/0/9253/coverbig.jpg?v=a57c423e89bcbf260d84f58bb4c353a8)
Ruth, Helen, and Tom watch a moving picture company film scenes near the Red Mill. As they watch, the starring actress, Hazel Gray, falls into the river and is swept downstream. Ruth and her friends rescue Miss Gray and take her to the Red Mill to recover. The next day, Ruth meets the producer, Mr. Hammond, who promises to read Ruth's scenario when she impulsively confides that she is planning to write one. Soon after the friends return to school, the East Dormitory burns and is a complete loss. All of the girls housed in that building, including Ruth and her friends, lose all of their possessions. It is soon learned that Dr. Tellingham allowed the insurance to lapse, and there is no money to rebuild the dormitory. In the meantime, Ruth submits her scenario to Mr. Hammond and is thrilled when he accepts it. After her scenario is accepted, Ruth gets a wonderful idea about how she can help the school raise money to rebuild the dormitory. In the Italian garden scenes, the seniors and juniors were used. Ruth calls a meeting of all of the students and suggests her idea of writing a moving picture scenario that will be filmed on the campus. The proceeds from the film would go towards rebuilding the dormitory. In this way, all of the girls would contribute to the fund, since they would be the extras in the film. This idea is met with enthusiasm, and Ruth soon gains Mr. Hammond's approval.
"What in the world are those people up to?"
Ruth Fielding's clear voice asked the question of her chum, Helen Cameron, and her chum's twin-brother, Tom. She turned from the barberry bush she had just cleared of fruit and, standing on the high bank by the roadside, gazed across the rolling fields to the Lumano River.
"What people?" asked Helen, turning deliberately in the automobile seat to look in the direction indicated by Ruth.
"Where? People?" joined in Tom, who was tinkering with the mechanism of the automobile and had a smudge of grease across his face.
"Right over the fields yonder," Ruth explained, carefully balancing the pail of berries. "Can't you see them, Helen?"
"No-o," confessed her chum, who was not looking at all where Ruth pointed.
"Where are your eyes?" Ruth cried sharply.
"Nell is too lazy to stand up and look," laughed Tom. "I see them. Why! there's quite a bunch-and they're running."
"Where? Where?" Helen now demanded, rising to look.
"Oh, goosy!" laughed Ruth, in some vexation. "Right ahead. Surely you can see them now?"
"Oh," drawled Tom, "sis wouldn't see a meteor if it fell into her lap."
"I guess that's right, Tommy," responded his twin, in some scorn. "Neither would you. Your knowledge of the heavenly bodies is very small indeed, I fear. What do they teach you at Seven Oaks?"
"Not much about anything celestial, I guarantee," said Ruth, slyly. "Oh! there those folks go again."
"Goodness me!" gasped Helen. "Where are these wonderful persons? Oh! I see them now."
"Whom do you suppose they are chasing?" demanded Tom Cameron. "Or, who is chasing them?"
"That's it, Tommy," scoffed his sister. "I understand you have taken up navigation with the other branches of higher mathematics at Seven Oaks; and now you want to trouble Ruth and me with conundrums.
"Are we soothsayers, that we should be able to explain, off-hand," pursued Helen, "the actions of such a crazy crowd of people as those--Do look there! that woman jumped right down that sandbank. Did you ever?"
"And there goes another!" Ruth exclaimed.
"Likewise a third," came from Tom, who was quite as much puzzled as were the girls.
"One after the other-just like Brown's cows," giggled Helen. "Isn't that funny?"
"It's like one of those chases in the moving pictures," suggested Tom.
"Why, of course!" Ruth cried, relieved at once. "That's exactly what it is," and she scrambled down the bank with the pail of barberries.
"What is what?" asked her chum.
"Moving pictures," Ruth said confidently. "That is, it will be a film in time. They are making a picture over yonder. I can see the camera-man off at one side, turning the crank."
"Cracky!" exclaimed Tom, grinning, "I thought that was a fellow with a hand-organ, and I was looking for the monkey."
"Monkey, yourself," cried his sister, gaily.
"Didn't know but that he was playing for those 'crazy creeters'-as your Aunt Alvirah would call them, Ruthie-to dance by," went on Tom. "Come on! I've got this thing fixed up so it will hobble along a little farther. Let's take the lane there and go down by the river road, and see what it's all about."
"Good idea, Tommy-boy," agreed Ruth, as she got into the tonneau and sat down beside Helen.
"Fancy! taking moving pictures out in the open in mid-winter," Helen remarked. "Although this is a warm day."
"And no snow on the ground," chimed in Ruth. "Uncle Jabez was saying last evening that he doesn't remember another such open winter along the Lumano."
"Say, Ruthie, how does your Uncle Jabez treat you, now that you are a bloated capitalist?" asked Helen, pinching her chum's arm.
"Oh, Helen! don't," objected Ruth. "I don't feel puffed up at all-only vastly satisfied and content."
"Hear her! who wouldn't?" demanded Tom. "Five thousand dollars in bank-and all you did was to use your wits to get it. We had just as good a chance as you did to discover that necklace and cause the arrest of the old Gypsy," and the young fellow laughed, his black eyes twinkling.
"I never shall feel as though the reward should all have been mine," Ruth said, as Tom prepared to start the car.
"Pooh! I'd never worry over the possession of so much money," said Helen. "Not I! What does it matter how you got it? But you don't tell us what your Uncle Jabez thinks about it."
"I can't," responded Ruth, demurely.
"Why not?"
"Because Uncle Jabez has expressed no opinion-beyond his usual grunt. It doesn't really matter how the dear man feels," pursued Ruth Fielding, earnestly. "I know how I feel about it. I am no longer a 'charity child'--"
"Oh, Ruthie! you never were that," Helen hastened to say.
"Oh, yes I was. When I first came to the Red Mill you know Uncle Jabez only took me in because I was a relative and he felt that he had to."
"But you helped save him a lot of money," cried Helen. "And there was that Tintacker Mine business. If you hadn't chanced to find The Fox's brother out there in the wilds of Montana, and nursed him back to health, your uncle would never have made a penny in that investment."
Helen might have gone on with continued vehemence, had not Ruth stopped her by saying:
"That makes no difference in my feelings, my dear. Each quarter Uncle Jabez has had to pay out a lot of money to Mrs. Tellingham for my tuition. And he has clothed me, and let me spend money going about with you 'richer folks,'" and Ruth laughed rather ruefully. "I feel that I should not have allowed him to do it. I should have remained at the Red Mill and helped Aunt Alvirah--"
"Pooh! Nonsense!" ejaculated Tom, as the spark ignited and the engine began to rumble.
"You shouldn't be so popular, Ruth Fielding of the Red Mill," chanted Helen, leaning over to kiss her chum's flushed cheek.
"Look out for the barberries!" cried Ruth.
"I reckon you don't want to spill them, after working so hard to get them," Tom said, as the automobile lurched forward.
"I certainly do not," Ruth admitted. "I scratched my hands all up getting the bucket full. Just fancy finding barberries still clinging to the bushes in such quantities this time of the year."
"What good are they?" queried Helen, selecting one gingerly and putting it into her mouth.
"Oh! Aunt Alvirah makes the loveliest pies of them-with huckleberries, you know. Half and half."
"Where'll you find huckleberries this time of year?" scoffed Tom. "On the bushes too?"
"In glass jars down cellar, sir," replied Ruth, smartly. "I did help pick those and put them up last summer, in spite of all the running around we did."
"Beg pardon, Miss Fielding," said Tom. "Go on. Tell us some more recipes. Makes my mouth water."
"O-o-oh! so will these barberries!" exclaimed Helen, making a wry face. "Just taste one, Tommy."
"Many, many thanks! Good-night!" ejaculated her brother, "I know better. But those barberries properly prepared with sugar make a mighty nice drink in summer. Our Babette makes barberry syrup, you know."
"Ugh! It doesn't taste like these," complained his sister. "Oh, folks! there are those foolish actors again."
"Now what are they about?" demanded Ruth.
"Look out that you don't bring the car into the focus of the camera, Tom," his sister warned him. "It will make them awfully mad."
"Don't fret. I have no desire to appear in a movie," laughed Tom.
"But I think I would like to," said his sister. "Wouldn't you, Ruth?"
"I-I don't know. It must be awfully interesting--"
"Pooh!" scoffed Tom. "What will you girls get into your heads next? And they don't let girls like you play in movies, anyway."
"Oh, yes, they do!" cried his sister. "Some of the greatest stars in the film firmament are nothing more than schoolgirls. They have what they call 'film charm.'"
"Think you've got any of that commodity?" demanded Tom, with cheerful impudence.
"I don't know--Oh, Ruth, look at that girl! Now, Tommy, see there! That girl isn't a day older than we."
"Too far away to make sure," said Tom, slowly. Then, the next moment, he ejaculated: "What under the sun is she doing? Why! she'll fall off that tree-trunk, the silly thing!"
The slender girl who had attracted their attention had, at the command of the director of the picture, scrambled up a leaning sycamore tree which overhung the stream at a sharp angle. The girl swayed upon the bare trunk, balancing herself prettily, and glanced back over her shoulder.
Tom had brought the car to a stop. When the engine was shut off they could hear the director's commands:
"That's it, Hazel. Keep that pose. Got your focus, Carroll?" he called to the camera man. "Now-ready! Register fear, Miss Hazel. Say! act as though you meant it! Register fear, I say-just as though you expected to fall into the water the next moment. Oh, piffle! Not at all like it! not at all like it!"
He was a dreadfully noisy, pugnacious man. Finally the girl said:
"If you think I am not scared, Mr. Grimes, you are very much mistaken. I am. I expect to slip off here any moment-Oh!"
The last was a shriek of alarm. What she was afraid would happen came to pass like a flash. Her foot slipped, she lost her balance, and the next instant was precipitated into the river!
* * *
Ruth Fielding in the Great Northwest by Alice B. Emerson
Alice B. Emerson was a pseudonym used by a number of writers hired by the conglomerate Stratemeyer Syndicat to make popular kids books, especially for young girls. These include the Beth Gordon and Ruth Fielding series.
Alice B. Emerson was a pseudonym used by a number of writers hired by the conglomerate Stratemeyer Syndicat to make popular kids books, especially for young girls. These include the Beth Gordon and Ruth Fielding series.
Ruth and Helen eagerly await the arrival of Jane Ann Hicks, who is to attend Briarwood Hall this year. The girls experience a great deal of worry when they learn that Jane's train has been wrecked. Jane is fine, but a boy named Jerry Sheming has been hurt. Jerry is taken to the Red Mill where Aunt Alvirah and Ruth care for him. Jerry reveals that he used to live on Cliff Island, but his uncle was cheated out of his land. His uncle lost his treasure box in a landslide, and with it, the papers needed to prove his claim to the island. Uncle Pete lost his mind and entered an insane asylum, and Jerry was forced to leave. Jerry hopes to someday find the treasure box and prove his uncle's claim. Ruth and her friends leave for Briarwood Hall, and Jerry stays behind at the Red Mill. The girls do their best to make Jane Ann fit in and try to keep her from being hazed as a new girl. Unfortunately, Jane Ann has much trouble fitting in with the other girls until she uses her lassoing technique in a rescue. Things gradually get better for Jane. She shot over the yawning edge of the chasm and disappeared. After a time, the girls are invited to Cliff Island for Christmas by Belle Tingley, whose father has purchased the island. Ruth is certain that Mr. Tingley did nothing to cheat Jerry's Uncle Pete, but the man who sold him the island must have cheated Jerry's uncle. Ruth sends word to Jerry to travel to the island and arranges for Mr. Tingley to give him a job. Later, Jerry is ordered arrested by the real estate man and is forced to hide in a cave. Ruth and her friends search the island for some sign of Uncle Pete's treasure chest. In time, the truth is discovered, Jerry is reunited with his uncle, and Ruth and her friends return home after a happy vacation.
22-year-old Evelyn Carter is attempting to start over in California while avoiding her past. She will be embarking on a new career path as a private school teacher. She is smart, attractive, and doesn't put up with nonsense. Who wouldn't notice her? However, what happens when she attracts the attention of someone unwilling to let her go? Who wants her and nothing else after falling in love at first sight? A 25-year-old billionaire CEO and single father, Lucian Carrington. He takes what he wants and he is also a very dangerous man. All it needed was one look at a stunning woman to realize she was HIS, even though he doesn't believe in relationships because they always end. Preview: Miss Carter, you will be mine. I say firmly. "Release my arm, Mr. Carrington, before I force you to." She says, seeming to smile at me. I give her a sly smile. Squeezing my wrist with her other hand, she twists it uncomfortably. I gave a painful hiss. "Don't underestimate me, Mr. Carrington." "This is the only time I will allow you to walk away from me, Miss Carter." She glared at me as she turned. "Mr. Carrington, I am no possession of yours." I was left standing there when she opened the classroom door and left.
The day Raina gave birth should have been the happiest of her life. Instead, it became her worst nightmare. Moments after delivering their twins, Alexander shattered her heart-divorcing her and forcing her to sign away custody of their son, Liam. With nothing but betrayal and heartbreak to her name, Raina disappeared, raising their daughter, Ava, on her own.Years later, fate comes knocking when Liam falls gravely ill. Desperate to save his son, Alexander is forced to seek out the one person he once cast aside. Alexander finds himself face to face with the woman he underestimated, pleading for a second chance-not just for himself, but for their son. But Raina is no longer the same broken woman who once loved him.No longer the woman he left behind. She has carved out a new life-one built on strength, wealth, and a long-buried legacy she expected to uncover.Raina has spent years learning to live without him.The question is... Will she risk reopening old wounds to save the son she never got to love? or has Alexander lost her forever?
Janet was adopted when she was a kid -- a dream come true for orphans. However, her life was anything but happy. Her adoptive mother taunted and bullied her all her life. Janet got the love and affection of a parent from the old maid who raised her. Unfortunately, the old woman fell ill, and Janet had to marry a worthless man in place of her parents' biological daughter to meet the maid's medical expenses. Could this be a Cinderella's tale? But the man was far from a prince, except for his handsome appearance. Ethan was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family who lived a reckless life and barely made ends meet. He got married to fulfill his mother's last wish. However, on his wedding night, he had an inkling that his wife was different from what he had heard about her. Fate had united the two people with deep secrets. Was Ethan truly the man we thought he was? Surprisingly, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the impenetrable wealthiest man in the city. Would he find out that Janet married him in place of her sister? Would their marriage be a romantic tale or an utter disaster? Read on to unravel Janet and Ethan's journey.
Anabel found out she was pregnant and dialed her husband's number to share the good news to him. They have been married for two years without a child. Desmond's mother had been accusing her of being barren and unproductive. When the call was picked, she was flabbergasted and broken. She was hearing a loud moan of feminine voice. "Ohh! Yeah! Don't stop fucking me! Fuck me harder baby!" accompanied with sound of skins slapping against the other. She went home to confront her husband and end up receiving a divorce paper. Desmond divorced him for a lady his mother was rooting. Few months later when he found out that his ex-wife is a billionaire heiress and she is pregnant with twins, he went crazy!
In the previous life, Maggie Johnson was so cowardly, gullible and stupid that she was coaxed by her fiance and stepsister and then broke her legs and lost everything including her fortune, love and even life. However, she was so lucky that she was reborn in the year before everything happened. Since her life restarted, how could she repeat a previous tragedy? Therefore, in this life, she took the opportunity to improve herself and take revenge on the ones who had ever insulted her. Facing the people who had humiliated her previously, she became smart and experienced to break their frames and tricks that had caused her to hurt in the previous life. Finally, no one could stop her pace to amaze the world any more.
Iris grew from an orphaned child to the adopted daughter of the Stewart family at age ten, finding warmth in her nominal uncle Vincent's kindness. Seven years later, she became his secret lover. When Vincent's engagement was announced, gossip spread about the notorious playboy CEO finally settling down. But only Iris knew the extent of his cold, two-faced nature. Iris fell for Vincent and, through tears, begged, "Marry me," only to be met with his frosty refusal. Defeated, she accepted a lawyer's proposal, sparking public excitement. Then, on her wedding day, Vincent pleaded desperately, "Don't marry him…"