“Have you seen Mr. Jones this evening?”

“No,” was the reply.  “Do you know him?”

“Very slightly.”

“Well, he’s the queerest guest we’ve ever had.  The first day he ate nothing at all.  This morning I hear he had a late breakfast.  Wasn’t around to lunch, but a little while ago we sent a meal to his room that would surprise you.”

“Indeed!”

“Yes.  A strange order it was!  Broiled mushrooms, pancakes with maple syrup and ice cream.  How is that for a mix-up—­and at dinner time, too!” said the clerk, disgustedly.

Arthur went back and reported.

“All right,” said Patsy, much relieved.  “We’ve got him started and now he can take care of himself.  Come, Uncle; let’s all go down town and see the picture that drove Mr. Goldstein crazy.”

“He was very decent to us to-day,” asserted Flo Stanton.

“Did he ask any explanation about Maud’s appearing in the picture of a rival company?” inquired Arthur.

“No, not a word.”

“Did he mention Mr. Jones, who conquered him so mysteriously?” asked Beth.

“Not at all.  Goldstein confined himself strictly to business; but he treated us with unusual courtesy,” explained Maud.

They were curious to see the films of the rescue, and the entire party rode to the down-town theatre where the Corona picture was being run.  Outside the entrance they found the audacious placard, worded just as Goldstein had reported, and they all agreed it was a mean trick to claim another firm’s star as their own.

“I do not think the Corona Company is responsible for this announcement,” said Uncle John.  “It is probably an idea of the theatre proprietor, who hoped to attract big business in that way.”

“He has succeeded,” grumbled Arthur, as he took his place at the end of a long line of ticket buyers.

The picture, as it flashed on the screen, positively thrilled them.  First was shown the crowd of merry bathers, with Patsy and Maud standing in the water a little apart from the others.  Then the boy—­far out beyond the rest—­threw up his arms, struggling desperately.  Maud swam swiftly toward him, Patsy making for the shore.  The launching of the boat, the race to rescue, Maud’s effort to keep the drowning one afloat, and the return to the shore, where an excited crowd surrounded them—­all was clearly shown in the picture.  Now they had the advantage of observing the expressions on the faces of the bathers when they discovered a tragedy was being enacted in their midst.  The photographs were so full of action that the participants now looked upon their adventure in a new light and regarded it far more seriously than before.

The picture concluded with the scene where Uncle John lifted the body into the automobile and dashed away with it to the hospital.

Maud Stanton, used as she was to seeing herself in motion pictures, was even more impressed than the others when observing her own actions at a time when she was wholly unconscious that a camera-man had his lens focused upon her.