Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

Every Tuesday Edwards and one or two others tried to grab iiiiii, but while apparently having the same project in mind, the three Hook brothers kinged forward with one ac'ord. purposely missed Dave and fell sprawling at his enemiee' feet. Edwards and Blake and their hirelings trijjpetl over them, and the resulting con- fusion gave Dave a few precious seconds. He saw a couple of "plugs " swing past him at full gallop, a light buggy skid- ding and swerving through the dust be- hinil them—and he sprang towards tlie vehicle. He tumbled into it add scrambled to the driving-seat, plucking up the reins. There was pandemonium in the rear, and a volley of bullets zipped around him viciously, but not one of them hit him, and, laying on to the plugs, he drove them iieadlong out of the town. They swept up on to the trail that led westward, and the buggy swayed wildly from side to side as the horse.s stretched themselves in a break-away dash. Dave caught himself yelling at the top of his voice—yelling to encourage them—and they answered well. But, glancing over hi.s shoulder, he saw that some of the mob had secured their broncs and were galloping in pursuit. Then he caught .sigiit of Cloudy not more than a hvndred yards to the rear— Cloudy in Tarzan's saddle, and rapidly gaining on the buggy. A bend was turned, and dense thickets hid Dave from the puwuers. Looking back three or four seconds later he saw Tarzan and Cloudy career into view, and in less than half a minute the white pinto was pulling level with the buggy. Dave dropped the reins he was holding, and as Tarzan raced abreast of him he slung one leg over the pinto'-, back. Next instant 11 fugitives were strikii to the left through i thickets, leaving i two plugs to speed along the main ti with the buggy. When the pursu< swung round the bei thev followed ' i tracks of the wheels ' And in the meantime Dave and Cloudy pushed on through the chaparral till- t h e>- found themselves in a country of rolling hilK. in the iieart of which they discovered an abandoned homestead. The place seemed a liki'ly hide-out, and they pushed open the front door and entered, loading Tarzan after them. Here Dave pro- nounced himself con- tent to remain for as long as it should provr necessary, and, having settled himself comfort- ably ill a rickety chair. he began to sing light- hcartedly. Cloudy was by no means easy of mind, and it was with acute auxietv that he inter- rupted Dave as the latter was rendering an old-time Western ballad. "Say." he protested, " I'd be a good deal happier if you'd cut BOY'S CINEMA out that .squawkin". If you ain't care- ful. Dave Hayes, you'll be a corpse mighty soon, an' I don't want no lilies in my hand. I " Cloudy checked, for all at once he heard a sound that filled him with dread —the sound of hoofs clattering on to a stony slope—and in a moment he was at the window. '"A bunch o' horsemen." he panted, "an' they're headed this way. I bet that undertaker is at the bottom o' this. He's iiad his eye on me ever since we hit town." "Aw, forget it. Cloudy!" said Dave. "And listen—if this is a show-down we're going to barricade ourselves in that back room and get ready to shoot our way out. Come on !" He led the way through a door oppo- site the one by which they had entered, and. having passed into the back room with Tarzan. they proceeded to drag every piece of furniture available across the floor. Then they stood waiting with drawn guns. They heard the newcomers ride up to the shack, and they heard them troop into the front room. But in the very ne.\t moment they knew that the men had not come looking for them, for the familiar voice of Pop Williams made itself audible, and his first words re- vealed the purpose for which he and his companions were gathered there. "Folks," Pop announced, "it's taken a long time to find out who can actually be trusted in Bowden, but we all here are honestly fer Law and Order, and tl),it's whv this meetin' has been called. Now listen, I want to state that for a crowd of wise hombres we're the biggest bunch o' jackasses between here and Mexico. We've let our dumbness drive away the best friend we ever had, for, jest because this skunk Bowie shot off .his mouth, we sat around wall-eyed an' let the riff-raff chase the young Ranger outa town." There was a murmur from hie audience, which must have comprised almost half the male population of the town—a crowd typical of the Border, with Mex and Yankee intermingling in a common cause to stamp out crime. One of the Hook Brothers spoke. "Now look here, Pop," he protested, "that ain't fair. If one of us had in- terfered open-like, we'd been shot dead in our tr-icks " Standing on the other side of the door separating the two rooms, Dave had heaid enough, and now he rai.sed his voice and betrayed his presence there. 'Say," he. called, "is that meetin' of yours a private game, or can anyl)ody draw cards?" There was a tense silence, and then Pop gave an exclamation. "That was the Ranger," Dave heard him say. "I know his voice. Come on out. Ranger—you're among friends." Dave bad the door open in a few seconds, and, followed by Cloudy, he stepped into the front room amidst a volley of greetings. Then he addressed the crowd of citizens. (Continued on paee 27.) Edwards held the gun, but Dave's grasp was still on his wrist, and he forced the crook's arm outward and upward. September «th, 1930.