PLATEAU OF THE PAGANS 401 



dogs, while the black boys continued their complaints 

 about the food and the fact that we were always mov- 

 ing westward, and I was not feehng exceptionally fit 

 myself. The morale of the crew w as hard to keep at 

 par, not due to any particular fault of theirs, but 

 because no human being could go through all we 

 had endured without feeling the strain both physically 

 and mentally. 



In addition to these things, I knew that another 

 battle awaited me across the Atlantic. There was no 

 way of knowing how the movie-going pubhc would 

 react to my completed picture. I only kncAv they 

 were fickle in selecting entertainment. If I could have 

 looked into the future and have know n I was to meet 

 Mr. Walter A. Futter, a motion picture producer of 

 New York and Hollywood, this phase of the problem 

 would have given me small concern, for his genius was 

 to manifest itself in the compiling of my material. 

 He was destined to be the first to see its dramatic and 

 thrilhng screen possibiKties, and by using his remark- 

 able knowledge of showmanship, he was to rearrange 

 a few sequences in such a way as to mold the whole 

 into a sensational film, without the building of thrills 

 in any w ay lessening its educational value. 



We had a difficult time getting started next morning, 

 the trucks having sunk into the deep sand, but finally 

 got them rolhng, and after a few miles in low gear, 

 ran on to hard ground, where once again we sailed 

 merrily onward in high. We were travehng over dried- 

 up swamp land, now an excellent road, but one which 

 would become a bottomless morass with the first 

 heavy rain. While speeding along, the leading truck 

 suddenly pitched into a soft spot up to the chassis. 



