Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

22 The glass was shattered, and fell in fragments to the ground, and raising liimself into a sitting posture and twisting round, Terry contrived to grip one of those fragments between his fingers. Their he proceeded to rub the jagged edge of the piece of broken glass against the thongs that encircled his wrists. Restricted as his movements were, the task of cutting through those thongs was no easv one. but at long last he succeeded in severing the bonds, and with his hands free, it was the work of only a few seconds to disoose of the rope that had been tied about his ankles. And having released himself and risen to his feet, he circled the motor-truck as his foes had done and sprinted northward along the road leading to Boroff's headquartei's. It was shortly after Terry had left the spot where he had been set upon by Degado, Thorg and Sloan that another car entered the dip where the lorry had been planted across the highway. That car was occupied by Jean Norman and Snapper McGee. the girl being at the wheel of it. and drawing up alongside the automobile that Terry had driven from Portland, Jean alighted with Snapper and made a brief inspection of the sedan and the motor-truck. " Lfooks like the road has been purposely blocked," the cameraman vouchsafed. "I'll bet the BorofI gang parked that truck there. Jean." The girl darted an ironic glance at him. "Snapper, you ought to have been a detective," she said sarcastically. "The point is, has Tei-ry got himself in a jam? Come on. we're making the rest of the trip on foot." THE BLAST ON returning to the kelp plant. Degado and Sloan and Thorg found that all but Boroll, Rackerby and Krohn had quitted the premises. They discovered, too, that the plane which Borofl had been expecting had arrived. A big twin-engined craft, it was standing in a field immediately to the west of the manufactorj', and its pilot was keeping its motors running—the aviator in question being an individual with whom Krohn was closely acquainted, and who could be depended upon to keep his mouth shut. Boroff, Rackerby and Krohn had com- menced to transport the boxes of arnatite from the laboratory of the kelp plant to the waiting cabin plane. Al^ead^^ they had made three trips to the machine, and thev were on the point of making a fourth THE CRAZY PECAN NUT This amusing novelty will amaze your trlcnds. Based on a scientific fact, it provides endlews fun. thrills. mystery ami laughter. By careful manipulation you can, with the crazy Pecan Nut, make your frlend.s indignant, blush or even furiou^y angry. Com- plete with full instruc- tions. The MYSTERIOUS FLOATING COIN Try it on your friends— Hoat ont' on a plass of water, tlun let tliPin try and it will float no loucorl You can have rndloss ftiu by keeping your friends guessing as to how it is done—they will hesirnply bewildered. Complete with full jnsfnirtions. id EACH POST FREE firom Drpt, II, Ifnililii rroiliulions, 27a, Farriniiilon St r e e t, London, E.CA. I, 1939. BOY'S CINEMA when Degado, Thorg and Sloan ioir.ed them. Degado, having reported the encounter with Terry Kent, and added that the road leading to the kelp plant had been effect- ively barred, BorofT ordered the new- comers to lend a hand with the shipment of arnatite, and all but half a dozen of the boxes had been conveyed to the aeroplane when suddenly the unmistak- able sound of a speedboat's engines caught the attention of the crooks. They heard the high-pitched drone of those engines as they were entering the laboratory to pick up the last of the boxes of arnatite, and with one accord they hurried to a window that faced eastward. It was a window that commanded a view of the sea, and as Borofl and his associates crowded to it the.\" descried two launches approaching a landing-stage which was attached to their headquarters. The launches were packed A\ith coast- guardsmen who were armed with rifles, and who were under the command of an officer who held the same rank as Terry Kent, and at sight of them Borofl spoke curtly. "Rackerby, you and Thorg get the rest of the arnatite to the plane." he sna.pped. "When you have done that, set light to the fuse of the charge of powder we laid under the floor of the main workshop. Then give us a shout. Rackerby. Krohn. Degado and Sloan and I will hold off those coastguardsmen in the meanwhile. But hurry—hurry! We can't keep them at bay for long." Rackberb,\' and Thorg made haste to carry out his instructions, and were .sturribling towards the remainder of the boxes of arnatite when Boroff tugged out a six-gun and thiew up the sash of the window by which he was standing. Next moment he discharged a shot at one of the oncoming speedboats, and. prompt to follow his example. Krohn and Degado and Sloan opened fire immediately after- wards. None of the bullets took effect, but with the leaden missiles spanking into the water alongside the Coast Guard launches the officer in charge of the bluejackets gave the order to bring the boats to a pause. Uncertain of the strength of the opposition, he was too sound a tactician to risk a headlong onset that might end in the annihilation of his men. "Heave to!" he sang out. "Heave to and answer that shooting!" The engines of the speedboats were shut off, and the launches coming to rest a little way from the pier of the kelp plant, the coastguardsmen under the command of Ten-y's fellow-officer brought the butts of their rifles to their shoulders. In another instant those rifles were blazing a response to the challenge Boroff and his party had offered, the crashing volley of musketry being accompanied by the bellow of a Service revolver that the lieutenant who headed the detail had snatched out. Boroff and his companions had ducked, and it was well for them that they had done so. For a score of bullets ripped through the window by which the\- were gathered, shattering the panes of it. striking splinters from sash and ledge. That volley was the forerunner of a continuous fusillade which compelled the inmates of the kelp plant's laboratory to lie .pretty low. Nevertheless, they summoned up enough coinage to raise their heads momentarily from time to time and direct quick bursts of gunplay at the speedboats lying off the landing-stage, and though they failed to inflict any casualties, they themselves suffered no loss for the space of three or four minutes. The scoundrelly quartet behind the window were not all destined to sui-vive the grim duel, however. Sloan was fated to meet his end in the course of the battle—was drilled as he was in the act of rising from cover to send a bullet in the direction of the besiegers. A stricken cry broke from his lips as a leaden shig pierced the centre of his fore- head, and his six-shooter flying -from his grasp, he tumbled backwards and lay still. Every Tuesday Borofl, Krohn and Degado bent over him. saw at a glance that he was dead and eyed the window askance, none of them showing any further inclination to take the chance of lifting their heads above its sill and hazarding the fate that had overtaken Sloan. And thev v/ere kneeling there apprehensively when Rackerby and Thorg appeared ail at once in a doorway in the far wall of the laboratory, these two having passed in and out of the room several times during the course of the gun-battle. "Come on." Rackerby blurted. "The arnatite's all safelv aboard the plane, and I've lit the fuse of the mine." Boroff gritted his teeth. "Good." he said viciously. "Sloan's done for. Rackerby. and he was one of our best men. But it is a consolation to know that his death will shortly be avenged." With that he started across the laboratory at a crouching run, and, Krohu and Degado following him, the three of them joined Thorg and Rackerby and hurried towards the rear of the premises with them, leaving their lifeless accomplice in sole possession of the apartment wherein he had died. Out beyond the pier of the kelp .plant, the coastguardsmen in the speedboat-s continued to blaze at the window of the laboratory for another thirty seconds or so, and then, their volleys meeting with no reply, the officer in charge of the blue- jackets gave the command to cease fire. "Looks like those rats may have sheered off," he announced. "We'll close in. But be ready for trouble in case their object is to let us get near and then give us the works." The engines of the speedboats were started up again, and the launches were steered to the landing-stage and tied up there. Then the coastguardsmen dis- embarked, to advance slowly and warilv on the building in front of tliem. There was a door twenty or thirty paces to the right of the window where Boroff and his partv had been posted, and the men of the Coast Guard headed for it. gained admission to the kelp plant by it. and found their way into the laboratory Here they caine upon the body of Sloan, and after making a cm-sory examination of the fallen rogue the lieutenant in command of the bluejackets led his subordinates to the doorway through which Boroff and the latter's confederates had hurried a little while previously. The searchers entered a spacious rootn that had the appearance of a workshop, and they were scanning that room when all at once they heard the roar of an aircraft's engine's. It was a sound that caused them to start towards a door in the west wall of the workshop, but ere they could reach it a uniformed figurt^ charged into the room via another door on their left. It was the figure of Terry Kent, and as he entered Terry shouted to his comrades of the Coast Guard Service in stentorian accents. "Otitside!" he yelled. "Quick, evervbodv outside! " The officer in charge of the detail nf bluejackets gaped at him. "What's up. Kent?" he demanded. "Where's Boroff and " "Never mind Boroff!" Terry inter- rupted hoarsely. "You'll never take him now. I just saw him getting away in a plane with some of his gang. Quick, out- side. I tell you! This place has been mined, and it's liable to blow up anv minute! Outside, all of you!" The full import of his words dawning on them, his fellow-officer and the blue- jackets wheeled and ran from the work- shop. Yet for all their haste their retreat was no panic-stricken flight, but the rapid, orderly retirement of disciplined men who were hot given to losing their heads in moments of peril, and with Terry bringing up the rear, the.\' retraced their steps to the pier and sprinted towards the speed- Ijoats which were moored there. The landing-stage w^as of large dimen-