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242 WRITING A PLAY Ruth and Bill go through and later still Flanders follows, but he seems to be gaining on his quarry because these intervals become shorter. 12. We are close to the climax now. In fifty-seven Jack and Cort meet, Jack seems unable to shoot, and this leads to the natural intro- duction of the snake. Jack thinks it is a ruse on Cort's part to get an opportunity to jump in and wrest the gun from him. The audi- ence shares the belief for a moment. The spectator does not realize that the situation has been planned to fit the snake. It seems that the snake has been brought in merely to .build up the situation. We have the snake and the box is already there. We do not make Cort say: "Let us find a snake. Ah! Here is one. Are we not fortunate in finding one so quickly! Now we must have a box. Look by yonder bush. Again, how fortunate!" That sort of thing has no place in the properly written play. The box is there, apparently, not because we want it but because Cort brought it out from town to sit on. We saw him sitting on it back in thirty-four. The box and the snake appear to be used .because they are there. It is not made apparent that they are there because they are to be used. In the same way, when the test is ready the men blindfold themselves, ap- parently that they may avoid flinching when the snake comes out, but in reality to permit the snake to make its escape unperceived. iZ. Cutting back to the trail breaks the monotony of the wait and serves as well to increase speculation as to what will happen when Ruth comes up. Many in any audience will have decided by now that in the end Ruth will come, and will clear Cort, then Flanders will show up and kill Ruth, to be killed, in turn, by Jack. They have it all arranged. Now they are waiting for the end to come. The ending will be the more exciting because it is so different from the expected. 34. Busts are used in place of explanatory leaders because they explain much in detail without words. The splintered corner of the box tells how the snake got out. We do not show the snake escap- ing, for to do so and then leave the men sitting ,by the empty box woud have made the situation grotesque. The intense moments in drama and the high lights of comedy lie perilously close together. We permit it to be supposed to the end of the action that the snake is there. Then it is shown that a certain means of escape was used. The snake took the easiest exit just as no man will climb out of a house by way of the roof when the front door is open. 35. There are almost twice as many scenes in this part as in the first act, but most of the scenes are short and there is only one letter and about twenty-five feet of leader. There is room for more action, and since the scenes are mostly flashes more of them must be used. 36. From the finished continuity the synopsis is written. It is not equally divided between the two parts. Less space is taken for the first reel than the second because this part may be told in fewer