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ginian's name and bring joy to his shamed family? Very well. Then, we'll assume that the body is not that of the young Virginian (we'll call him "Jack"). Then,, whose body is it? And where did the drowned man get Jack's clothes and pocket-book? Now, the plotting begins. We must go back and account for Jack's being away from home. We'll imagine that he has quarreled with his parents over a girl whom they wish him to marry. He is infatuated with a vaudeville actress. His father, in a rage, drives him from the house. He goes to the actress; she laughs at him when she learns that his family has cast him off. Humili- ated, he goes to New York. There a thief steals his clothes from his room. The thief wears the clothes. He belongs to a gang of motor boat thieves. Running from a house near the river, they jump into their boat. The thief wear- ing Jack's clothes is last; he misses the jump, falls into the water. The police are pursuing and the others will not stop the boat. The thief sinks out of sight in the water. Now, we have accounted for the drowned man and for the mistaken identity. But where is Jack that he does not deny the false report? We must have him away from the city, in some place where he will not see the daily papers. Suppose we take him up to a logging camp in the moun- tains. Our big climax, we have settled, is to be an unex- pected meeting between Jack and his parents, who sup- pose him to be dead. We cannot go straight to that end, for that would make the play too short and lacking in in- terest and suspense. We must create conflict and suspense. What obstacle can we introduce to make trouble for Jack? We might have another character—say a cousin, Bert—who is jealous of Jack and in love with the girl, May. This cousin also expects to inherit from Jack's father, so he is glad on every count that Jack is out of the way. We must plan the scenes that lead to our big climax. For that rea- son, we'll have Jack's parents, Bert, and May go to a bungalow in the mountains. Before filling in the scenes, we 22