Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

Every Tuesday th>- fallen bag, which lie opened and closed again with every sign of satis- faction. Joan was about to clamber indig- jiantiy down to him, when from the other side of the road a tall rider on a piebald horse suddenly appeared. Joim shrank back. It seemed to her a dreadful thing tluit Red should have . robbed Hampton in this way; it seemed still more dreadful that he should be c;uight red-handed, trying to lielp her. " Drop that gun, young fellow— and the bag!' shouted Firebrand, close behind Red's back. And Red, realising that he was caught, obeyed. " Now turn round ! I want to take a look at you !" In a panic, .Joan raised her tiny weapon and fired. Her intention was simply to give Red a chance to escape, and she took no aim. But the bullet pierced the brim of Firebrand's cow-hat and ploughed its way across his fore- ' head. He reeled in the .saddle and jiitched face downwards into the dust. .' ' Red grabbed up the bag and the gun, ■ and scurried off among the rocks, where •'■he remounted his horse. He was gallop- ' jiig away as Tony came out from under a clump of trees into the roadway, and ■ Joan reached the prone figure. ; "What happened?" Tony demanded . agitatedly as he flung himself from his mule. ■'Get some help I" shrilled Joan, and : sank down on her knees beside Fire- brand, whose face had gone deathly white except where a streak of crimson trickled. "What happened?" insisted Tony. "He's been shot by a bandit," faltered Joan, trying to stanch the wound in Firebrand's forehead with a wholly in- adequate handk'^rchief. "You nu-an he's goin' to die?" , " Xo. I'll have to take him over to my ranch. Get help, please I Oh, please I" At Bay ! THIS' wav and that Tony rode about on his mule till he sighted the farm and urged Blossom across to it. ' He poured forth an in- roherent story to Pete, who. with a number of hands, went ' back with him, carry- ing blankets and a. = hurdle. The uncon- ■ >cious Firebrand was conveyed to the farm- house and laid on Judd Howe's bed, i and a doctor was fetched from Kcrn- ville. Fortunately it was -not a very serious wound Joan had inflicted, but it was bad enough to put Firebrjiid out of action for several days, though on the second day he was able to get up and totter about with a bandage round his head. Joan found the stranger a handsome and anuising young fellow, and Firebrand, not ■ realising that she had shot liirn, decided tliat she was the •most adoiable girl in the world. A friendship developed ■ between then which ripened r a p id Vy into .something deeper. Tony, also installed at the ■farm, amused everybody wit " ' i o.uaint ways, and with his acvitabic guitar provided tj j x any an accoriipaniment for "*'' went Ue singing of cowboy ditties. BOY'S CINEMA But Firebrand began to entertain sus- picions concerning Red, as a result of hearing him shout one morning by -the corrals. Calves were being branded, and one had just been roped and laid low. Red, holding the branding-irons, had been giving instructions. Firebrand was in the yard, talking to Joan, who had just mounted her horse for a ride, but at the sound of that voice he went running to the corrals. She followed, curious as to the reason for his sudden lisappearance, and she found him standing beside the prostrate call, with a hand on Red's sleeve. "Was that you shouting just now?" he demanded. "Yes. Why?" inquired Red. "Shout again," directed Firebrand. Tony, who had wandered up with his precious guitar under his arm. looked on expectantly, knowing his leader's ways and anticipating trouble. But Red, with a shrug of his sliouldors, shouted again, at the top of his voice, but quite differ- ently. "My mistake," apologised Firebrand. And Joan, on her horse, gave a little sigh of relief. But a few evenings later, as Firebrand sat on a little seat in the garden, with Joan beside him in a silk frock that set off her beauty, Red called urgently from the bunkhouse: " Miss Howe !" Firebrand sprang up instantly. "What's the matter?" inquired Joan. "Whose voice is that?" "It's only my foreman," she replied. "I won't be a minute." And she ran off. full of misgiving. "What is it. Red?" she said severely. "You know what I told you." "Yes," replied that young man urgently, "but to-morrow's the day Hampton's got to be paid for that note." "I know," she said mournfully. "But what am I goiriL' to do diout it?" 19 "You're going to do Just what I told you—jjay kim with his own money." "Since when am I taking orders from you?" she demanded. "Didn't I shoot Firebrand to keep him from recognising you ? I can't do such a thi'ig '" "Don't be silly! " laughed Red. " He'll never know it's his own money, and your worries will be over—except about your dad. ' Firebrand, who had been Ciuitc himself again for .^overal days, but who had re- mained at the I'ari^ for his own purposes, came strolling lowarfis them, and Red promptly dived info the bunkliouse, while Joan turned to greet the man she had grown to love. "Well. " said Firebrand calmly, "I had a good look at that fellow Red in the moonlight, and I overheard most of your conversation." "Then—then vou know "' "Yes, I know,'little girl ! But I'll for- give you so long as yon let me help you. I want to see that money !" "B-but it was stolen from ^fr. Hamp- ton, and we'll have to give it back to him. I've had it ever-since that dread- ful day r'.' ,,"Joan," sujd Firebrand earnestly, "can't you tvust me?" " More than anyone in the world." "Well. then, let me have that money.'' They went into the house together, and in the sitting-room she brought him a big envelope crammed with notes. Ho examined them carefully against the light of a lamp. stud,\ ing the details of their priming and their watermarks. "What are you going to do, Fire- brand?" she asked. "Put everything right, I hope," he answered gravely. "But that won't bo to-night." The sound of a car in the road startled them both, and Firebrand thrust the notes into a pocket. Hampton was evi- dently not waiting till morning! Joan met the unwelcome visitor at the front door, and escorted him into the sitting-room, where he glared at Fire- brand. "What can I do for you, Mr. Hamp- ton ?' asked Joan. "Well, my ta«k is not a pleasant one," backwards over the top of the desk with Firebrand's left hand at his throat, while Hampion received a blow on the side of his jaw. . August 1st, ]931.^