Pictures and the Picturegoer (October 1915 - March 1916)

PICTURES AND THE PICTUREGOLK >58 Week ending Jax. i.5, 1916 THE ^WT INNER ADAPTED FROM THE FILM BY ERNEST DANGERFIELD. SPECIAL ATTRACTION ! TOM MORRIS OF CROYDON will meet STEVE ASH OF R0TH2RHITHE Twenty-round Contest for the Brockwkli. Belt. WITH fluttering heart Nelly Brent gazed at the a hove announcement posted on the wall. To the casual reader the bill meant little or nothing an hour's sport at the most. To Nelly it meant much, and with a sigh she turned and walked homeward. Nelly was nineteen, and pretty at that. She lived with her father, John Brent, an ex-champion and trainer, under whose roof Tom Morris, a handsome young boxer, had grown successful in the noble art of sell-defence. T<>m was busy with the punching-ball as Nelly entered. He greeted her with a smile, to which she responded with a saucy toss of the head. Old Brent sat at his table examining a document spread out before him as Steve Ash entered. Approaching Nelly, he took her hands in his, and began an earnest conversation which was interrupted by Brent, who asked the two men to sign articles. The signatures were written, and. as Steve resumed his talk with the girl, Tom clenched his teeth. Both men were in love with her, but. though she felt that she liked Tom best, she loved to flirt with either. •" I've had enough of this." cried Tom, facing Nelly with blazing eyes. " You must decide between us.'" Old Brent, to\ thought it was time for his daughter to make up her mind, and told her so. Nelly hesitated and looked at first one and then the other. Then, very deliberately, 3he said: "I will marry one of you niter the light." Steve, quite satisfied with the girl's decision, took lis depa rture : but Tom was only parti lly consoled, and reluctantly returned to his ball practice. Brent also was far from pleased, and as he watched Tom at his practice he In ok his head dub ously. •'What are you1 bulking 1 »f. father ? "' Ni llj paid later when they were alone. "Well, Lli'l." he answered, "to bfi candid, Tom Moi ris is sure to be b saten." For 0 minute Nelly remained silent, then she laughed, and taking a pencil and paper she wrote' a few lines, passed the note to her father, and skipped lighl l.\ out of t he room Brent, puzzled, read the lines. " 1 will marry the one w ho Loses. Nex<LY." 'Well this beats all," lie muttered. but he pocketed the i»ote with an air of faction As Steve walked homeward he said to himself," It's him or me" its odds on she'll marry the winner. By heaven! he'll go under in the first round, or my name's no! Sieve Ash." As he turned a corner he ran into a lriend of his.. Jake Bluett, an ex-pugilist, gaolbird, and thorough-bred scoundrel. Half an hour lat r those two. in Jake's dingy lodgings, plotted to destroy Tom's chance of winning. Packing a bag with a pair of old "prepared ' boxing-gloves, Jake, in the garb of an artisan, took his departure. Tom was alone and still at his practice when Jake arrived. " Sorry ter trou le yer, mister," he said; ''I've got ter flo-ht a bloke to-night over a girl, so thought as 'ow y--r might give me a wrinkle or two; I'll pay yer for it." The iigui— aitek the fourth round. ■" Keep your money, mate," Tom replied, good-naturedly, "and shape up quickly; .I've no time to waste." An evil smile set on Jake's features as the two started sparring. Suddenly Tom received a stinging blow on the shoulder. "God! what was that?" he gasped. His arm seemed to be paralysed. .And then The next moment Brent .-entered the room, and recognised .lake as an Old Bird of the lowest type. Jake, too. remembered the day when Brent had put him into the horse-pond. So -it's ;/oit. is it ? " Brent hissed. Jake cowered, and looked for some means of escape. " No, you don't !■" And Brent seized him by the throat and almost throttled him. "What's your game this timer" lie demanded. "Leave go4." gasped Jake; but Brent gripped him tighter. In the struggle Jake lost a glo\Tom picked it up. Its weight ar hi-^ suspicion. "The cur!" he Bhonted, as h<from the glove a heavy piece of lead piping: Brent dragged the man to his feet. and stuck him against the wall; then. clenching his fist. 1ih held it thr iugly close to the scoundrel's "Don't do it on me, guv'nor '. ** Jake whimpered; "put it on Steve Ash— it's 'is fault." Brent lowered his fist in astonishment on hearing this confession and Jake, taking advantage, sneakily backed outof the do.r. Brent ■/< at Tom, who was hot with passion, that his shoulder doing not ing t'. cool it. " The hound !" he cried. " 111 beat him ^nd win her yet." Then he strode from the room. Tom's determined manner brought a new light into Brent's eyes. He had remembered his daughter's pron "If he wius." he said to bin. " she marries a blackguard." « » * The eventful night srri The great hall, known as " Simmon's Ring." was packed to the' roof. Nelly was there with her father. They occupied seats in a corner close to the ringside. The first part of the programme passed quickly, and then came the big event, on which a woman's life's happiness was at stake. The rivals into the rinir. and were introduced by the referee-:— "Ob my right— Tom Blerris of Croyd on my left Steve Ash of Rotherhithe." Brent watched the preliminaries with a trail keen sense of judgment, and physically summed up Steve as an easy winner. " Time ! " The men shaped up, Nelly clung to her father's arm. and the first round ended with points even. The girl looked up at her father and sighed. Towards the end of the second round Tom received an uuluckv blow, which sent him reeling to the boards. He was iip.againon the count of five. Tom ! " murmured Nelly, as she tried to feel bappy, for had she not promised to marry the loser? Round three ; with little advantage to either side, but in the fourth Tom received some severe pummeling, and at the conclusion retired to his corner looking very gri __ He gazed round at the \ast audience) smiled encouragingly to Xeliy and her father, then looked across at his rival. Steve retained the look with a temptuous shrug ot his boulders. Time! and the men faced for the fifth round. Tom's injured shoulder gave him pain, but the knowledge of LOVE ATTACKS EVEN u THE f*§F