"NO, MR. MEADOWLARK, I AM SORRY, I HAVE STILL NO LETTER FOR YOU..."
Flick! It"s gone! Flick, flick--it"s Madeline"s room again--what"s she doing?--writing a letter?--no, she"s quit writing--she"s tearing it up--
"I CANNOT WRITE.
IT WOULD BREAK THEIR ..."
Flick--missed it again! Break their something or other --Flick, flick!
Now it"s the farm again--oh, yes, that"s the young man John Holdfast--he"s got a valise in his hand--he must be going away--they"re shaking hands with him--he"s saying something--
"I WILL FIND HER FOR YOU IF I HAVE TO SEARCH ALL NEW YORK."
He"s off--there he goes through the gate--they"re waving good-bye--flick--it"s a railway depot--flick--it"s New York--say! That"s the Grand Central Depot! See the people buying tickets! My! isn"t it lifelike?--and there"s John--he"s got here all right--I hope he finds her room--
The picture changed--where is it now? Oh, yes, I see --Madeline and the Roo--outside a street entrance to some place--he"s trying to get her to come in--what"s that on the door? Oh, yes, DANCE HALL--Flick, flick!
Well, say, that must be the inside of the dance hall --they"re dancing--see, look, look, there"s one of the girls going to get up and dance on the table.
Flick! Darn it!--they"ve cut it off--it"s outside again --it"s Madeline and the Roo--she"s saying something to him--my! doesn"t she look proud--?
"I WILL DIE RATHER THAN DANCE."
Isn"t she splendid! Hear the audience applaud! Flick--it"s changed--it"s Madeline"s room again--that"s the landlady --doesn"t she look hard, eh? What"s this--Flick!
"IF YOU CANNOT PAY, YOU MUST LEAVE TO-NIGHT."
Flick, flick--it"s Madeline--she"s out in the street--it"s snowing--she"s sat down on a doorstep--say, see her face, isn"t it pathetic? There! They"ve put her face all by itself on the screen. See her eyes move! Flick, flick!
Who"s this? Where is it? Oh, yes, I get it--it"s John--at a police station--he"s questioning them--how grave they look, eh? Flick, flick!
"HAVE YOU SEEN A GIRL IN NEW YORK?"
I guess that"s what he asks them, eh? Flick, flick--
"NO, WE HAVE NOT."
Too bad--flick--it"s changed again--it"s Madeline on the doorstep--she"s fallen asleep--oh, say, look at that man coming near to her on tiptoes, and peeking at her--why, it"s Edward, it"s the Roo--but he doesn"t waken her--what does it mean? What"s he after? Flick, flick--
Hullo--what"s this?--it"s night--what"s this huge dark thing all steel, with great ropes against the sky--it"s Brooklyn Bridge--at midnight--there"s a woman on it!
It"s Madeline--see! see! She"s going to jump--stop her!
Stop her! Flick, flick--
Hullo! she didn"t jump after all--there she is again on the doorstep--asleep--how could she jump over Brooklyn Bridge and still be asleep? I don"t catch on--or, oh, yes, I do--she _dreamed_ it--I see now, that"s a great scheme, eh?--shows her _dream_--
The picture"s changed--what"s this place--a saloon, I guess--yes, there"s the bartender, mixing drinks--men talking at little tables--aren"t they a tough-looking lot?--see, that one"s got a revolver--why, it"s Edward the Roo--talking with two men--he"s giving them money--what"s this?--
"GIVE US A HUNDRED APIECE AND WE"LL DO IT."
It"s in the street again--Edward and one of the two toughs --they"ve got little black masks on--they"re sneaking up to Madeline where she sleeps--they"ve got a big motor drawn up beside them--look, they"ve grabbed hold of Madeline--they"re lifting her into the motor--help!
Stop! Aren"t there any police?--yes, yes, there"s a man who sees it--by Gee! It"s John, John Holdfast--grab them, John--pshaw! they"ve jumped into the motor, they"re off!
Where is it now?--oh, yes--it"s the police station again --that"s John, he"s telling them about it--he"s all out of breath--look, that head man, the big fellow, he"s giving orders--
"INSPECTOR FORDYCE, TAKE YOUR BIGGEST CAR AND TEN MEN.
IF YOU OVERTAKE THEM, SHOOT AND SHOOT TO KILL."
Hoorah! Isn"t it great--hurry! don"t lose a minute--see them all buckling on revolvers--get at it, boys, get at it! Don"t lose a second--
Look, look--it"s a motor--full speed down the street--look at the houses fly past--it"s the motor with the thugs--there it goes round the corner--it"s getting smaller, it"s getting smaller, but look, here comes another--my! it"s just flying--it"s full of police--there"s John in front--Flick!
Now it"s the first motor--it"s going over a bridge--it"s heading for the country--say, isn"t that car just flying --Flick, flick!
It"s the second motor--it"s crossing the bridge too--hurry, boys, make it go!--Flick, flick!
Out in the country--a country road--early daylight--see the wind in the trees! Notice the branches waving? Isn"t it natural?--whiz! Biff! There goes the motor--biff!
There goes the other one--right after it--hoorah!
The open road again--the first motor flying along! Hullo, what"s wrong? It"s slackened, it stops--hoorah! it"s broken down--there"s Madeline inside--there"s Edward the Roo! Say! isn"t he pale and desperate!
Hoorah! the police! the police! all ten of them in their big car--see them jumping out--see them pile into the thugs! Down with them! paste their heads off! Shoot them!
Kill them! isn"t it great--isn"t it educative--that"s the Roo--Edward--with John at his throat! Choke him, John! Throttle him! Hullo, it"s changed--they"re in the big motor--that"s the Roo with the handcuffs on him.
That"s Madeline--she"s unbound and she"s talking; say, isn"t she just real pretty when she smiles?
"YES, JOHN, I HAVE LEARNED THAT I WAS WRONG TO PUT MY ART BEFORE YOUR LOVE. I WILL MARRY YOU AS SOON AS YOU LIKE."
Flick, flick!
What pretty music! Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong! Isn"t it soft and sweet!--like wedding bells. Oh, I see, the man in the orchestra"s doing it with a little triangle and a stick--it"s a little church up in the country--see all the people lined up--oh! there"s Madeline! in a long white veil--isn"t she just sweet!--and John--
Flick, flack, flick, flack.
"BULGARIAN TROOPS ON THE MARCH."
What! Isn"t it over? Do they all go to Bulgaria? I don"t seem to understand. Anyway, I guess it"s all right to go now. Other people are going.
V. The Call of the Carburettor, or, Mr. Blinks and his Friends
"First get a motor in your own eye and then you will overlook more easily the motor in your brother"s eye."--Somewhere in the Bible.
"By all means let"s have a reception," said Mrs. Blinks.
"It"s the quickest and nicest way to meet our old friends again after all these years. And goodness knows this house is big enough for it"--she gave a glance as she spoke round the big reception-room of the Blinkses"
residence--"and these servants seem to understand things so perfectly it"s no trouble to us to give anything.
Only don"t let"s ask a whole lot of chattering young people that we don"t know; let"s have the older people, the ones that can talk about something really worth while."