"My sister?"
"Yes, I have a daughter, as well as a son," went on Mr. Duncan. "I have found one, and now to find the other."
"Where is she?" cried Joe. "What is she like? Did I ever see her when we were both little?"
"Indeed you did, and when your mother died I left you with a family, who later disappeared. You must tell me your story, Joe, and how you found me. But now as to your sister.
"Most unexpectedly, after years of searching, I got word that she had been brought up in a minister"s family, and that lately she had gone as a missionary"s helper to China. I had long planned to take a sea voyage, and when I got this news I decided to go at once, and bring her back.
Then I was to renew my search for you.
"An agent in San Francisco told me of a vessel about to sail for Hong Kong, and I deserted my post at the lighthouse and sailed. I admit I did wrong in leaving so suddenly, but it seemed to be the best thing to do.
I did not want to be arrested as a wrecker even though I was innocent."
"I"ll forgive you," said Mr. Stanton, with a smile. "I"m so glad to learn you"re not one of them pesky wreckers."
And then began a long series of explanations, Mr. Duncan listening with interest to Joe"s story, and, in turn, telling how his vessel was wrecked, and how he and the others were picked up, only to be wrecked again, nearer home.
Joe"s father paused a moment and then said:
"But, son, tell me something of yourself. I"ve been doing all the talking, it seems. Are you really in this queer business of taking moving pictures?"
"That"s what I am, Dad--Blake and I. We"ve been in it some time, and we"re doing well. We hope to be in it some time longer, too. If it hadn"t been for these pictures I might never have found you."
"That"s so, Joe. After this I"ll never pa.s.s a moving picture theatre without thinking what it has done for me. It gave me back my boy!"
"Now I think you have talked enough, Mr. Duncan," said one of the women, coming up. "You had a much harder time of it than we did, and you must quiet down. You must have swallowed a lot of salt water."
"I guess I did--enough to preserve about a barrel of pickles," he admitted, with a smile. "I would be glad of a little rest. But you won"t leave me; will you, Joe?"
"No indeed, Dad. I"ve had enough trouble finding you to lose you now.
But you get a good rest. Blake and I have a lot to do yet. I want to get these latest films in shape to send off for development. I hope they came out good."
"I don"t see how they could--with the weather conditions what they were," remarked C. C. Piper, joining the group.
"Now that isn"t a nice thing to say," Miss Lee reminded him. "Why can"t you be cheerful?"
"Why, I"m not at all gloomy. I only said----"
"You tried to throw cold water on what the boys did," she reminded him.
"Water! Say, if anybody says water to me again to-day, I don"t know what I will do!" exclaimed Blake. "Shame on you, C. C.! You ought to be more careful."
"Oh, well, I didn"t mean anything. I guess those pictures will be all right--if the salt spray doesn"t spoil the celluloid," he added, as he moved off.
"You"re hopeless," declared Miss Lee. "I"ll never speak to you again."
The nonsensical talk served to raise the spirits of those who had been rather plunged in gloom ever since the wreck. Mr. Duncan was given a room to himself where he could be quiet and recover from the shock of having been so near death.
The moving picture boys found plenty to do. In addition to getting off to the developing studio the films they had taken that day, they had to prepare for a hard day"s work to follow, for, now that he had the wreck scene, Mr. Ringold declared that he needed some others to go with it to round out the drama of the sea that he had in mind when coming to the coast.
It may seem that it would not pay to go to such big expense to make a single films play, or even one or two, but I a.s.sure my readers that it is not uncommon for a concern to spend ten thousand dollars in making a single play, and some elaborate productions, such as Shakespearian plays, and historical dramas, will cost over fifty thousand dollars to get ready to be filmed.
Months are spent in preparation, rehearsals go on day after day, and finally the play itself is given, often not lasting more than an hour or half hour on the screen, yet representing many weary weeks of work, and the expenditure of large sums of money. Such is the moving picture business to-day.
The boys were kept busy nearly all the rest of that week, and then came a period of calm. Joe sought out his father, who had steadily gained in strength after his sensational rescue, and began to question him as to his experiences, for Mr. Duncan had only given a mere outline of his experiences up to this time.
"You must have had some strenuous adventures," said Blake, who went with his chum.
"I certainly did. But, according to Joe, here, they weren"t much more than what you boys went through with in New York, and getting those Indian films."
"That"s right; we did have a time," admitted Blake.
"Well, I"m glad I"ve got my boy, anyhow," went on the former lighthouse worker, with a fond glance at Joe. "Nothing is worse than to have folks, and not know where to find "em. I hungered and longed for Joe for days and nights, and now I have him. And I"m not going to lose him again, either, if I can help it," and he clasped his son"s hand warmly in his palm, while tears dimmed his eyes. Joe, too, was much affected.
"If you only had your daughter now, you"d be all right," said Blake, anxious to turn the subject.
"Yes, so I would. My poor little girl! We must locate her next, Joe."
"But what about my sister?" asked Joe. "Can we find her?"
"We"ll try, Joe, my boy!" exclaimed his father. "You and I together."
"Count me in!" cried Blake.
"I sure will," agreed Joe. "I wonder what will happen to us."
And what did, and how the two lads went on their new quest, will be related in the next volume of this series, to be ent.i.tled "The Moving Picture Boys in the Jungle; Or, Stirring Times Among the Wild Animals."
In it will be told of their adventures and you may learn whether or not they found Joe"s sister.
"Well, we got everything we came for," said Mr. Ringold, a few days later, when the shipwrecked ones had been sent to their homes with the exception of Mr. Duncan, who remained with Joe.
"Yes, all the dramas, and the storm and wreck as well," agreed Mr.
Hadley.
"But we"ll never have such good luck again," predicted C. C. Piper, with a return of his gloomy manner. "I know something will happen to us on our way back East."
"Oh, cheer up," urged Miss Lee; "the sun is shining."
"But it will rain to-morrow," declared the comedian, as he did some odd little dance steps.
Preparations for taking the theatrical company back East were made; but Joe, Blake and Mr. Duncan were uncertain about accompanying them. While Joe and his father were talking over their plans, Blake went to San Francisco on a vacation for a week.
But it was not much of a rest for him. While there he learned of a prize offered for the best moving picture of the fire department in action, and, though many operators tried, Blake"s film was regarded as the best. He "scooped" the others easily, and beat some of the most skillful men in the business.
But now, for a time, we will take leave of the moving picture boys.
THE END