Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

22 wero now moving by with tlio limp figure of a white man in their arms. Knowing wliat they did of the Zarbcssa, the spectacle made the blood of the sailors run hot in their veins, and their mood instantly changed. A second before they had beer, prepared to lie low and allow the savages to pass with- out hindrance, but now they were of a very different mind. "Say, arc we goin' to let them get away with this," Collins demanded, "or are we gonna rescue that feller from their clutches?" "You bet we arc," said Briney. "Come on, boys, after 'cm !" The sailors were outnumbered, but the revolvers with which they were armed gave them an advantage that balanced the odds, and "without hesitation they sprang to their feet. The Zarbessa and their captive had proceeded along the other track, and those in the rear were thirty paces away when Briney and his shipmates reached tlie fork. Briney uttered a stentorian bellow that brought the blacks to a standstill. They wheeled, and raised a fierce outcry at tile sight of the white men. The savages were armed, but in tak- ing their prisoner had refrained from using any weapons,' for their creed de- manded that the victim should be biouglit to their gods alive, and sacri- ficed only after ghastly tortures had been inflicted. But at the first sign of attadk half a dozen sjicars were raised against the sailors. ■'Give em lead, boys !" roared Briney. The white men poured in a volley, and the withering blast of gunfire woke a thousand echoes in the jungle. A troop of monkeys dashed screeching through the festooned foliage of the trees, and their strange cries mingled with the agonised shrieks of wounded men. The sailors daslied forward, and the blacks threw their captive to the ground and tried to muster for the onslaught. A spear grazed Brinoy's body and ripped, the sleeve of Collins, who was im- mediately behind him. Next second the white men and the devil worshippers had clashed. Briney found himself face to face with a negro of his own bulk, and slammed his left to the ribs with a force that staggered the black. Another pounced on the seaman and almost tooik him un- awares, swinging aloft a deadly war- club in an attempt to bludgeon him.. But Briney still grasped his gun, and he twisted the muzzle and shot the native ot point-blank range. The other sailors were blazing their way tlirough tlie swarm of savages and, with several of their number lying dead, the Zarbessa suddenly gave way and fled through the jungle. Briney and his comrades would have pur.sued them impetuously, but the white man whom th(>y had re-;eued now picked himself uj) with an effort, and planting him.scif in their path, he restrained them. "Wait a minute!'" he said, in a voice that was fainihar to the seamen. "Tliere's no sen.se in following them, boys. They know the jungle tracks, and they'll get you into an ambush!" An exclamation escaped Briney. "Hully gee!" he bhn-ted. "We didn't know it was you, captain!" "Yes, it's me all right," said Harry, "and I'm lucky to be alive. If you fellows hadn't come along I wouldn't liave lasted till sunrise. But, listen," he added anxiously. "Aliss Adams was with me when 1 was attacked, and we'd better go and find her •" December 26tli, ia31. BOY'S CINEMA The Return. WHEN tlie Zarbessa had disappeared into the jungle with their cap- tive, Lascara had slipped through the gloom to where Bonnie lay sense- less. He picked the girl up in his swarthy arms and made for the town. He had reached his premises by the time Briney's party fell in with the devil-worshippers, and so heard nothing of the commotioa that arose in the heart of the bush. Carrying Bonnie through the side-door of his disreputable hotel, he asked a waiter if he had seen Arnold, and he was informed that the owner of the Lottie Carson was in the back room with Bull Black and Arlene Chandos. A minute afterwards Lascara was stumbling across the threshold into their presence. "Bonnie!" Arnold exclaimed, as he saw the girl in the dago's grasp. "Good heavens, what happened, Lascara ? Where did you find her in this con- dition ?" The dago laid her on a couch. "She with Drake," he explained. "The Zarbessa, they take heem—threw girl to ground. I bring her here." He had hardly completed his brief naiTative when Bonnie opened her eyes, and, after staring around the room blankly for a moment, she suddenly uttered a sharp cry of horror and clutched at Ben Arnold's sleeve. "Oh, Ben, Ben," she sobbed, "they've taken Harry Drake away Those awful savages Oh, we've got to do something!" "Take it easy, Bonnie," Arnold told her, in a tone that was meant to soothe her. Then, turning to Lascara and eye- ing him meaningly: "You saw the thing haijpen," he said* "Can anything be done ?" Lascara lowered his glance. "I hear girl's scream, senor," he re- plied, " and when I run to help I see Zarbessa warriors taking Captain Drake into bush." "Well?" Arnold murmured, and with that Lascara gave an expressive shrug. "Nothing can be done," he .said. "When Zarbessa take white man, nobody ever see him again " At that particular moment Captain Harry Drake was far from being in danger of his life, for, in company with his rescuere, he was examining the spot where the devil-woishippers had surprised him. "It was right here that these fiends attacked me," he declared to his com- panions, "but Bonnie has gone. You kiiow, boys. I'm certain this was another frame-up, staged by Lascara at the in- stigation of Arnold and Black. The Zarbessa came to Lascara's dive, and that dago rat must have put them on my trail. Come on, we'll go back to the saloon, and perhaps find some news of Miss Bonnie there." They made tracks for the premises of Lascara, and, marching into the bar- room formidably, demanded an inter- view with the proprietor. Lascara had left the door of his office wide open, however, and as Harry caught sight of Bonnie in the midst of the group of conspirators, he took the liberty of en- tering without "by your leave.'' The party in the room turned their heads, and if Arnold and his hirelings had been a ghost thej' could not have looked more startled. Next second Bonnie was running to the young Rnglishman's side. "Harry!" she cried. "Are you all right?" "Yes," he answered; "and thank Heaven you're safe, too!" Then he put her gently to one side and faced Ben Arnold grimly. Every Tuesday "Listen, you," he went on; "it's about time we had a show-down. Your several attempts to get rid of me have failed, and I'm warning you that I'll take steps to retaliate pretty effectively if there's anything else of the kind " "Wait a minute, Drake!" Arnold cut in harshly. "Before you start pulling any more heroics in front of Miss Adams, let mo tell you something. You accused m^! of holding on to Professor Adams' chart for my own ends, and I proved you were wrong! You started a bar- room fight over a native girl, and accused me of being responsible " "You're lying to save your face, Arnold!" Harry blazed. "But Miss Bonnie knows the truth about that busi- ness!" Arnold glared at him. "If she cares to believe your glib explanation, it's her own affair," he ground out. "But I'll say this much: I promised her father that I would carry out his last wish by takmg this expedi- tion to Danger Island, and ever since I made that promise you have done j'our utmost to stand in my way." "That's right, Arnold," Bull Black put in curtly. "He managed to split the crew into two factions, anyhow!" Harry started forward to challenge that lying slander with a blow, but, as Bonnie checked him, Arnold went on speaking. "In any case," he said, "the Lottie Carson is my ship, manned with my crew and fitted with my equipment. This expedition can't go on without me, but it can go on without you, Drake, and it w'ill go on in spite of you ! And it Miss Adams has the respect for her dead father and uncle that I know she ought to have, she will not allow you or any other man to interfere." With fine words and a sly touch of righteousness, Arnold had made a bid to turn the altercation in his favour. He succeeded, at any rate, in convincing Bonnie that she must go on with him for her father's sake. Harry stepped close to Arnold. He could not lawfully dispute the man's ownership of the Lottie Carson, but he had made up his mind that, if need be. he would use force to dispute his con- trol of the expedition. For the moment, however, Arnold seemed to hold the whip-hand. "Listen," Harry stated, "your expedi- tion could sail without me over all the Seven Seas, and I wouldn't kick. Bui I distrust you, Arnold, and before T leave Miss Bonnie entirely in your care I want to warn you. If any harm comes to her, or if her father's wishes are not carried out to the last letter. I'll know it—and you'll answer to me!" He turned and held out his hand to Bonnie. "Good-bye!" he said, and, grasping her fingers for a moment, he finally wheeled and made his way into the bar- room to rejoin Briney and the boys. His manner as he encountered them seemed to belie his apparent acceptanre of the circumstances in which Bonnie was to sail away under Arnold's doubtful protection. "Come on, you fellows," he announced curtly. "We've got to get busy." Towards the Island. THE Lottie Carson was three houi-s out of Twamballa Bay, ploughint; a course towards the south-west and her grim destination. With Bull Black in command, her crew war. composed of that worthy's fo'c's'le minions Dempster, Gavigan, Markham and Baxter, together with some eighc or nine new hands. There was one other man who had belonged to the original personnel. Ha