Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

Every Tuesday BOY'S CINEMA Quickly he severed the cords that held Dan fast. . . . 11 He pluiif^ofl into the (iiick of the fight, where Tiny was leading- an attack on a small bunch of guards who were making a stand in an ang^le of the liouse. !Meainvlii!e, Soledad had recovered from the blow Dan had given him, and had made a dash for the balcony ste]is. He gained them and dashed up. He managed to reach liis gun before Maria got hold of it, and then gripped her by the arm. She screamed. Scipio, his pearl-handled revolver in his hand, was lying in the dirt. A flyinij bullet had found him, and he was badly wounded. Gallon, close by, was lying stunned by a blow from a club. Scipio heard Maria's screafh and looked up. His strength was ebbing fast, but ho strove to shake oflf the weakne.ss that was .stealing over him. For all his vanitv, for all his belief that ho was des'ined to be the Napoleon of the Brazilian jungles, there was just one person he loved as dearly as himself. It was Maria, his daughter. He raised his revolver and took steady aim. Black spots danced before his eyes, but he set his teeth, and somehow managed to ^eady his hand. Then he pressed the trigger. The tiny gun kicked, and a look of astonish- ment appeared on Soledad"s face. The man went rigid as a tiny spot of blood appeared exactly over his heart. Then he pitched forward, hung precariously on the edge of the balcony for a moment, and for a second time toppled over into tiio thick of the crowd below. This time he was dead! The fight did not last much longer. The guards who were trying to hold out in a corner of the house suddenly decided that ihey had had onoush, and surrendered. Ban turned to see what else there was to be done. He found two of the natives dragging Gallon to his feet. Gallon had recovered conscious- ness, and his facs was pale with terror, for it was obvious that the natives intended to kill him for what he had done to them. It was Gallon who had tricked them into coming to this diabolical rubber camp in the first place. nan leapt forward. "Release him!" he shouted. "We've got to take him back to Guamao with ns. He's got to tell the authorities all about this." "Him die!" said one of the natives. "He'll die all right—after he's been con- replied. "Never felt Oh, boy, was it a victed of inuider," said Dan. "You don't have to worry about that." The natives nodded, and, instead of batter- ing Gallon to a pulp, contented themselves witli tying him up. Dan Bui ton was the boss now, they told themselves, and that was jjood enough for them. The compound became suddenly quiet. The battle was over. Dan found Tiny standing guard over Judith and Di-. Taylor. He had got them behind a low wall for .safety. "Hey, there. Tiny!" Dan shouted. "Are you all right?" "I'm fine," Tiny better in mj-, life, shemozzle ?" Maria came running down the balcony steps. She rushed up to Tiny and caught hold of him by the arm. "Oh, Mister Tiny!" she said. "You are a big fat man. and I like you! I think you are very brave!" Tiny simpered and blushed. "Forget it," he said. "It was nothing. I do this kind of thing as a sort of hobby." "You like me, yes?" asked Maria anxiou.sly. Tiny considered the" point, wiping the sweat off his forehead as he did so. Then he grinned and put his arm round Maria's waist. "I think you're one of the grandest girls I've ever met," he said. Dan chuckled and decided that he ought to interfere. " You can tell her how grand she is when we get back to Guamao," he said. "In the mean- time, we've got to get the boats loaded. Get around and see that all the prisoners are tied up securely. We want to reach the mouth of the river before nig'htfall." The leading boat on the journe.y downstream was a happy one. Dan sat in the stern with Judith and Dr. Taylor, while Tiny was up in the bows with Maria. Natives filled the middle, paddling. Judith suddenly turned to Dan, smiling. "You know, when we first met', I never •finished my drink," she said. "You had most of it. So that's one you owe me." "Right." Dan replied prornptl.v. "But this time you'll have to promise to drink it, and not throw it at me." "I promise," Judith said. Up in the bows. Tiny was talking to Maria. He said: "Say. Maria, when I ofet back to Guamao. I'm going to be rich. I'll have a thousand bucks, and I reckon I could soak Dan for a job, too. Tell jne sonu'thing. J3id you ever read aii.v of those books yoiu- poj) had''" "I had them road to me sometimes." Maria answered. "And in some of them they a'l lived happy ever afterwards." "Yeah," Tiny muttered. "It's an idea. isn't it?" Then he stared at hei-. "Say, arc you proposing to me?" "Yes, plea-o," said Maiia meekly. "Well, if .vou ain't the number one brazen hussy! I was going to do it, aiul you took tlie words right out of my mouth. But what's ("le odds? It all adds up to the same thing." "Yes, please," said Maria again, and leaned against him. "Well.'' muttered Tiny to himself. "What else is there for a fellow to do ?" And he put his arm around her and kissed her. Suddeily he looked forward. Dan and Judith seemed to be mighty busy talking alwut something, and from what he could see lie didn't need three guesses to find out what it was. "He.y, Dan," ho called, "are you and mo going back there to run that plantation after we've got those crooks safely jailed?" Dan grinned back at him. He was holding Judith's hand. "That rather depends on the future Mrs. Buifon." he replied. "Well." said Judith philo.sophically, " tho future Mrs. Burton will try anything twice." "Phew!" Tiny muttered. "This sort of thing's infectious, isn't it?" "Yes, please," murnuuod IMaria happilv. and snugg-led as close to him as she could get. Based on the Universal picture, " Tropic Fury," controlled throughout the United Kingdom and Eire by General Film and witli tlic following cast: as Dan Burton as Tiny Andrews as Judith Taylor as Scipio Distributor-,. Ltd Richard Arlen Andy Devine Beverly Roberts Lou Merrill Lupita Tovar Samuel S. Hinds Charles Trowbridge Leonard Mudie Adia Kuznetzoff as Maria as Waterford as Dr. Taylor as Gallon as Soledad February 17th, 1940.