Jackson merely nodded as he scrambled into the priest's robe which the discom？ted Higgins resigned to him.Evidently the bunglinga actor was in disgrace，for he was told to go to the of？ce and get his pay and then "clear out."So now the procession was sent back into the passage and rearranged in proper order；the signal was given to begin and in an instant the camera renewed its clicking as the operator slowly revolved the handle that carried the long strip of film past the lenses.The musicians played，the girls danced，the procession slowly emerged from the passage.
This time it advanced properly and came to a halt just at the head of the staircase leading up to the entrance to the temple.
"Delilah ！"shouted the director，and now appeared abeautiful girl who made a low obeisanceb to the chief priest."Why—goodness me！"cried Patsy."It's—it's MaudStanton ！""Nonsense！"returned Arthur，sharply；and then he looked again and drew a long breath；for unless it were indeed the elder niece of Mrs.Montrose，there must be two girls in the world identically alike.
Mr.Werner settled the question by quietly remarking：
"Of course it's Maud Stanton.She's our bright，particular star，you know，and the public would resent it if she didn't appear as the heroinea of all our best pictures.""An actress！"exclaimed Arthur."I—I didn't know that.""She and her sister Flo are engaged by us regularly，"replied Werner，with an air of pride."They cost us a lot of money，as you may imagine，but we can't afford to let any competitor have them."If Arthur Weldon felt any chagrin at this，discovery it was not in the least shared by the others of his party.Beth was admiring the young girl's grace and dignity；Patsy was delighted by her loveliness in the ？eecy，picturesque bcostume she wore；Louise felt pride in the fact that she had been introduced to "a real actress，"while Uncle John wondered what adverse fortune had driven this beautiful，re？ned girl to pose before a motion picture camera.
They soon discovered Florence Stanton in the picture，too，among the dancing girls；so there could be no mistake of identity.Mrs.Montrose was not visible during the performance；but afterward，when Samson had pulled down the pillars of the temple and it had fallen in ruins，when the "show"was over and the actors trooping away to their dressing—rooms，then the visitors were ushered into the main of？ce of the establishment to meet Mr.Goldstein，the manager，and seated by the window was the aunt of the two girls，placidlyreading a book.She looked up with a smile as they entered."Did you see the play？"she asked."And isn't it grand andimpressive ？I hope you liked Maud's 'Delilah.'The poor child has worked so hard to create the character."They assured her the girl was perfect in her part，afterwhich Mr.Merrick added："I'm astonished you did not go out to see the play yourself."She laughed at his earnestness.
"It's an old story to me，"she replied，"for I have watched Maud rehearse her part many times.Also it is probable that some—if not all—of the scenes of 'Samson and Delilah'will be taken over and over，half a dozen times，before the director is satis？ed.""The performance seemed quite perfect to—day，"saidUncle John."I suppose，Mrs.Montrose，you do not—er—er—act，yourself ？""Oh.I have helped out，sometimes，when a matronlya personationb is required，but my regular duties keep me busily engaged in the of？ce.""May we ask what those duties are？"said Louise.
"I'm the reader of scenarios."
"Dear me！"exclaimed Patsy."I'm sure we don't know any more than we did before.""A 'scenario，'"said the lady，"is a description of theplot for a photo—play.It is in manuscript form and hundreds ofscenariosa are submitted to us from every part of the country，and by people in all walks of life.""I shouldn't think you could use so many，"said Beth.
