约翰叔叔向侄女们介绍了一位朋友——威纳先生。这位朋友的到来令侄女们惊诧不已，因为出人意料的是，他竟然就是昨天令侄女们入镜的电影制作人！贝丝和帕齐与威纳先生就电影制作问题展开了激烈的讨论，威纳先生的一番话令她俩思索良久。那么，威纳先生究竟说了些什么呢？
It was the following afternoon when Uncle John captured his casual acquaintance，Mr.Otis Werner，in the of？ce of the hotel and dragged the motion picture man away to his rooms to be introduced to his nieces.
"Here，my dears，is Mr.Werner，"he began，as hethrew open the door of their apartment and escorteda his companion in."He is one of those picture makers，you'll remember，and—and—"He paused abruptly，for Beth was staring at Mr.Werner with a frown on her usually placidb features，while Patsy was giggling hystericallyc.Mr.Werner，a twinkle of amusement in his eye，bowed with exaggerated deference.
"Dear me ！"said Uncle John."Is—is anything wrong！""No；it's all right，Uncle，"declared Patsy，striving tocontrol a fresh convulsiond of laughter."Only—this is the same dreadful manager who dragged us into his picture yesterday.""I beg your pardon，"said Mr.Werner；"I'm not amanager；I'm merely what is called in our profession a 'producer，'or a 'stage director.'""Well，you're the man，anyhow，"asserted Patsy."So what have you to say for yourself，sir ？""If you were annoyed，I humbly apologize，"he returned."Perhaps I was unintentionally rude to frighten you in thatway，but my excuse lies in our subserviencea to the demands of our art.We seldom hesitate at anything which tends to give our pictures the semblanceb of reality.""Art，did you say，Mr.Werner？"It was Beth who askedthis and there was a bit of a sneer in her tone.
"It is really art—art of the highest character，"he replied warmly."Do you question it，Miss—Miss—""Miss de Graf.I suppose，to be fair，I must admit that the photography is art；but the subjects of your pictures，I have observed，are far from artistic.Such a picture，for instance，as you made yesterday can have little value to anyone.""Little value ！Why，Miss de Graf，you astonish me，"he exclaimed."I consider that picture of the falling wall one of my greatest triumphs—and I've been making pictures for years.Aside from its realism，its emotional nature—'thrills，'we call it—this picture conveys a vivid lesson that ought to prove of great bene？t to humanity."Beth was looking at him curiously now.Patsy was serious and very attentive.As Uncle John asked his visitor to be seated his voice betrayed the interest he felt in the conversation.
"Of course we saw only a bit of the picture，"said PatsyDoyle."What was it all about，Mr.Werner ？""We try，"said he，slowly and impressively，as if in love with his theme，"to give to our pictures an educational value，as well as to render them entertaining.Some of them contain ahigh moral lesson；others，a warning；many，an incentivea to live purer and nobler lives.All of our plots are conceived with far more thought than you may suppose.Underlying many of our romances and tragedies are moral injunctions which are involuntarilyb absorbed by the observers，yet of so subtle a nature that they are not suspected.We cannot preach except by suggestion，for people go to our picture shows to be amused.If we hurled righteousnessc at them they would soon desert us，and we would be obliged to close up shop.""I must confess that this is，to me，a most novelpresentation of the subject，"said Beth，more graciously."Personally，I care little for your pictures；but I can understand how travel scenes and scientific or educational subjects might be of real bene？t to the people.""I can't understand anyone's being indifferent to the charm of motion pictures，"he responded，somewhat reproachfully.
