Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

Every Tuesday "Hiya, everybody!" he said by way of greeting. Slieenan gave him a loolc, then turned to the otliers. " Take the boys and get lined up at the Red Cross hut," lie said. "We'll do the shots of the wounded next." Everybody hurried away, leaving: Shcenan and Earl Martin alone together. Sheenan led Earl Martin a little way off, thinking he had taken him out of hearing. But he had forgotten the microphone. It ■was still switched in, and the man at the control panel had turned on a small loudspeaker. "You've got an infernal nerve, Mai'tin," Shcenan said. "Why?" Earl Martin inquii'ed. "You know I don't want any part of you," Sheenan explained. "I wouldn't have sent for you if I hadn't been badly in need of a stunt pilot. But I never thought you'd come." Earl Martin shrugged and lit a cigarette. "I needed the job, " he said. "Besides, BOY'S CINEMA PURSUIT PLANE I^HE following day Tommy and Betty Lou got back to Three Point Airfield in the transport plane to find a bit of a row going on. Earl Martin was having an argument with Tex, the man whose job it was to flag all arrivals and departures. Tommy didn't take any notice. He hurried away to enter up his flight report. But Betty Lou walked over. " Listen, I'm only doing my job, mister," Tex was saying. "And my orders are to have all planes checked over before they leave this field." Earl Martin laughed contemptuously. "I suppose you're going to tell me there's something wrong with my ship," he said. " Something wrong with it!" Tex sounded sarcastic. "Oh, no, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just going to fall to pieces any minute, that's all ' Earl Martin flushed angrily. Earl Martin saw her looking at it, and forgot all about Tex. Betty Lou was easy to look at, and Martin liked them that way. "Hallo! " he said. Betty Lou turned and smiled at him. "Hallo!" she responded. "I heard that there was a genuine Allied pursuit plane on the field.' "That's right—and this is it." There was a touch of pride in Earl Martin's voice. "It was flown by Bishop. He shot down more than sixty enemy ships with it." ■Sixty?" "That's correct—sixty. Look!^ He led her to where she could see into the cock- pit, and pointed to a number of notches which had been hacked in the instrument panel with a penknife. "That's where he kept his record." Betty Lou looked at the battered old machine admiringly. ' Then this is the real thing'' she said, awe in her voice Absolutelv gilt-edged, one hundred per cent authentic' Mai tin took her by the arm ' Get into it. Sit in the seat of the mighty Betty Lou found herself obevmg him. He jumped in after her and dug up a helmet from .somewhere "Here, put tlii<= on,' he said ' In a few minutes we'll be flying through those high clouds up there Betty Lou began to look alarmed ' Oh, but I couldn't, she said 'Couldn't what' Couldn t fo'Iov/ in the trail of the immortals'' Couldn't fly w.th Ibe great Maitin'^ Of course you culd ' He leaned out and called to a Paul found Tommy working on a contraption that looked like a machine gun I thought you were through being mad at me." "1*11 never be through -vi-ith it." Sheenan's voice sounded grim and bitter. "And some day, when you wake up in a handful of clouds, you'll find my auto- graph on them." Earl Martin laughed. "I'm scared," he mocked. "Maybe I ought to be getting back to Hollywood. " "■You'll go back to Hollywood when you've finished what you came to do," Sheenan snapped. "Not before." "Okay," said Earl Martin. "And maybe not even then," Sheenan muttered, turned his back, and walked over to where the others were getting ready for the next shot. Earl Martin just laughed. "Do you know what ihis plane is'' he asked. "Yeah. A wreck.' "It was flown b^ Bishop, the great English ace, in the last war. It's got a past." "Sure it has. But it ain't got no future unless it goes into the workshops for a general overhaul. " Tex raised his hand as Earl Martin started to protest. '-Now don't argue, mister. I'm reporting the matter to Paul Smith. Take the matter up with him." And before Earl Martin could say any more, Tex strode away. Bettv Lou hadn't heard that part about the plane being ready to fall to pieces. She was too interested in the machine itself. passing mechanic. "Hey, Bill, turn the prop over, 'U'ill you?" "Sure," came the answer. "Switch off?" "Switch off." The man swung the propeller two or three times in order to fill the cylinders with a rich petrol mixture. Then Martin switched on, and the man swung hard. The engine coughed, then settled dov/n to a steady roar. "Here we go!'' shouted Martin, and pushed open the throttle. Tommy, filling in his report, looked up at the sound of the engine. Tex came October Ktii, iy.33.