Jennie whispered to the others: "Look at him! He draws and presents that card as though it were a sword at his enemy's throat! I hope he won't impale her upon it."
Ruth, much bewildered, and not a little troubled, accepted the card. On it was printed:
AMASA FARRINGTON
Criterion Films
"Goodness!" thought Ruth. "More moving picture people?"
"I had the happiness," stated Mr. Farrington, "of being present when the censors saw the first run of your eminently successful picture, 'The Heart of a Schoolgirl,' Miss Fielding, and through a mutual friend I learned where you were to be found. I may say that from your appearance on the screen I was enabled to recognize you just now."
Ruth said nothing, but waited for him to explain. There really did not seem to be anything she could say.
"I see in that film, Miss Fielding," pursued Mr. Farrington, "the promise of better work—in time, of course, in time. You are young yet. I believe you attend this boarding school?"
"Yes," said Ruth, simply.
"From the maturity of your treatment of the scenario I fancied you might be a teacher here at Briarwood," pursued the man, smirking. "But I find you a young person—extremely young, if I may be allowed the observation, to have written a scenario of the character of 'The Heart of a Schoolgirl.'"
"I wrote it," said Ruth, for she thought the remark was a question. "I had written one before."