Snow Mountain, capped with ice all the year round and raising its proud crest high above its fellows, inspired the young people with awe. The crude and ramshackle buildings of Knockout Point seemed to them utterly out of place there, huddled at the base of the mountain and profaning the grandeur of the background.
“A wonderful spot for making pictures, Helen,” Ruth murmured finally. “I can scarcely wait until to-morrow!”
They returned about dinner time to Knockout Inn to find an ample, if very simple, meal awaiting them.
There in the big bare dining room the moving picture company met for the first time since landing. In response to Ruth’s questions it appeared that they were well satisfied with their new quarters (all save Joe Rumph, who merely glowered and said nothing) and that they were eager to start the work of rehearsing as soon as their youthful director gave the word.
But in spite of their friendly attitude toward her, Ruth had again the uneasy sense that she was on probation, that before she was whole-heartedly accepted by them she must prove her ability to film a picture such as “The Girl of Gold.”
“I’ll show them!” thought Ruth valiantly. “To-morrow I will begin to prove to them exactly what I can do!”
With this determination well fixed in her mind, Ruth resisted all efforts on the part of Tom and the others to persuade her to take an after-dinner stroll with them.
“I must go up and look over the script and the book again, so as to have the story well in mind when I start to hunt locations in the morning,” she told them. “From now on,” she added, with a smile, “something tells me I am going to be a very busy girl!”
“You are always that, Ruth Fielding!” sighed Helen. “Well, come on, boys; no use trying to change her mind!”
In the morning Ruth went out bright and early, getting up before any one else and leaving a note of explanation for Helen.