Picture Show (Nov 1919-Apr 1920)

E Th< Picture Show, Man?, 20th, 1920. HEAD THIS FIRST. CNOW and sleet whirled round Richard Ferris as lie leant against a lamppost. He is a destitute man, and clasps a sinall monkey against his body, which is very poorly clad. Suddenly from out of the darkness a man appears, and, noticing the exhausted state of the other man, offers him shelter for the night. Bill Graham takes the man along to a small shop which is full of birds, toy dogs, and Persian kittens, and here Jack meets Bill Graham's daughter, Sylvia. The girl nurses him back to health, meanwhile realising that he is above her in station, and that there is some mystery attached to him. When she asks him his name he tells her that it is Pick Blake, thus concealing the fact that he is Richard Ferris, one of the Ferri-'s of t'ourtfield, who can trace their ancestry back in an unbroken line to the Conquest. Sylvia is a cinema actress, and she promises to try to get Dick a walking-on part in her company. She interviews Robert Nigel, her producer, and manages to secure a small part for him. Robert Nigel, who has previously been dubbed a woman hater, is struck by Sylvia's charm, and determines to win her. Fearing a rival in Dick, he tells Sylvia that her friend is hopeless, and dismisses him. Sylvia reveals her love for Dick, and promises to marry him. One day, while Jack is attending to the shop, a well-dressed girl appears and purchases his monkey, Yum-Yum. The buyer is Pansy Vivian, and she explains that it is being given her by a Mr. Blake, omitting to state that he is also her liance. She u; attracted to Dick and he to her. Sylvia is ambitious in her screen work, and is delislited when Robert Nigel promises her a big part. Her hopes are dashed to the ground, however, when ' lie tells her that to get on she will have to forget Dick Blake. Tou can now read on. " Undercurrents." "V^OU must forget that chap Blake!" I Glancing up, Sylvia gave a shuddering sigh. Robert Nigel had never looked so stern and masterful, and yet beneath his hard cynicism there was a certain magnetism that charmed her. " Have you nothing to say to me?" Nigel insisted. "Don't you want to become" famous ?" " Of course I do !" she cried. " But you've taken my breath away. I don't know" how to thank you !" ''That's the easiest task in the world," he answered quietly. " Do as 1 advise. If cne wants to succeed, it means concentration of mind and body. One's work must come first." Sylvia was relieved to find that Nigel had turned into an impersonal train of thought. " I don't mind work," she said, with determination. He was pleased at her confidant manner. Infected by her enthusiasm, he took a bundle of manuscript out of his coat pocket. "This is your new part." She was consumed with excitement, her little hands trembled when she took the typewritten copy and read the title. " A Girl's Choice !" " You arc cast for the leading role," Nigel explained. " It will be a fine chance for you. If you make a hit, a three years' contract will be offered to you, at a very attractive salary." " I can't believe it's true ! It's like a wonderful dream!" She laughed happily. While she was reading, he glanced at the manuscript, over her shoulder, and said: " Several scenes are set near a lake in the heart of the Welsh mountains. We are making arrangements for the company to be carted off there at a moment's notice. Much depends on a spell of good weather." " Do you mean that I shou'id have to leave London?" "Dear little girl," said Nigel, "can one produce Hamlet without the ghost ? You are the star ! Unfortunately, the Serpentine's the nearest approach to a lake in the Metropolis. Moreover, a climb up the side of a mountain will be one of your stunts." "It sounds very thrilling," said Sylvia; but her expression was troubled. She was wondering what Dick would have to say about her leaving home. " In a nutshell, the plot js this," Nigel By EDITH NEPEAN. You can begin this wonderful story of love and human suffering to-day. went on. " Betty, the heroine, is in the deuce of a quandary. She is tortured by her love for a man and love for her art. Between these two compelling forces, she makes her decision." , Sylvia drew a long breath. The plot was so near to her own story that it frightened her. for she did not want to make a choice between love and ambition. She wanted both — her Dick and her work! Aheady difficulties Wore crossing her path. Robert Nigel saw that she was worried, and he said: *'I hope you're not going to throw away the chance of your life !" " It might be difficult for me to leave at a minute's notice." "That's the penalty of fame, my dear," he interrupted. " A film star must be like a soldier, always ready for action when the word's given." " I understand. I'll not fail, Mr. Nigel." "That's good! I knew you'd plenty of grit," he answered, with a sigh of relief. " Your word's as good as your bond, that's why " He stopped himself. He longed to add, " You mean so much to me." The Other Girl. M KAN W HILE, Richard was doing his best to master the mysteries of the Emporium. " Them wretched rabbits eat too much grub," Bill grumbled. " It don't pay to keep them. Shouldn't mind if I sold 'em at a loss." Richard, who was attending to a row of cages, looked up, and said : "Can I do anything?" " There's a cove keeps an oil-shop at the corner of the' street. E's been in and 'ad several peeps at 'em. 'Op round and tell 'im I'd take four bob a piece for 'em." " Right '." said Richard. He was not sorry for a lit tie diversion. As he was sauntering back, he was overtaken by a motor-car, and a voice called out: " I was on my way to see ycu, Mr. Blake." Richard turned, and saw Pansy Vivian leaning out of her car. " Get in," she said, opening the door. " I'm coming along to the Emporium. I want to have a talk with you." Richard frowned. '" The proprietor, Mr. Graham, is in charge now. I'm only the assistant." Pansy laughed. Her laughter reminded Richard of the tinkle of a silver bell. " You do amuse me, Mr. Blake. I don't want to see the proprietor, as you call him. I want to see you." "That's very kind," Richard answered stonily. "I'm worried about Yum-Yum." In a moment, Richard's icy manner thawed. " He's not ill?" Pansy's face dimpled. She was delighted that she had discovered Richard's weakness. " He's sulky, and won't eat his food." " Do you want to return him?" Richard was unable to keep the eagerness out of his tones. "Indeed, no!" said .Pansy. "I simply worship the little dear ! I believe if he saw you sometimes it might make him happier. Was he your very own?" " Brought him back with me from the West Coast," answered Richard shortly. ' And you sold him to the proprietor of the shop?" Richard nodded. "Why?" " Purely a question of £ s. d., dear lady !" Pansy gave a little cry of horror. " You are disappointing ! I shouldn't have thought you were mercenary. Nothing in this wide world would make me sell anything 1 loved." " Heroics are enthralling when one is not hungry; they pale before a man's first natural instinct — the desire to live," said Richard. ".Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't realise — " she faltered. "Please say no more." Richard smiled. ' Give Yum-Yum a banana a day, plenty of Brazil nuts, and he'll regard you as the finest thing on earth !" And with this half-satirical comment, he moved away. "Don't go'." Pansy begged, "I'm net joking. 1 I'm really anxious about YumYum I'll bring him along occasionally." ' If it's any satisfaction to you, certainly," said Rionard. And, raising his cap, he went off. " I wiih she'd leave me alone," he thought angrily. Arbeit, Pansy fascinated and repelled hin:. He gauged her shallow personality, and yet her well-bred air of the world, the worid from which he had cut himself adrift, was pleasant to him. He was human enough to feel flattered that, in spite of the cut of his coat and his seefi-better-days appearance, she treated him as her equal. Richard had the surprise of his life when Pansy's motor-car stopped outside the Emporium the following morning. Bill walked out as she came into the shop. "I presume that's the proprietor?" she smiled. '" Yes — Mr. Graham," said Richard. Pansy reminded him of a gorgeous bird of Paradise. She was carrying Yum-Yum under her arm. He wore a gar!y embroidered velvet coat. Directly he caught sight of Richard, he broke away from her and jumped on to h;s shoulder, and put his arms around his neck, looking down defiantly upon the girl. "I couldn't resist bringing him along!'' she smiled. Richard was so taken with his old pet that he hardly heard what she was saying. After a slight pause, she added : " I hope you won't think me awfully rude, but the more I see of you the more I marvel at the reason why you should waste your life in these uncongenial surroundings." Richard regarded her for a few minutes without speaking, and then he answered: " I wonder, Miss Vivian, if you have eve; been told that the bump of curiosity is very strongly developed in you?" " Perhaps," she admitted good humouredly. " But I wish you'd try your hand at something better than this." " It's my own 'choice of a job," said Richard. Pansy shrugged her shoulders. " As I have said before, you're a mystery !"' "A rare species, like Yum-Yum ?" " he queried. " Possibly." Richard glanced at the clock, and Par.sy took the hint. " I am hindering you, Mr. Blake. Come along, Yum-Yum ! You've got to love me just as much as you love your master. I'll take care that he doesn't forget you !" she said, with a coquettish smile, that made Richard's heart beat violently. .And he said harshly: . " You oughtn't to come here. If your people knew, there'd be a row. I'm sure of it." . Richard, thinking of Sylvia, and desiring to be loyal to her, struggled to combat the fascinations with which this little butterfly was endeavouring to enslave him. " I have no people." she said quickly. "-I'm the last of my race." The next moment she had gone. But after this Pansy made a habit of dropping into the Emporium daily. Cnconsciouslv at first, Richard looked forward to the toot(Continued cn page 8 )