Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

Every tuesday He climbed the steps of the caboose and entered the car, Dick turning to follow him inside, and as the two of them passed through the doorway they saw Mollie standing by a stove with which the nearer of the van's two compartments was equipped. She had disposed of the mail-bag, and having heard the conversation that had taken place between Dick and Jeff, had filled a kettle with water and was placmg it on the stove. Jeff spoke a word of greeting to her, and though her pulse was beating rapidly, she managed to answer him without be- traving anv sign of agitation. ••Hallo, Jeff." she said. "Did you get to the pay train in time?" The former army captain shook his head, then suddenly fixed his attention on Dick again. "Much of a crowd at Campeau's place to-night?" he queried in an abrupt tone. Dick pulled at the cheroot he had lit up and blew out a cloud of smoke. •'Couldn't say," he rejoined. "I rode out to the End of Track earlier on. Then I came right back to the caboose here. I haven't been near the Big Tent the whole evening." Jeff lowered his eyes once more. "The dirt at End of Track is black loam and white gypsum." he commented. "You've got the same dust on your boots as I have. It's red." Dick looked down, and when he raised his glance again it was to meet the level gaze of his erstwhile comrade of the Federal Army. "Red like a rose, huh?" Dick Allen mused giving no indication that he had been rattled by the observation the rail- road employee had made. "More like the ground where the pay train was held up," Jeff stated curtly. Dick feigned surprise and concern. "The pay train—held up?" he ex- claimed. •'Say, that's mighty serious for ihe Union Pacific. Every'oody who's workin' on the road out here seems to be gettin' mighty impatient on account of their wages not comin" through." There was a long silence, during which Mollie busied herself in the task of setting out cups and saucers. It was a silence that endured until she had made tea, and it was only brought to a close when she handed each of the two men a cup of refreshing beverage. BOY'S CINEMA "Here, get that inside of you," she told them both. "It'll keep out the cold, for there's quite a chill in the air this night. And after you've drunk it I'll tell your fortunes. 'Tis a gift I picked up in the Old Countiv." She had affected a light-hearted manner, and she smiled at them engag- ingly. But though Dick returned her smile Jeff did not. The two men guliwd down the tea and set the cups on a small table, and Mollie had picked up the one Jeff had deposited when footfalls sounded on the steps of the caboose. A couple of • Sid Campeau's cronies loomed up in the doorway. One was the ferret-faced rogue known at Cookie, and the other was Brett, who had walked to Cheyenne following his ejection from that west-bound train many weeks previously, but who had kept out of Jeff's way ever since his arrival in town. Mollie looked at them distastefully, but not without trepidation. Jeff, on his part, stared at them with ominous mien, mark- ing as he did so that their boots were also powdered with red dust. As for Dick, he hailed the newcomers in friendly accents •'Hi'ya, boys. Say. did you know the pay train had been held up?" Brett and Cookie raised their eyebrows. Then the first named shot a glance at Jeff. "Too bad. bucko," he remarked. "Some- body put one over on you, eh?" '•Maybe." Jeff said, and with that he wandered over to a bunk that occupied a far corner of the compartment wherein he and Mollie and Campeau's three associates were gathered. At once Dick Allen's hand went to his hip, and, quick to take their cue from him, Brett and Cookie imitated the gesture Mollie spoke hurriedly. She was aware of the significant, menacing attitudes Dick and the two gangsters had struck, and realising that if the necessity arose Dick was prepared to take desperate measures even against his one-time friend, she felt sick with dread lest harm should come to Jeff. Nor could she visualise him escaping with his life in the event of a gunfight breaking out, for the odds were all in favour of his pros- .pective assailants. "Jeff," she called, "you've had vour tea, and now you'll want to be Iravellin' won't you—after those pay train bandito. I mean." The railroad official did not hoed her. He lifted the bedclothes and mattress ol the bunk, and, finding nothing there, wa;- Fireparing to carry his inverstigation urther when Dick Allen addressed him. '•You'd better say good-night, Jeff." "Why?" the ex-captain interrogated. "Are you leaving? " "No, but you are." Dick informed him "This is Mollie's place, and she told you to get out," Jeff switched his eyes on the girl. "I didn't hear you tell me to get out." he said. "But I seem to remember you were going to tell me my fortune. What about it. Mollie?" She dropped her gaze to the cup which he had drained, and which was still in her grasp, and after a moment's hesita- tion she spoke again, with a distinct effort. "The little leaves are all crooked and helter-skelter," she answered him tremu- lously. "The way I read them, they're warning you to get moving or you'll be taking a long journey on a one-way ticket. ' Jeff" remained where he was. There was a tension in the atmosphere—a tension almost unendurable to Mollie—a tension that was but slightly alleviated when Dick Allen uttered a short laugh and picked up the cup from which he had drunk. "What do you see in this orte. Mollie? A girl with Irish eyes—about your size?" "No," she told him promptly, bitterly. "I see two horns and a pointed tail that remind me of the Divil himself. And I see a loop that reminds me of—of " 1^ The rawhide lash hissed through the air, and, pass- ing ominously close to Sid Campeau, snaked around the neck of the trophy that decorated the wall 0-:»o>)?r J3th, 19W.