RJ Crittenden

“I hollered too soon,” groaned Luck, when he had read it the second time, pushing back his hair distractedly.  “How the devil am I going to send him any positive prints at ten cents a foot or ten cents an inch or any other price?  Till I get that shipment of positive, I can’t fill any orders at all!  And until I begin to fill orders, I can’t realize on the film.  Can you beat that?  I’ll have to wire him to wait, and that’s two thousand dollars tied up!”

“Aw, gwan!” Happy Jack croaked argumentatively.  “Why don’t you send him what you took to the Convention?”

Luck stared at Happy stupefied before he said a word.  “Say, Miguel, you saddle your ridge-runner while I get ready to take this wire hack to town and send it off,” he snapped, preparing to write.  “Sure, I’ll send that set of prints!  Happy, you can go to the head of the class.  Now it’s only a case of sit tight till the money comes.  The prints are packed and in the bank vault, so I’ll just get them out and send them C.O.D. to Mr. Crittenden, along with the states rights contract.  How’s that for luck, boys?”

“Pretty good—­for Luck,” grinned Andy meaningly.  “Fly at it, you coming millionaire!”

“Just a case of sit tight, boys. Adios!" cried Luck jubilantly as he hurried away.

Once start along a smooth trail, and everything seems to conspire toward a pleasant trip.  To prove it, Luck found another telegram waiting for him in Albuquerque.  This was from Martinson, and might be interpreted as an apology more or less abject.  Certainly it was an urgent request that he return immediately to Los Angeles and to his old place at the Acme, and produce Western pictures under no supervision whatever.

Luck gave a little chuckle when he pocketed that message, but he did not send any answer.  He meant to wait and talk it over with the boys first.  “Better proposition than before,” Martinson said.  Well, perhaps it would be best to look into it; Luck was too experienced to believe that one success means permanent success; there are too many risks for the free lance to run when a single failure means financial annihilation.  If the Acme would come to his terms, it might be to his advantage to take his boys back and accept this peace-offering.  At any rate, he appreciated to the full the triumph they had scored.

Next, by some twist of the red tape in the Philadelphia express office,—­or perhaps R.J.  Crittenden was a good fellow and asked them to do it,—­the two thousand dollars came by wire, just three days after Luck had received notice that his shipment of positive film was being held for him at the express office in Albuquerque.  Also came other offers, mostly by wire, for states rights to The Phantom Herd. And when the Happy Family realized what those offers meant, they didn’t care how hard or how long Luck worked them in the little house which he had turned into a laboratory.