"Oh! Oh!" she screamed as the beast put out his red tongue. "Help! A bear! A bear!" and she slammed her door shut with such energy that she knocked a picture from the wall. Ruth shot home the bolt, and then, in a frenzy of fear, pulled the washstand against the door.
"What is it? Oh, what is it?" cried Alice from her apartment across the corridor. "What is it, Ruth?" for she had heard her sister"s frantic appeal, though not catching the words.
"Don"t open your door! Don"t open you door!" begged Ruth. "There"s a bear in the hall!"
"A bear?"
"Yes, a great big one!"
But in spite of this Alice did open her door a little. She closed it quickly enough, however, at the sight of the s.h.a.ggy brown creature and, pounding on the door of her father"s room, which connected with hers, she cried;
"Daddy, get help, quick! There"s a bear in the hall!"
There was a speaking tube from the actor"s apartment to the hotel office, and he was soon transferring his daughter"s message down this.
Meanwhile Mr. Sneed, coming out of his room from the lower end of the hall, encountered the beast, and turned back with a yell. He nearly collided with Mr. Towne, who was at that moment coming out of his room, faultlessly attired, even to a heavy walking stick.
"Look out!" cried Mr. Sneed, racing along.
"What is it?" asked Mr. Towne.
"A bear. Look out! Here he comes!"
And, in fact, the bear was shuffling down the hall, his head lolling from side to side, and his red tongue hanging out.
Either Mr. Towne did not hear what Mr. Sneed said, or he was so surprised that he did not think to run, for he stood there and, a moment later, the big beast confronted him. Stretching out his paw the animal took from the nerveless hands of the actor the heavy walking stick, and, shouldering it, began to march around in a circle.
Then the hotel proprietor, having been alarmed by Mr. DeVere, came up on the run. As soon as he saw the bear marching around he broke into a laugh.
"That"s a trained bear!" he exclaimed. "It belongs to that Italian who stopped here last night. I made him chain the brute out in the wagon shed, but I guess he got loose. That bear won"t hurt you. I"ve seen him before. Tony, the Italian who owns him, often stops here with him when he"s traveling around giving exhibitions. He"s real gentle. Down, Bruno!" commanded the hotel man, and the bear, with a grunt, dropped on all fours.
Alice, hearing this talk, opened her door, and then called to Ruth that there was no danger. Mr. Sneed was induced to return, and when Tony himself came to get his escaped pet Mr. Towne"s cane was returned to him. The bear had taken it for the pole he was used to performing with.
"You want to chain your bear up tighter, Tony," chided the hotel man as the Italian led Bruno away.
"Ah, yes. Bruno, he ees a very bad-a-de bear! I wheep heem for dese."
"Oh, don"t!" pleaded Alice. "He didn"t mean anything wrong."
"No, mees, but he very bad, just-a de same. He make-a you to be a-skeert."
"Oh, it"s all over now," declared Ruth, who ventured out, seeing that the bear was in leash. "But I _was_ frightened for a moment."
"I don"t blame you," said Paul, as he heard what had happened. "Rather an unusual morning caller, Ruth."
"Say! I"ve got an idea!" cried Mr. Pertell, who had come out by this time. "We"ll have a film with the bear in it. A sort of Little Red Riding Hood story for children. Something simple, but it will be great to have a real bear in it. Tony, will you let us use Bruno?"
"Of a course, Signor. I make up for de scare. Bruno he do-a just-a whatever you tell. He very good-a bear--sometimes!" and he shrugged his shoulders, philosophically.
"Very well, then, we"ll wait over another train, and I"ll get up some little scenario with a bear in it. Mr. Sneed, you will take the part of the bear"s keeper, and Miss Alice----"
"No, sir!" cried Mr. Sneed. "No bears for me. I won"t act with one. Why, he"d claw me to pieces!"
"Ah, no, Signor!" interrupted Tony. "Bruno he very gentle just-a like-a de little babe. He no hurt-a you, Signor."
"Well, I"m not going to take any chances," declared the "grouch." "This is too dangerous."
"Ha! I am not afraid!" cried Mr. Switzer. "I vill act mit der bear alretty yet," and to prove that he was not afraid he fed the big animal some pretzels, without which the German actor seldom went abroad.
And, a little later, Russ made a film, in which the bear was one of the central figures. Alice took part in it, and the simple little play made quite a hit when shown.
"You seem to have the happy faculty of making use of everything that comes your way--accidentally or not," remarked Mr. DeVere to Mr.
Pertell, when the company was once more under way in the train.
"You have to in the moving picture business," chuckled Mr. Pertell.
"That"s the secret of success. You never can tell when something will go wrong with a play you have planned carefully and rehea.r.s.ed well. So you must be ready to take advantage of every change in situation. Also, you must be ready to seize on every opportunity that comes your way."
"You certainly seized on that bear," agreed Mr. DeVere.
"I"m glad he wasn"t a wild one," went on the manager. "I am sorry your daughters were frightened----"
"Oh, pray do not mention it," the actor said. "They are getting used to strange experiences in this moving picture work."
"And I want to tell you they are doing most excellently," the manager went on. "I have had many actresses of experience who could not do half as well as Miss Ruth and Miss Alice. I congratulate you!"
Little of moment occurred during the rest of the trip; that is, until the next stopping place was reached. This was at a place in Kansas where Mr. Pertell planned to have some farming operations shown as a background to a certain part in the big drama.
On the way a careful watch had been kept for the appearance of the spies, or camera operators, of the International company, but no trace of them had been seen.
There were no hotels in Fostoria, where the Kansas stop was made, and the company was accommodated at two farmhouses close together. A number of scenes were to be made, with these houses and outbuildings figuring in them.
"Isn"t it nice here?" asked Alice as she and Ruth were in their room on the morning after their arrival, getting ready for breakfast.
"It does seem so," agreed the older girl, as she leaned over with her hair hanging in front of her while she combed it out.
"Such wide, open s.p.a.ces," went on Alice. "Plenty of fresh air here."
"Too much!" laughed Ruth. "Grab that waist of mine; will you, Alice?
It"s going out of the window on the breeze."
Alice was just in time to prevent the garment from fluttering out of the room, for the breeze was certainly strong.
As the younger girl turned back to hand her sister the waist she exclaimed:
"Oh, what a queer looking cloud! And what a funny yellow light there is, all about. Look, Ruth."
"Isn"t it?" agreed Ruth, as she coiled her hair on top of her head. "It looks like a storm."