Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

20 Terry took the 'phone iroin tne com- mander, and was presently in conversation with Snapper McGee. "Hfya, Terry," was Snapper's cheerful greeting. "Say, I just heard about that murder at the infirmary, and I'd sure like to get a picture of the guy you pinched. D'you think you could use your influence to persuade the cops to let me take a 'shot' of him in his cell?" 'Well, I don't know about that. Snap- per," Terry rejoined. " It's kind of a tall order and all against regulations, I guess. I'll do my best for you, though, and call you back. Where will I contact you? At the ' Chronicle ' building?" Snapper made a negative reply, "No, I'm out of town right now, and I won't be at the office till this evening. I'll 'phone you when I arrive there. You see, I'm up at Pier-Port railroad station, waitin' to snap a picture of Jacob Manning the well-known explorer. He's passin' through here on a special train from Canada this afternoon." "I see," Terry remarked. "Okay, I'll expect a ring from you some time this evening, and then I'll let you know what the police department says about your re- quest. So long, feller." He hung up, and was turning towards Commander Boyle again when suddenly an expression of enlightenment dawned on his handsome countenance. "Pier-Port!" he ejaculated. "Pier- Port ! Say, I wonder if that's where Belden was" trying to tell me to go!" "You mean that one-horse town forty miles north of here?" Boyle asked. Terry nodded briskly. There was a gleam in his shrewd, steel-grey eyes. "Yes, sir," he answered. 'And listen, it's just occurred to me that if Boroff is already shipping that gas in any quantity he might be using the railroad and send- ing it to Canada for transport to Europe. The Canadian authorities aren't on the look-out for prohibited exports to the same extent that we are down here." The commander pursed his lips. "Sounds logical, I«nt," he stated. "Mavbe you've got something there." "It's a theory worth following up, sir," Terry declared. " I suggest you 'phone for a detail of police to meet me at Pier-Port station in case I need their help. Mean- while, I'll grab a plane, fly to that railroad depot and have a word v/ith whoever's in charge there." Boyle assenting to the proposal, Terry left the Coast-Guard station without delay and set out for the Portland civil aero- drome, and not long afterwards he was heading northward in a two-seater plane which he had chartered. ' He was the sole occupant of that craft, for flying had been one of his hobbies for the past two or three years, and he was a fully qualified pilot; and some twenty minutes after leaving Portland he brought the 'plane to earth on a strip of open ground near the somewhat insignificant railroad station that was his objective. To be exact, he landed immediately op- posite the station, on the other side of the railroad tracks, and, climbing out of the plane, he had crossed the permanent way and stepped oh to the platform of the depot when he heard a familiar voice call his name. It was Snapper McGee who had hailed him, and, issuing from a waiting-room beside which his camera was rigged up in readiness for action, the Press photo- grapher joined the Coast-Guard lieutenant and addressed him in a tone of surprise. " Gee, I didn't expect to see you, Terry I" he exclaimed. "What brings you here, anyway?" "Business, Snapper," the revenue officer announced cryptically. "Tell me, is the stationmaster around? For answer. Snapper jerked a thumb towards the northern end of the station, and, directing his steps thither, Terry came upon the official whom he wished to interview—a wizened, middle-aged in- dividual who was actually stationmaster, porter and ticket-collector rolled into one. BOY'S CINEMA Hands clasped behind his back, the rail- road official was idly contemplating the activities of three men who were busily unloading a motor-truck that stood close by. These men were carefully removing cardboard cartons from the truck and were stacking the boxes beside the rail- road, and as he approached it seemed to Terry that the three of them became tense when they caught sight of him and noted his uniform. Accosting the stationmaster, Terry in- troduced himself to him and began to question him with a view to finding out whether anv unusual freight had been despatched by rail from Pier-Port in the course of the last week or two. The stationmaster could not remember having dealt with any goods that might have been termed out-of-the-ordinary, however, and shook his head in response to the lieu- tenant's queries. "As a matter o' fact there ain't much freight leaves here a-tall," he said. "This here shipment of lamps is the first out- goin' consignment that I've seen in ten days." He indicated the cartons which had been unloaded from the motor-truck, and, eye- ing these, Terry saw that they were marked with the inscription: "Electric Light Bulbs." Then he glanced at the three men who had been handling the boxes, and once again he thought he detected a certain tension in their demeanoiu'. They had finished unloading the truck, and, standing near the stacked cartons, had obviously been listening attentively to Terry's discussion with the stationmaster, for their gaze was focused upon the rail- road official and the revenue officer. Terry moved across to the trio and sur- veyed the cardboard boxes. "Electric light bulbs, eh?"' he mused. One of the three men who had un- loaded the truck addressed himself to the lieutenant. He was a big, powerfully-built fellow with a craggy face that betokened a domineering temperament, though his tone was obsequious enough now. "Yeah," he volunteered. "They were bein' transported by road, but the truck broke down here an' we're rushin' them through by rail on a north-bound freight- train that's due here in fifteen minutes." "You might open one of these boxes, will you?" Teriy said. "I want to check up on this shipment." He pointed to the topmost carton of one of the stacks, and without demur the big man did his bidding, revealing a collec- tion of neatly-packed bulbs, made of that glass which is clouded so as to obscure the filament and counteract glare. Terry selected one of the bulbs and, stepping aside, held it up in the light of the sun to examine it. As for the three men whi had unloaded the motor-truck, they watched him earnestly—and failed to observe Snapper McGee draw nigh. The cameraman had wandered after Terry when the latter had hurried along the platform to seek out the station- master, and had been hovering inquisi- tively in the background while the Coast- Guard lieutenant had been interrogating the railroad official. And now, puzzled by Terry's presence at Pier-Port, Snapper also picked out a bulb from the carton that had been opened and proceeded to con- template it, wondering why the revenue officer should be interested in the lamps. Meanwhile Terry was keenly scrutinis- ing the globe he had held up to the sun, but, unable to detect anything of a sus- picious nature in its appearance, he presently handed it back without com- ment to the fellow who had opened the carton. The big man turned to replace the bulb, and had scarcely packed it home in the container when he gave utterance to a sharp cry. "Hey, there's a globe missin'!" he blurted. His two companions started, and moved close to him abruptly. (Every Tuesday "What's that, Black?" one of them jerked. "A globe missin'?" It was then that Snapper spoke. "It's all right," he said. "Here it is." The man known as Black switched round on him, and as he saw that Snapper was juggling placidly with the missing bulb he pounced on him with a half-stifled imprecation. "Gimme that, you fool!" he bit out hoarsely. He snatched the globe from Snapper, and in his haste to recover it almost let it slip through his fingers, whereupon his cronies recoiled in evident alarm. But Black managed to clutch it securely and prevent it from falling to the ground, and, white to the lips, he was restoring it to the open carton when Terry voiced a remark. "You seem to set a mighty high value on an electric light bulb, friend," he ob- served. The big fellow turned towards him and drawing in his breath, answered him in a sheepish fashion. "It ain't the bulb so much," he faltered "It's just that I'm responsible for this shipment, you understand." There was a queer glitter in Terrv's eyes. The concern exhibited by Black and his companions over the globe had sharpened his wits, and he was thinking of that small glass bomb which had come into his possession a day or so before. Was it possible, he asked himself, that the innocent-looking contents of those cardboard boxes were also bombs—cun- ningly manufactured so as to pass muster as electric lamp globes? "Yes," Terry said aloud, "I think I do understand." Without another word he strolled back on to the station platform and, passing out of sight of Black and his cronies, he halted under a shaded electric light bulb that was suspended from a roof that covered the depot. It was a bulb closeU resembling the globes in the cartons that had been unloaded from the motor-truck, and, reaching up and removing it from its holder, Terry concealed it in his hand and retraced his steps to the north end ol the station. Black and his companions were now lounging by the truck. Snapper was in conversation with the stationmaster, anc" was asking him whether the "special" ir which Jacob Manning was travelling from Canada was likely to be on time. Terry sauntered over to the. stacked cartons which were awaiting shipment on the freight-train that was due to pull in from the south ere long, and suddenly he stooped and affected to lift something from between two of the piles of card- board boxes. "Here's another of those bulbs," he called to Black, displaying the globe he had detached from the station roof. "It must have slipped out of the carton you opened. It doesn't appear to be damaged though." The man known as Black hastened to- wards him. "Oh, thanks!" he said in a fervent tbne. "Thanks a lot." ■ He extended his hand for the globe, but Terry retained possession of the lamp. "Would it matter so much if I dropped this?" he inquired. Black moistened his lips. "What would be the point?" he mumbled. "It's only an electric light bulb, but " "I wonder," the Coast-Guard lieutenant cut in, and with the words he made as if to throw the lamp to the ground. Black sprang forward at that, a look of the wildest consternation on his face. "You fool!" he screamed, snatching at Terry's upraised hand, but, leaping back- wards, the Government official hurled the globe at the man's very feet. It exploded with a small report, and as it burst Black whirled around and dived abjectly into a corner formed by the station building and a shed that abutted /$