Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

Every Tuesday a terrible blow. It seemed to be the end of everything. ■'But. Eve, surely you can't believe She held up a silencing hand To hear his rebukes was more than she could bear. 'Need we say anything more?" she fcaid wearily. "I know you will see how impos-sible it all is." He nodded. Yes, he could see that. Marriage to a girl wlio did not believe in him was utterly out of the question. Silently he took back the ring. There came a heavy thundering at the outer door. William.^ opened it, to admit an ofiiciiii-looking man who gave the name of Inspector Betterton. Craylo promptly led the detective into the library, and pointed to Rupert. '"That is the man, inspector," he said. Betterton strode across the room, and came to a halt by Rupert's side. '"There need be no fuss, Mr. Endon." he said quietly. "I shall have to take you along, of course, and I am giving you the usual caution about saying any- thing that might be used in evidence against you." Rupert looked at him levelly. and saw that the inspector was by no means in- exiierienced in the lumdling of men. He also glanced at the door, and saw t»o more officers standing outside. Appealingly he turned to Eve. "Is what you just said quite final. Eve ?" he asked. "I am afraid it is,'" she replied, chok- inj; back a sob witii an effort. Rupert shrugged his shouldei*. By now he was burning with a sense of in- justice. Eve believed liim guilty, and if she turned against him, the world was against him, too. A slight frown appeared on his fore- head. Into his mind came thoughts of revenge. Yes, that was it. Revenge, even if it took him the remainder of his life. He would get even with Crayle— yes. and with the girl who had deserted him in his hour of need. Hi- mind rn^de up, he ncted Rwjftly. BOY'S CINEMA A sudden blow in Bctterton's chest sent the detective staggering backwards. The next moment he had gamed (he win- dow, and hung poised for a .second. "I'll come back—some day'" ho shouted. Then he vanished from sight, swinging through a window of one of the cellars, and making his way through the maze of pa.56ages that liad once been used by smugglers and pirates." If only he had waited a few moments longer! If only he had heard Eve's agonised cry to Crayle: "Please let him go, Mr. Crayle. l^et him go, and I'll marry you!" Crayle'ti trump card was played. He told Betterton to let Rupert go, in spite of the fact that Eve said she would be a a wife in iiatne only. It was only a matter of time, he refJected, before she capitulated and made him the happiest man alive. By that belief, he made the one mis- take of all his scheming. Retribution, devastating and complete, had already cast its shadow over his future life. Captain Ruin. RUPERT got clear away, not knowing that the hue and cry had been stopped before it had really started. He made his way on foot to a neighbouring port, and took the first ship availabTe. He did not know where it was going—did not even care. That was the last the world heard of him for three years. At the end of that time he had com- pletely .sunk his old identity. To all in- tents and purposes, Rupert Endon had died, and in his place had come a mysterious man whose name held terror for everyone who heard it—Captain Ruin. Captain Ruin and Rupert Endon were one and the same rnan! In a cheap cafe by the waterside at Penang. Rupert sat drinking. The life of hardsliip he had led during the time f-mce he had left Endon Castle showed its ma''k^ **" i"- t.wr> 1( \\i= linrd an'I mer- 13 ciless. "Charming Endon " wa.s no longer to be seen. The cafe was in the Chinese ciuarter, tucked away in a street that was evil- smelling and sinister. Men were mur- dered every night in that district, but Rupert was not disturbed by the dangem lie wa.s obviously running. Only onco had anyone tried to interfere with him, and the outcome had been so terrible for the attacker tliat the reputation of Captain Ruin spread far and wide. The offender had been a drunken Chink, wliofse befuddled brain conceived the idea that he could knife Rupert and rob him of his money. Rupert, his cars ever alert, had heard the Chink coming. With a swift, pantlierine movement, he had spun round and had caught in mid-air I he hand that held the knife, and by the sheer strength in his arm forced tfic man to tlic ground. Five minutes later Rupert arrived at the self-same cafe in which he was now sitting. Across one shoulder fie carried the' Chink, unconscious. Wh ;n that would-be nuirderer was examined, he was found to have a smashed jaw and a fractured forearm. Rupert was left alone after that. He made a living by undertaking dangerous jobs for anyone who cared to employ him, and his name was known throughout the length and breadth of Malay. The owner of the cafe was a China- man by the name of Li Fang. For years Li Fang had been awaiting an opportunity of meeting someone like Rupert—someone who could be trusted, and who was not afraid of death. He had hesitated long before approaciiiug Rupert. He had a mission he wanted undertaken, but it was one in which his man had to be selected with care. The iiiis.-~ion involved the finding of a hidcU-n diamond mine. Rupert would suit Li Fang's purpose admirably. for his knowledge of diamonds was the knowledge of an expert. But Li Fang hesitated still. Cnlimited wealth could well make an honest man forgetful that the property he was handling belonged to someone else. At the same time, he was sufficiently anxious for the safety of his own yellow lude that he did not want to perform the ta^k himself. The man known us Captain Ruin \Vas his only hope. He sent for Rupert in the end. His riaftv eyes glittered as he watclied Rupeit sit down in front of him and cilmK accept a cigarette. ' Aie jou honest, my friend?" he began Rupert stared at him fixedly. "That's a darned impertinent (lues- ion, Li Fang," was Rupert's swift "The—black—death I " the negro gasped. Then his head fell back. g Ptember Gtli, 1930.