baby in arms by my dear mother, who was an actress of some ability.  My father was an actor.  He died of a fever in the South before I can remember, and when I was seven my mother died.