Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

Every Tuesday Thrill to the stirring chapters of this new Universal serial of the days when the West rocked to the blazing guns of the intrepid Frontiersmen and Settlers who waged w^ar on Redskins and Renegades READ THIS FIRST Jefl Scott tiiul DeadniKitl Hawkins, redonht- able jntiiticrsint n, set out uii behtilf oj the U.S. Goirnimeiit to /nrmlii/ate the aclirities of a mystniuus oiijiini.tation whivh i.s bent on prerentiiKj settlers jnuii reachiiuj Oreyon. Actually that oif/auisation controls the fur trade In the north irestern territories of l/ie United Statc.i, its chief representatire being Sam More/an, who is located at a remote township known as Clearicater. A vagon train of immigrants headed by a man named John .Mason is wendine/ its tray towards Clearwater. The war/on boss of this eolumn is Hull Jlragg, secretly in the jmy of Morgan, and in. company with a gang of cronies Bragg does /lis best to destroy the train. He is foiled and exposed by Jeff and Dead- wood, but with the aid of a party of Shoshone Indians he succeeds in escaping justice. Later he shows up at Sam Morgan's prirale office, and, learning he is there, .Jeff .'urprises . him as he is in conversation with Morgan — whereupon the latter seeks to dirert suspicion from himself by making out that Bragg came there to rob him. Now Read On A CLOSE CALL SITTING with bated hieath in the swivel- fliair behind his flat-toppod desk, Sam Morgan hoped against hope that his glib ox- planation of Bull Bragg's presence in lils office had passed muster with Jeff. It was an explanation that liad sounded plausible enough, he told himself. But had it deceived Jeff? Or had the armed froiitior.s- man overheard too much of his conversation with Bragg to be fooled by his story? Sam Morgan had yet to ascertain the answer to those vital questions when Bragg rounded on him with a face that was as black as a thunder-cloud. "^^'ly. .■'ou dirty four-flusher!" the ruffian snarled. "You can"t get away with this, Morgan ! I didn't come here to " Bull Bragg's angry outburst was never com- pleted, for ere he could say more Jeff had rammed the muzzle of his "iron" into the ample midriff of the ex-wagon boss. "Shut up, Bragg!" he snapped. "You can't lie your way out of this—any more than you can lie your way out of the wreck- ing charge that's already been pinned on you ! I know what I saw in this room—and I saw you standing over Mr. Morgan °with a gun in your hand !" Sam Morgan breathed again. So the stal- wart scout had been taken in by his narra- tive. Well, that w-as something to he thank- ful for, though he was still oppressed by the unenviable prospect of Bragg turning informer —and exposing hiiii as the man behind the disasters which had overwhelmed so many of the wagon-trains that had followed the Oregon Trail. Somehow- or other he must prevent Bragg from talking. He tried to catch the prisoner's eye with a surreptitious and significant glance, which alike expressed a promise of ultimate aid and an appeal for silence. Before he could trans- mit that mute message to his hireling, how- ever, Jeff Scott spoke again. "I guess you had a few uncomfortable minutes with this coyote, Mr. Morgan," the frontiersman said. "But he won't be bother- ing you any more. Come on, Bragg—get going!" He drew aside and motioned towards the door by which he had entered, and with a look of sombre resignation on his gross face Bull Bragg made as if to obey liim. But the rogue's air of submission was a "blind," for with a sudden and unexpected gesture he BOY'S CINEMA struck aside a lamp that stood on the corner of Morgan's desk. It crashed to the floor and was extingu- ished, and in the black darkness that immedi- ately enveloped the room Bragg hit out at his captor savagely, desperately. The punch he let loose was a lucky one. It found its mark on the scout's jaw and landed v/ith a force that sent him a-spravvl, and as he fell his head came into violent contact with a mahogany filing-cabinet that the office contained. It was that blow on the head rather than the impact of Bragg's fist that scattered Jeff's wits, and he was lying inertly on the floor of the apartment when the former wagon boss stumbled towards him in the gloom and bont over his prone form, dimly visible- in the starlight v/hich was now the only illumina- tion the office possessed. "He's out cold," Bragg growled after a brief interval. "Let's have some light, Morgan." Morgan had risen from his chair, and, striking a match, he crossed to a wall-lamp. A moment later that lamp was spreading a bright glow about the room, and its saffron beams revealed to him the liuddled and in- sensible body of .Toff Scott and the figure of Bull Bragg crouching oVer him. Bragg turned to Morgan and addressed the fur-trader thickly. "Yeah, he's out cold," he repeated, "an' no thanks to you, Morgan. Huh, you'got a nerve—tryin' to make out I came here to rob yon. I " The storekeeper interrupted him in a terse voice. "Don't be so dumb, Bragg!" he bit out. "What good would it have done either of us if I'd let Scott think we were hand-in- glove? So long as I was. in the clear, there was every chance of me being able to stage a rescue-party on your behalf. I did before, didn't I?" EPISODE 5:— THE MENACING HERD Somewhat mollified, Bragg directed a glance at the form of Jeff. "Reckon I didn't need no rescue-party this time," he muttered. "An' I reckon I won't have no more trouble with this hombre neither." "He's not dead, is he?" Morgan interro- gated. ^^ Bull Bragg's eyes narrowed wickedly. "Not yet," he rejoined, and with the words he picked up the revolver Jeff had forced him to discard a little while previously. Pointing the weapon at the frontiersman's heart, he thumbed the hammer of the gun, and in another instant would have drilled' the unconscious scout. But before he could carry out his murderous intention Alorgan had reached his side and knocked up his hand. "Not here, you fool!" the fur-trader rasped. "I want Scott out of the way as much as j'ou do, but I'm not aiming to have hnn bumped off in my office ! Get out into the alley first !" In compliance with Morgan's wishes Bragg thrust his six-shooter back into its holster and prepared to lay hold of Jeff. As for the storekeeper, he nijfde for the rear door of the room with the object of finding out whether the coast were clear. It was well for him that he took that precautionary measure, for as he peered warily into the adjacent alley he descried three men entering it at the double, and identified (he foremost of them as DeadwootI Hawkins. A look of agitation on his sallow, fleshy countenance. Morgan wheeled at once to- wards Bragg. "Let go of Scott!" he jerked. "Some of his friends are coming !" Bragg straightened- up abruptly, sending his hand to his hip 'as he did so. "Bar that door!" he panted. "We'll shoot it out with " "Quit talking like a lunatic!" ^lorgan cut in. "This is no time to fight! They mustn't find you here, Bragg! Quick, duck into the store and lie low there—and don't make a sound. I'll handle this situation." Prompt to his bidding. Bull Bragg whipped January 20lh, 1940.