Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

8 "What about those two dances?" he said. "I dont loally deserve them, of course, but I'd like thcni all the san^e." "You shall have them," she replied. "Let us stop here for a little while, though. I feel so hot." They chatted idly for a while, and were later joined by an elderly -woman. "This is mother," Betty explained. "She knows who you are, too. Mother, (his is Mr. Dunn, Herbert's friend." "Mr. Dunn?" Mrs. Allen's hand went out in warm welcome. "Im so glad to meet you. Herbert has mentioned you in his letters to Betty quite often, and I knew you must bo very nice. Betty, dear, we must have him over to tea to-morrow afternoon. I expect Herbert will still bo on duty, but he won't mind. They're such good friends." Bill intervened tactfully. The last thing he wanted was to prolong his friendship with tlie Aliens. "I really don't think I ought to," he ?aid awkwardly. "You see, I have such a lot to do, and " Betty looked at him with pleading eyes. "Please," she begged. Bill had no more to say. He juot nodded, his hands clenched to keep him- self from taking liold of her then and there and telling her what he felt. At four the following afternoon he presented himself at their hotel. Mrs. Allen kept him to herself for the first three hours, talking incessantly about her troubles and .her family until Bill could have cheerfully murdered her. Suddenly, as if she had exhausted all her gossip, she stopped. "Well, I mustn't keep you any longer," she finished, as if she had been talking to him for only a few minutes. "I must run along to have my hair done. But don't go yet. Talk to Betty for a little while. Take her out into the garden—it will be nice in the twilight." Bill couldn't get out of it. Dumbly he offered Betty his arm and led her through the windows that opened on to the lawn. Wlien they wore out of sight from the hotel she led him down a short pathway to a seat. They sat down, he edging awkwardly away from her. She turned so that she could sec his face. "Tell me, Mr. Dunn, is Herbert really on duty, or lias something hap- pened which won't allow him to leave ihe grounds of tlie academy?" "He's on duty," Bill said loyally. "But surely no duties last more than time, do they?" that she she :our hours at persisted, and Bill realised fiad been making inquiries. "Well, no," he admitted, his brain trying to evolve some excuse. " But, vou see, this—this is a very special kind. It's—ifs rather important in its way. He'd come if he could." She nodded as if she understood. All the time her eyes wore fixed on his. "Of course, I know he wouldn't stop away if he could help it," she went on. "But, you sec, I know him so well. He's always getting into trouble of some sort, and I thought perhaps that might be the explanation now. He's a bit of a coward, too." She sighed. "I wish ho would be more carefid. I wish he wore like you sometimes." Bill's head span round dizzily. Her last sentence had been si)okeii bO softly, »nd it had come so suddenly, that he had been taken off his guard. "Why like me?" he asked unsteadily. "Why not like somebody else?" " Because you are " She paused, jcr head lowered. Something in tlie night air seemed to be casting a spell over them, taking tliem away from the February IStli, 1930. BOY'S CINEMA world around them and leaving tliem in an eternity of their own. Neither seemed to be aware of th6 danger ahead. ' She looked up again and faced him. Bill thought he saw in her the same mental processes that he had experienced on the train. "Because you are not like the others," she said. "When you first met me you didn't try to make yourself objectionable. In fact, I've had an idea that you tried to avoid me last evening. You did, didn't yout" "Yes." "Why?" Bill hardly knew the question had been asked. He was not even listening for it. " Because I loved you from the moment I first met you," he replied without stopping to think what he was saying. He moved nearer, and held out his hands. "Betty, I'm sorry if I've made myself seem a lottcr to you, but I just couldn't help it. I don't think I've ever met anyone quite like you before, and you sort of bowled me over." He looked away. " Of course, you'll never want to see mo any more. I've made love to you when you are alreadj' in love with Herbert. I think I'll go." He attempted to rise, but she laid her hand on his—gently, but with quiet restraint. "I was in love with Herbert once, but not now," she whispered. "I came down here to tell him. That's why I asked you all those questions about his duty just now. I thouglit perhaps he knew that I would tell him everything was ended and was avoiding me." " And you—you " Bill did not need to ask the question. One look, and ho knew that she cared for him in return. Quickly he took her ill his arms and crushed her close. His lips were pressed on hers. A voice cut through the silence. "So that's your game, is it, Bill Dunn?" It was Herbert ! They sprang apart, and Betty turned away while Bill faced his friend. "1 thought something of the sort was going on," Herbert pursued angrily. "Bulge told me that you had come over here, and I guessed it was to see Betty." His eyes gleamed with cold fury. "When you first came here I told you you were a rotten cur. Well, I'm telling you it again." "Herbert!" It was Betty who spoke. She spun round furiously. "How dare you speak to Bill like that! Apologise at once." "Apologise, be hanged 1" He clenched his fists, and brought one of them across Bill's face suddenly. There was nothing serious in the blow, except that it hurt Bill's pride. He tensed liis muscles to Spring. Betty's hand fell on his arm. "Leave it to me, Bill," she said quietly. "I can deal with him. Go back now, and come in the morning." Bill relaxed. He knew what Herbert was going to hear, and did not want to make things worse for him. "All right," he said. "I'll hang around for a little while until you go ill, and then I'll clear off." He hurried away, and as he walked rapidly towards the veranda where he could wait and watch without overhear- ing, their angry voices followed him. A Blow in the Dark. BULGE and Skeeter stood in tlie corridor outside their cabins, and on their fac< s were expressions of anxiety. Every Tuesday "What did he do it for?" Skeeter asked. "If he's not back by stand-to, he'll be for the high jump. I reckon they'll withdraw his training warrant and send him back home. It's no joke breaking an'est." "He's always like that," Bulge re- plied. "He wouldn't be Herbert LuH if he wasn't in trouble. The bother is, he's got such a rotten temper, and a rotten mind goes with it. When he asked me where Bill was, and I told him he had gone across to tea with Betty and her mother, he walked up and down like a caged lion. He did that for two hours solid, remember. Then he suddenly started to get into his outdoor rig. I was jolly thankful when he had gone, I can tell you. I had a lot of prep, to do for old Hallam, and a fellow can't concentrate on curved trigs when anybody's stumping all over the room and making an infernal row." "Let's go to your cabin and wait," Skeeter suggested. "Right. Coiiie on!" They went inside and made them- selves comfortable. For a while neither of them spoke. "I suppose this will mean more trouble between them both," Skeeter began suddenly. " The old grudge is sure to come up.' Bulge shrugged his shoulders. "A lot I care. Anyw-ay, Bill is a decent fellow, and it would be a good thing if a topping girl like Betty chucked Herbert ever. He's not lior sort." Skeeter glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes to rounds," he s^iij. "There'll be trouble if he don't hurry. By the way, I wonder if Bill's in yet. I'll go and look." He went across the corridor, and when he returned his ftico bore a troubled look. "No, by gosh. He's not. I hope they haven't had a fight and messed each other up," Meanwhile out in the grounds all was still, except for the guard who patrolled to see that everything was in order. Suddenly he stopped as he saw a figure climbing the wall over the western gate. Quickly he leaned iiis bicycle against a tree and began to hurry in the direction of the intruder. It was Herbert. He had stayed quarrelling with Betty and her mother until long after the closing time of the gates, and he was doing his best to get in unobserved. He dropped from the top of the wall to the ground, and began to move to- wards the buildiiig-s, keeping well under cover of some shrubbery. Suddenly he paused and looked round as Bill, following him closely, scrambled to the top of the wall behind him. While he was still watching, tho guard reached him. "Now, then, young man, you're out after time," the guard said. "Turn round and let me see who you are." Herbert almost froze where he stood. He was under open arrest, and this would moan expulsion. Then suddenly he realised that the guard did not know his name, and in the darkness would never recognise him from the back. Swiftly, his whole safety depending on a desperate move, he swung round and crashed his fist into tho guard's face. The old man staggered back and fell. Before he could get to his foot, Herbert was gone. The guard mounted his bicycle and io<le back to the office. He reached it just before the officer of the watch set out on his rounds, and hurriedly related what had happened. (Continued on page 26.)