年轻的琼斯先生面色苍白，拖着步子慢慢地走向大家。大家希望他留下来共进晚餐，他却害羞地说他很少在公共场合进餐，因为他的胃实在太虚弱，需要随餐服药。言谈之间，大家都感到他对生活充满了深深的绝望之情。
The girls intercepted Maud Stanton when she returned to the hotel that evening，and told her all about A.Jones.The tale was finished long before that dyspeptica youth had wakened from his slumbers.Then they all dressed for dinner and afterward met in the lobby，where Uncle John told them he had arranged to have a big round table prepared for the entire party，including a seat for A.Jones，who might like to join them.
However，the young man did not make his appearance，and as they trooped into the dining room Patsy said resentfully：
"I believe A.Jones is in a tranceb and needs rolling on a barrel again.""He probably found himself too weak to appear in public，"replied Flo Stanton."I'm sure if I had been all but drowned a few hours ago，I would prefer bed to society.""I'm astonished that he summoned energy to visit us at all，"declared Mrs.Montrose."He may be weak and ill，but at least he is grateful.""Jones seems a vary gentlemanly young fellow，"said Mr.
Merrick."He is a bit shy and retiring，which is perhaps due to his lonely life on his island；but I think he has been well brought up."As they came out from dinner they observed the porters wheeling several big trunks up the east corridor.The end ofeach trunk was lettered："A.Jones.""Well，"said Beth，with an amused smile，"he intends to stay a while，anyhow.You'll have a chance to meet him yet，Maud.""I'm glad of that，"answered Maud，"for I am anxiousto calculate the worth of the life I helped to save.Your reports are ambiguous，and I am undecided whether you are taking the boy seriously or as a joke.From your deion of his personal appearance，I incline to the belief that under ordinary circumstances I would not look twice at Mr.Jones，but having been partly instrumental in preserving him to the world，I naturally feel a proprietarya interest in him.""Of course，"said Flo."He's worth one look，out of purecuriosity；but it would be dreadful to have him tagging you around，expressing his everlasting gratitude.""I don't imagine he'll do that，"observed Patsy Doyle."A.Jones strikes me as having a fair intellect in a shipwrecked body，and I'll wager a hatpin against a glove—buttoner that he won't bore you.At the same time he may not interest you—or any of us—for long，unless he develops talents we have not discovered.I wonder why he doesn't use his whole name.That mystic 'A'puzzles me.""It's an English notion，I suppose，"said Mrs.Montrose.
"But he isn't English；he's American.""Sangoese，"corrected Beth.
"Perhaps he doesn't like his name，or is ashamed of it，"suggested Uncle John.
"It may be 'Absalom，'"said Flo."We once knew an actornamed Absalom，and he always called himself 'A.Judson Keith.'He was a dignified chap，and when we girls one day called him 'Ab，'he nearly had hysterics.""Mr.Werner had hystericsa to—day，"asserted Maud，gravely；"but I didn't blame him.He sent out a party to ride down a steep hill on horseback，as part of a ？lm story，and a bad accident resulted.One of the horses stepped in a gopher hole and fell，and a dozen others piled up on him，including their riders.""How dreadful ！"was the general exclamation.
"Several of the horses broke their legs and had to be shot，"continued Maud；"but none of the riders was seriously injured except little Sadie Martin，who was riding a broncob.The poor thing was caught under one of the animals and the doctor says she won't be able to work again for months.""Goodness me！And all for the sake of a picture ？"criedPatsy indignantly."I hope you don't take such risks，Maud.""No；Flo and I have graduated from what is called 'thebronco bunch，'and now do platform work entirely.To be sure we assume some minor risks in that，but nothing to compare with the other lines of business.""I hope the little girl you mentioned will get well，and hashyenough money to tide her over this trouble，"said Uncle John anxiously.
"The manager will look after her，"returned Mrs.
Montrose."Our people are very good about that and probably Sadie Martin's salary will continue regularly until she is able to work again.""Well，"said Beth，drawing a long breath，"I supposewe shall read all about it in the morning papers.""Oh，no！"exclaimed Maud and added："These accidents never get into the papers.They happen quite often，around Los Angeles，where ten thousand or more people make their living from motion pictures；but the public is protected from all knowledge of such disasters，which would detract from their pleasure in pictures and perhaps render all ？lms unpopular.""I thought the dear public loved the dare—devil acts，"remarked Arthur Weldon.
"Oh，it does，"agreed Mrs.Montrose；"yet those whoattend the picture theatres seem not to consider the action taking place before their eyes to be real.Here are pictures only—a sort of ampli？ed story book—and the spectators like them exciting；but if they stopped to reflect that men and women in the ？esh were required to do these dangerous feats for their entertainment，many would be too horri？ed to enjoy the scenes.Of course the makers of the pictures guard their actors in all possible ways；yet，even so，casualties are bound to occur."They had retired to a cozy corner of the public drawing room and were conversing on this interesting topic when they espied A.Jones walking toward them.The youth was attired in immaculatea evening dress，but his step was slow and dragging and his face pallidb.
Arthur and Uncle John drew up an easy chair for him while Patsy performed the introductions to Mrs.Montrose and her nieces.Very earnestly the boy grasped the hand of the young girl who had been chie？y responsible for his rescue，thanking her more by his manner than in his few carefully chosen words.
