Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

eteps scvcial of O'Dowd's superiors were stuiKJiiig, watcliing tlie parade, auil among Iheni was hooknosed Chief Donovan, waving to the recruits in a sjjirit of patriotism. Possessed by a sudden imp of mischief, Cookie raised his voice and !iis arrn. "Hi, chief!" ho shouted. "What d'you think of Olfieer O'Dovvd ? ilc'fi going to war i" Mike gasped. "Well, what the " !i<> began. "Yes, sir, lie's joined up!" c'ricd Ccokie. Donovan swooped down fron: the steps of the police-station and made his way through tho crowd. "The first volunteer from the polioe ile;iartment," laughed Cookie. The chief fell into step and offered his hand to the flabbergasted Irishman. "Congratulations, O'Dowd." said he enthusiastically. "I'm proud of you!" "But, sir," stammered Mike, " I—I— I " "Now don't be modest," said Dono- \an, gripping a reluctant hand. "You don't have to explain—you're doing a very fine thing." "That's the spirit, chief," cooed CVokie, thoroughly enjoying 0"Dowd'.< discomfiture. "We're ail in it, and everybody should do his bit." "Good luck, O'Dowd !" boomed Dono- van. "And don't be worried about your job. It'll be waiting for you when you get back." Inwardly O'Dowd was i)oiling, but there was no escape now I He man- aged to mutter unfelt thanks, and Chief Donovan skipped back to the steps of the station. The procession moved on. "Good-morning," said Cookie cheer- fully to his victim, for all the world as though he had never seen him before, "I'm the inquiring reporter from the ' Herald '—and what noble impulse prompted i/ou to heed you.r country's call?" Mike made no ansv.er. Mere words were incapable of expressing his feel- ings; but his eyes were murdering (Jookio all the way to the recruiting office. Even into that building Cookie marched with the man he had thrust into the Army. In the clothing depart- ment he stood beside him while he got his cap, his boots, his tunic, his slacks and his puttees, none of which he wanted. A wooden rail divided tho.se who ap- proached the open windows from those who had acquired their outfits and wore s(reaming back to ^ doorway leading to the drcfsing-room. A burly sergeant kept the men moving as-rapidly as pos- sible, for all these recruits, apart from the two, had been examined and passed for active service before the parade. O'Dowd, with his bundle, was close to tlio doorway when Cookie delivered a final insult. "You've gotta give nic credit, Mike," ho Siiid pleasantly. "If it hadn't been for mo you wouldn't be in this man's Army." "Give nic patience with that fellow !" exclaimed Mike wildly. "You don't realise what you owe me." pursued Cookie. That was the last straw. " I know exactly what I owe you, brother!" roared Mike, dropping his bundle. "And that's it !" His left fist shot out with the force of a steam-hammer, and Cookie was cuuight unawares on the point of tlic jaw. He went down with a crash and rcllt"d under the rail. O'Dowd dis- appeared into a corridor; other men passed in after hini. July ISth, 1931. BOY'S CINEMA "Do jou hear the little birdies?" jeered a recruit who was just behind. (Jookio had received a very nasty jolt, but his jaw was built to withstand jolts. Ho sat up, nursing the jaw, blinking at staj-s. A score of men streamed past him before he got to his feet, intent on retaliation. Ho reached the doorway, his fists clenched, his mouth set in a straight and murderous line. But a massive sergeant cauglit at his arm and dragged him back. "Hi, where are you going?" de- manded the sergeant. " I'm going to get the guy that socked me in the jaw 1" snapped Cookie. "You can't go in there till you're signed up!" They were blocking the doorway to the bundle-bearing recruits, and one of those recruits decided to have his say in the matter as Cookie stood hesitat- ingly there. "Sure you're big enough to fight?'' he taunted. "Maybe he's afraid to fight," sug- gested another. "He's too good-looking to fight!" Cookie scowled at this second speaker. "Ob, yeah?" ho drawled savagely. " All right, sergeant, put mo in the same outfit with that guy who socked me, and I'll join your cock-eyed army !" "Buddy," chuckled the sergeant, " you're in !" He caught hold of Cookie's arm and propelled him down a wide passage and into a room on the left, where a young subaltern sat at a desk. "Lieutenant," he said, "here's a man who just can't wait to join up." The lieutenant looked Cookie up and down and grinned boyishly at him. "In a hurry, eh V" he said. "Yeah," responded Cookie. "I've got a date with a guy in there!" And he jerked his head in the general direc- tion of the heart of the building. "What's your name?" " C. Cook Leonard." " What's the ' C ' for V "Chauncey," replied Cookie quietly. " But don't let that fool you !" In No Man's Land. FRIENDSHIP is often born of un- propitious circumstances. As a reporter Cookie had fallen foul of Mike O'Dowd on numerous occasions, and the two misunderstood and dislik(>d one another; but having got into the army and fought out their private battle during tho period of training, they .sailed for France to fight in greater battles tho statinehcst of chums. They quarrelled in billets, they quar- relled in the trenches, for such was their nature; but they had grown to under- stand one another and to appreciate one another's qualities. How deeply the friendship went was demonstrated one night after a raid on the enemy. Both men took part in tho raid, with shells and bombs bursting in all directions, and Very lights illu- minating tho tangled waste of No Man's Land. " They've sure stirred 'cm up out there," growled a private on the fire- step to a lieutenant beside him. "They're coming back," said the lieutenant. "Well. I hope Cookie comes back," remarked another man known as "Lefty." "He owes me forty francs!" They watched tho dark figures crawl- ing through tho broken wire entangle- ments. "Looks like they've got a prisoner!" exclaimed one of the watchers. "They've got two of 'em,'' rejoiced tho lieutenant. Every Tuesaay The men cf the raiding party approached the parapet, covered with mud, but triumphant. They scrambled down into tho trench with their two prisoners, ono of whom had been knocked almost senseless by Cookie. "Good work. Leonard," approved the lieutenant. "Fine! Here, take this man to Major Watson, quick!" A corporal relieved Cookie of his captive. " Well, arc we all back ?" "I don't know, sir," replied Cookie, almost unrecogni.sablo in his dirt. "Seen !Mike, any of you?" "Sergeant O'Dowd?" questioned the lieutenant. " Anybody seen O'Dowd ':" "Ho was with ine when (hey opened fire," stated a private. "I think they got him in the legs." Cookie .sprang up on to the fire-step and peered out across tho waste. "I see him!" ho growled. "He's hung on the wire, the fathead !" Tho lieutenant, beside him, looked through his glasses. "They're coining out to take him prisoner," he said. "Gimme that typewriter!' barked Cookie, and one of tho men obediently handed him a portable machine-gun, with which ho raked the advancing Gerqians, some of whom fell wounded, while the rest retired in haste. "Good work!" quoth the lieutenant. "Yeah—rough on rats—that's me," drawled Cookie, and, dropping the machine-gun, began to climb over the parapet. "No you don't, Leonard!" exclaimed the lieutenant, grabbing at his legs. "Well, what are you goin' to do?" demanded Cookie indignantly. " Leave him out there in that hot spot?" "But you can't get to him!" "I'vo got a date with him," snapped Cookie, and, breaking free, he climbed over the sand-bags, and went crawling towards the wire. A bomb whistled through the night and burst close to where ho was crawl- ing, sending up a great mass of earth and debris that for a time blotted out everything. Tho lieutenant shivered, and several men fell backwards with tho force of the explosion. "That got him!" gasped one of them. But it hadn't! For a few moments Cookie lay stunned; then resolutely ho crawled on again, reached the barbed wire and the dim figure attached to ii, and rose to his knees to ply wire-cutters with feverish speed. "Whero'd they get you, Mike?" he demanded gruffly as ho worked. "In tho legs," was the faint reply. "Lie still—I'll get you out." "Don't bo a fool," mumbled Mike. "Go back!" "Aw, go and lay an egg!" retorted Cookie savagely. " There! Now conic on—crawl out!" Ho tugged with all his might, helping his wounded chum to free himself. "Now swing on top of me," ho com- manded, "and keep low. Get higher up on my back." Rifle fire broke loose, and bombs yicro thrown, as the enemy saw Mike's rescuer crawling away like a misshapen tortoise, with the man ho had saved on his back. " He's bringing him in!" exclaimed the lieutenant. "Yes—but he'll never make it." growled a private. A bomb exploded quite near the crawl- ing figure and its burden, blotting them out from sight. "Too bad!" murmured the lieutenant. " Woll, bov," said one of those wl»o