Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

Every Tuesday BOY'S CINEMA 3 Wendell bought a revolution, Zup gambled for a crown, and so they both became King of El Dorania—with comic complications. A joyous farce, starring Wheeler and Woolsey, who are aided and abetted by Dorothy Lee and Edna May Oliver. Aunt Minnie Speaks Her Mind. OVER thi- diminutive but tcnipes- tuoMs South American ivingdom of Kl l)or;»ni:i King Oscar hap- pened to be Ktill reigning as Wendell Crahatii iipproached a big block of flat« on Park Avenue. New York City, on iho .second Poor of which the girl he loved and her aunt—wlio despised and detes-ted him—occupied lu.vurious apart- ments. Wendell, however, was not at the moment interested either in King Oscar or in his kinjjdoni, nor did it occur to liim that he ever would be. His thoLights wore occupied exclusively with beautiful Betty Harrington and the dis- tressing intimation he had received—by telephone—that she was going awpy. Wendell was young as well as ardent, clean-shaven, and not bad-looking. His brown hair was curly, and his eyes were grey—nearly as dark a grey as the sTiiartly-cut lounge suit he was wearing. II (I considerably <larker than the grey ofr felt hat upon his head. In his right hand he carried a large and expensive l« boiiC|uet of roses. He stepped into the hallway of the building and approached the lift-shaft. A taller young man was already stand- ing before tlie gate of ornamental iron- work, jabbing impatiently at the bell- push, and, according to the illuminated indicator above the gate, the cage was hoveritig somewhere between the fifteetith and sixteenth floors. Wendell waited, .sniffing appreciatively at his roses, but the tall ,\oung man smote the gate with his caiie as the pointer proclaimed that tlie lift, instead of descending for his benefit, was ascending .stili higfier. For a while the cage remained station.iry at the twen- tieth floor, then began to move upwards I again. The tall young man lost his temper utterly. He kicked savagely at the gate; he caught hold of a portion of its filigree work with both hands, and he rattled the gate with all his might. Wetidcll \va< l>egim>ing to feel im- parii-nt, but he stared at the tall one in Mirprise. And just then something liappeiuxl. The gate, for all its orna- mentatioti. was oidy of cast iron. The piece of filign-e work snapped ofT in the hands that tr(>ated it so ill. and the voting man. .'laving stared at the frag- ment in dismav, flung it down on the marble floor, and fled up the adjacent staircase. The illuminated pointer began to traca the downward career of the lift- cage. Wendell was sniffing at his roses when the door was flting open and the lift-man emerged. The liftman, a burly fellow, looked down at the broken ironwork on the floor, looked up at the damaged gate, and looked fiercely at Wendell. Wendell said nothing: the lift-man said nothing; but abruptly a massive fist crashed into Wendell's jaw. and he went sprawling on hi- back, still hold- ing the roses. As lie picked himself up he perceived that his assailant was pick- ing up the broken piece of iron, and his HELP THE NEWSAGENT. Have you ever thought how difDcult it is for a newsagent to order just the right number of copies of any particular paper each week 7 You can make his task much easier if you place a regular order with him. You will not only help him to order cor- rectly and avoid waste, but will make sure of getting your copy regularly each week. I>ack was turned. He made a dive for the doorwav, and descended the front steps to I'le street. Explanation, it seemed to him, would be useless, and might be painful. On the pavement outside the building he stopp<>d shert. A long ladder h.ul been left leaning against the wall by ;• man who had been attending to :• broken window-pane on the secCMxJ floor, and not far from the .sill again.'.t which the ladder was resting was the open window of the bath-room of tiui flat in which Bett.\ resided with her aunt, Minnie van Arden. Depositing the roses on a step, Wendell struggled manfully with th«! swaying ladder till its (opmost rung reposed against the open bath-room window. Then, retrieving his roses, he climbed gingerly upwards. In the spacious drawing-room of tfie flat of whicli the bath-room was an essential detail. Aunt Minnie van Ardeti and Betty were packing. Betty, a dainty little slip of a thing with a wistful expression and large blue- grey eyes, was standing beside a half- filled cabin trunk. Her aunt had just emerged from her own bed-room, t.'»ll, plain, sc-vere. carrying some of her own frocks from a wardrolxv Evidently in the intervals of .stowing things in the trunk these two were carrying on a couver.sation concerninB the young man who was in the act of climbing \tp the ladder. "But W<'ndell spid he's going to buil4 up his fortiuie." saiil Ik-tty defensively. . "Oh. he did. eh?" retorti-d her aunt, grabbing up a frock she had dropped on the carpet. "He's never made a. cent! He inherited five himdred thou.sand dollars, and promptly redi'ei>d them to a hundred thousand. If he ever loses that, he'll never earn a i)eMiiv. September 12th, 19$!.