Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

Every Tuesday door of this place covered until I'm out- side the gate. If you so much as poke your head out, I'll plug you." Then he turned and ran. He grinned to himself a.s he sprinted across the yard in the darkness. No sound came from the surgery. The head guard had taken him at his word. Which was funny, in a way. Tommy was no fool. He wouldn't have pulled the trigger. He had tried a terrific bluff, and It had come off. He opened the gate in the wall—the gate that was used only by the officers at the school—and closed it after him. Then he streaked for the shed behind which the car was hidden. He could hear shouts behind him. Then the siren on top of the watch tower —the siren that was used to warn every- one of an attempt at escape—began to sound. A searchlight stabbed the dark- ness. Tommy ran on, and luck was with him. The searchlight just missed him as he sprinted round the end of the shed, hovered there for a minute, and swept on. Tommy found the car where Knuckles said it would be. He dived into it, and banged his foot on the starter. The next minute he was roaring down the road, headed for New York. There was a radio set on the dash- board, and Tommy turned it on and tuned into the police broadcasts. For a while there was nothing which interested him. then a voice began to say: " Calling all cars! Calling all cars! Be on the lookout for a boy who has escaped from the State Industrial School, heading south in a black saloon car! " That was all Tommy wanted to hear. He knew that before long the cops would be on his trail. He swung off the main highway, and bumped down a lane for a short way. Then he stopped and switched off all the lights. In the back of the car were some suits of clothes and some money. Quickly Tommy changed out of his reformatory uniform, thrust the money into his pocket, and struck out across open country on foot. The next morning he ducked into Heam's place. Spike, playing a game of pool with one of the boys, saw him come in. BOY'S CINEMA "Hallo, kid!" Spike said. "Where are the others?" "They couldn't make It." Tommy answered quickly. " Where's the boss?" "Right inside." Spike went acro.s.s and threw open the door of Hearn's office. "Say, boss, look who's here!" "Hiya, Hearn?" said Tommy, going in. "Tommy!" said Hearn, then saw that he was alone. "What happened?" "The head guard got wind of .some- thing," Tommy answered. "I guess we'll have to spring the others some other lime." Hearn looked worried. "But if they talk?" he said. Tommy shook his head. "They won't talk," he said. "They daren't. You're their only hope of get- ting out of that place. If they don't keep their traps shut, they'll stay in until they're released." Hearn thought for a moment, then nodded, satisfied with this answer. "How about that brother of yours?" he asked. Tommy looked scornful. , "Him!" he said. "He's all right where he is. He's got no guts, and he'll do exactly what he's told. Besides, I don't want anything to do with him. I went up there for a stretch for something he'd done, but did that help him keep his nose clean? Let him stay where he is for a time. It won't hurt him." Hearn looked at Tommy narrowly. "So you figure he's getting what was coming to him, eh?" he said. "What did he tell you?" "He said he was taking the rap for you." "Yeah?" "Yeah. It gave me a laugh. Imagine Eddie taking a rap for anybody. He must think I'm a sap.' Hearn began to laugh softly. He found himself rather liking Tommy. Tommy, he told himself, was going to be useful. "You've changed your mind quite a lot about things, haven't jou, son?' he said. "Well, and why not?" Tommy retorted. "As Knuckles once said, you don't get any younger in that dump. There's no per- centage in trying to play level when the law won't listen to you." Hearn and Spike exchanged glances. This was the kind of talk they understood. It was the kind of talk that got them plenty of new members for their gang. "You know, youngster," Hearn said in low voice. " there's quite a lot of per- 17 centage for (?uys that play on the level with me." "So I've heard," said Tommy. "And it's the way I like to see things." Hearn took up a cigar from his desk and put a match to it. All the time he was watching Tummy closely. " How are you for dough?" he asked after a while. "I could do with some," Tommy answered. "I had to .spend all I found in the car. I couldn't have got here otherwise." "All right. Now look. The boys are going to pull .something to-night. It's big, and it'll fix you up for some little time. After the job is over and you've had your pay-off. you're all going to Kansas City to lie low for a while. Do I count you in?" "You bet," Tommy answered eagerly. Spike moved up quietly behind Tommy and whisked something from hLs pocket. It was the gun he had taken from the head guard. "Seeing that you're new, and we don't want any mistakes, I'll take care of this until to-morrow," he said. Hearn held out his hand for the gun, and examined it interestedly. Then he let out a low whistle "A police special!" he exclaimed. "How come?" "I took it off the head guard." Tommy explained casually. " I had to. He wanted to stop me going." Hearn grinned admiringly. "You're doing all right for a beginner," he said. "You've got what it takes, son. The head guard! Wow! You and me are going to get along fine." Tommy eyed the gun wistfully, but knew that he dared not ask for it back. It was a pity. He had a feeling that he was going to need it before long. IN THE NIOHT AT about the time that Tommy was talking to Hearn, Doc Owens was sitting in his surgery, moodily smoking his pipe. He was thinking about Tommy. He had had g:-eat hopes of that kid. and at the moment he was feeling sadly disillusioned. He thought of the way others had helped him to reach his present position, and it was his aim in life to return the help to those who needed it. And Tommy had let him down. As he sat there the door suddenly opened and the head guard came in. On " Get back into the car !" Spike snapped. Help me with him, someone. You others hold those cops oH I " Octol- ) I'-t'i, 1J39.