Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

24 . "CV»irif buck to lay hie bones in the desert dust!" Abuk ..snarled. "Ere the sun goes down, I'll lay his body cold at;aiii.--t the hot sand !" " Does he hriiifc the jade ?" his conipainon wliisixMed. .. '• How can he bring the jade when no man knows where it be ?" Abuk asked. "Long have I waited for his return, and now he is come he shall pay the price!" "And the one with him?" "He, too," Abuk snarled, "and thi> girl! There is no mercy in my heart since these tliricc-accursed infidels found that which we sought and took it for thein.sehes. May their bones rot, may scorpions share their beds, may pigs defile their graves!" He cursed in his beard and watched the three move on along the street. Abuk and his companion descended swiftly from the balcony, and, while ttio other watched, Abuk darted into the bazaar below. He strode swiftly, his red cloak flutt<'ring. to where a sandal-maker stitched slowly at .«oft leather. ■'i'lie son of Lamar has returned!" Abuk bent low and whispered in his ear. " Give the word, good Yakoub—and spread it swiftly! Say they pass even now by the Street of Many Feet. Bid the Keepers watch and wait a sign from me. 1 will parley before I kill." " I go, Akub, swifter than the hot wind of the desert's morn!" Yakoub answered, and he rose as he spoke, to dart along the bazaar. Jack and Percy and Helen strolled slowly along the naiiow road, and always Jack's arm was pressed above tin- bulge which was the Jade Box in his breast-pocket. In his coat he also carried a loaded automatic. Percy was similarly armed, and Helen carried a lighter—but just as deadly weapon—in her handbag. " We'll go into the Cafe of the Seven Seas." Jack said. "I've got a feeling that the Keepers of the Jade have their Temple somewhere near there." " And I've got a feeling that they're liable to start a fight if they learn what you've got with you," Percy told him. "I don't see how the.y can," Jack answered. "Not when they know we've come to hand the bo.x back to them, and-and to release my father. That's if he's still alive." "He's alive all right," Helen re- a.ssured him. "The messages from the Shadow Man prove that." They walked on, and it was Percy who fii'st got the feeling that they were being watched. A beggar, squatting on a corner in his dusty rags, and with his wooden gourd outstretched for alms, eyed them with a [leculiar glance, while a mat that draped the wall behind him shifted, and Percy thought that two black and staring eyes glared out. '■ l"'rom the parapet of a flat roof, where palms fonned a green fringe, another man watched them, his eyes expression- less above the garment that screened his face. Once a man passed, staring full at them, liis lips drawn from his teeth in a half-snarl that made J'ercy reach for his gun. ■ • As the.v neared the Cafo of the Seven Seas, the trafTic in the streets thinned. Shopkeepers no longer cried their wares to them; water-sellers no longer swung Itheir goat-skins temptingly, nor pointed ito the sherbet they carried on their trays. All whom thev j)assed looked at them peculiarly, and Jack became aware of it I presently, so did Helen, I; " Somclhiiig brewing," was Jack's comment, "T guess I must, have been recogni.sed. T certainly did turn this town ini.ide out before 1 slopped lof)kinK . fnr fl.Tfl I Anyhow, there's the cafe.'' BOY'S CINEMA He nodded ahead. The other two saw a long, low-fronted building with yellowed walls and an entrance shaded by reed screens. They paused when they reached it and looked in. They saw that the interior was almost empty. None of the tables around the walls were occupied, but a few natives sprawled on the cushions scattered about the floor. Jack led the way in, and made for a table near one of the fragile walls, which were made for the most part from cane and plaited leaves. The natives stopped chattering the moment that the tliree entered, and silence fell, to be broken again while the men eyed Jack and Percy covertly. The three sat down at one of the tables, and a native came to ask them for their order. Jack called for sherbet, and, as he did so, Abuk stepped alone through the entrance. "Percy, see that man! He tried to get the box from my father just before the fight here, and " "And he's coming over to have a word with you!" Percy broke in. Abuk strode straight towards them. He stopped and bowed to Jack, then said softly: " The young white lord has returned, and he seeks—what '!" "My father," Jack answered. "Not the jade?" asked Abuk, and his teeth glittered as he smiled. "Has my lord forgotten how a man died in the bazaar ? Or that the buzzards strip the bones of those who cross flie Keepers of the Jade ?" , "I want to meet those to whom the jade box belongs," Jack said slowly. "I have it here." Abuk straightened with a jerk. "May thy lying tongue curl in thy mouth and choke thee!" he said simply. "I do not lie!" Jack told him gravely. "See!" From his jjocket he drew the green casket. At sight of it Abuk stepped back. Behind him every man in the strange building rose, and one of them gasped: "The Jade Box of Quabilya !" "By the bones of the Prophet, it is the jade!" Silence dropped, then Abuk's hand slid beneath his cloak and the chill steel of his dagger flashed as he drew it. "White lord, be wi.se! I will spare thy lite—for the jade!" The others crowded behind him now, all men whom Yakoub the sandal-makcr had roused. More knives glinted as they began to press clo.se about the table. "Release my father—and the jade is yours!" Jack answered. "The jade!" Abuk stretched out his hand. "(Jive me the jade, and its .Keepers shall be merciful." " My father is " Jack broke ofl', and his automatic jerked from his pocket. He fired as Abuk leaped at him, the bullet splinter- ing the boards at the man's feet. Abuk slopped dead. Percy's gun came out. then Helen's nickeled automatic glinwnered in her small hand as the three of them faced the group of natives across the table, holding them at bay. " 1 came here to return the box to those who own it," Jack said tensely. " Uelease my father, and you shall have it. But try and take it from me, and we'll shoot—understand?" He met Abuk's eyes, and the big native lowert d his raised dagger. "As my lord wills!" He bowed, and a gesture made the men behind him Lack awn.v- " A.= my lord wills!" He moved down the cafe, then reached out and |)ulled a hidden cord on (he wall. Immediately a bcclion of it lifted, Every^TuesJay^ di,sclosing broad steps which ran down- wards. Abuk bowed as he spoke again. "The Temple of the Sacred Jade lies below," he said. "Descend and meet those to whom the box belongs. Speak with them about thy father," Jack glanced at Helen and Percy, then looked towards the steps. Candles, set in niches on the wall, lit them, but they were gloomy and strange. "You stay here, and I'll go down," he said. "No, let's all go," Helen answered, "I don't suppose I shall be much good if theie's any more trouble, but I can help. Go on, Jack!" They stepped towards the opening, Abuk watched them in silence, and Jack led the way through. The three were descending the steps when Abuk followed. At the bottom was a door. Jack pushed it open, and discovered a wide, empty, stone-walled chamber. To the left of this was a green door; opposite was one made from timber, heavily barred with iron. Abuk moved to this apd pushed it open, then stepped aside and motioned for them to enter. Jack saw that it was lit by four high candles which were placed about a great jar. made from green jade like the box that he carried. The jar was crowned by a massive lid with a handle formed in the shape of the idol which the box itself also bore. This chamber was quite small, and Abuk followed them only as far as the threshold. "If my white lords and the white lady will wait here," he said, "I will tell the Priests of the Jade that you bring that which they have long sought," He was smiling as he spoke, and there was something in his voice which made Percy look at him keenly. Bowing, still smiling, Abuk stepped back, then, with a quick movement, he crashed shut the heavy door, Percy jumped towards it, but he dis- covered that there was no handle on the inside, and ho heard the rasp of heavy bars falling into position fr^m the outer chamber. "He's locked iis in!" he exclaimed. "That's nothing to worry about— we've got guns if thoy start any tricks!" Jack .said. " We've got the Box, and that's what they really want. We're safe until they can get it off us—and they won't do that until I know that my father is all right!" They looked round the chamber, and at the straight flames of the four big candles around the jar. "What's in that?" Helen asked. "What's the Look!" Her exclamation was almost a scream. All three saw a. shadowy hand forming on the air above the jar, and behind it swiftly appeared a tenuo\is form. It was a Shadow-Man looming above the candles, and they .saw his du.sky fingers close about the lid which crowiicd the green vessel. Ho lifted it with a -sudden snatch, almost as though he was answering Helen's question. He lifted the lid high on the air, and as it rose thin, .smoke-like trails rose with it. They thickened, rising from the jar's mouth. " Fumes!" Percy yelled. " Fumes, Jack—like those which came out of the phial in tlie Jade Box '" They thickened as he spoke, forming a cloud which rolled sullenly out on the air. "The.v're the fumes tliat turned i\Iorgan into a Shadow-Man!" Jack gasped, (To be concluded next week. By per- mission of the Universal Films, Ltd., starring Jack Perrin and Louise Lorraine.)