Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

20 f.. HEROES OF THE FLAMES (Continued from page 24.) ■1 Spike Boldon movotl forward at that tiioiiicnt, and, hurrying ahead of iVIerlin, pidli'd an automatic from his hip-jjockct und scrambk'd down the slope of a loiif; iidgc. Pausing when he vvas seventy or cigiity paces from the group near the oabin, he leveHed the pihtol and sent a bullet among them. The smash of the shot split the silence Startlingly. It vvas followed by another and another, and leaden '•lugs began to ffy amongst the party in the hollow.- They crouched down, but were still in peril—particularly Bob and Pat, as their captives started to struggle vio- lently in their grasp. Then Madison called out. "Into the sports oar—quickly!" he jerked. "Let's get away from iiere." It w as the wisest course, for they were completely at the mercy of the armed man on the lidge. So the two fiiijmen abandoned their prisoners, though not before they had laid them out with a couple of well-timed jolts, and scram- bled into the spare compartment at the back of the automobile, while Madi-son took his place beside June again. The car swung round and headed fc- the road, whereupon Spike turned and raced back to the auto by which he and bis associates had arrived. Merlin fol- lowed his example, and it was he who took the Avheel. "Pick up those two down at the cabin !" Spike jerked. Merlin drove the toiu-er down into the hollow, where Butch and Connolly were roused. They clambered on to the lunning-board as the car swept forward ill pursuit of the Madisons' two-seater, and by the time the road was reached they had dragged themselves into the back of the auto. The Madisons' sports car was a hun- dred-and-fifty yards in front, and was speeding back in the direction of the tunnel. M'itli her foot crammed on the acceleratoj, June watched the needle pass the fifty-five mark. Spike opened fire again, and the fugi- tives crouched down as the bullets whined past their heads. Then Madison pulled something from lis pocket and pushed it towards the back seat, which Bob and Pat occupied. It was a re- volver that he had brought with him as a precaution. "Here," he panted, "take this! Hit their tyres if you can !" Pat seized the weapon, and. twisting round, tried to take aim. He pidled the trigger, and the gun kicked spite- fully, the shot missing the tyres com- [iletely but ricocheting off one of the wings and grazing Spike Beldon's cheek. The surface of the road was none too smooth, and straiglit irhooting was im- possible. But the fact that the fugitives possessed a gmi had a pronoimced effect on Beldon and his companions. Tliey had been gaining appreciably on the INIadisons' car, but now they kept their distance. Some way ahead, in the gloom of the tunnel, a labourer was setting a match to a fuse that, had been comiected with the charge of dynamite. "J'he quartette in the sports car knew nothing of this, however, and June continued to drive ot high speed. Spike Beldon was still blazing at tho fugitives with the automatic, and Pat October lOtli, 1981. BOY'S CINEMA Iloeley was still firing at the touring- car's tyres. Tho report? punctuated the drone of the engines, the crashes of the revolver vibrating in the ears of the Irishman and his friends, the stabbing retort of Beldon's "gat" sounding like a vicious echo. Tlie sports car swung round a sharp bend and came in full view of the tunnel- mouth. The flagman .stationed there innnediatcly ran forward, waving the danger-signal imperatively. "Stop that car!" he shouted. June kept her foot on the accelerator. She could not have pulled up even had she wanted to, and with a band of des- perate men in full pursuit she had no intention of braking. The flagman suddenl\ became frantic as he realised that the ^irl was coming on in spite of his command to lialt. "Hold that car!" he yelled. "Hold that car. will yuh ?" He sprang a.ide as the sports car bore down on him. It missed him by in<lies. and, blanching, he screamed a warning at its occupants. "Don't go in that tuini.-l ! They'je goin' to blast !" But .Tune did not hear. Ceitainly she eased up a little, on account of-the black darkness before her. But, switcliing on the lights, she drove into the cavernous mouth—drove into the jaws of death, had slie but known it. The tourer containing Mitchell's hire- lings skidded round the bend that June had taken a moment previously. The flagman stationed near the tunnel mouth caught sight of it, and, determined to spare its occupants the fate that must overwlulin rhe quartette in the sports car. he jumped into the automoJiile's path. "Stop!" he bellowed. "They're gonna blast>! Take the loop road !" Merlin paid as much heed to him as .Tune had done, and again the flagman was compelled to leap for safetv, but this time he was a .second too late. The running-board of the tourer caught his leg and bowled him over. Ho was flung down by the roadside and lay still. But he had at least achieved his purpose, for the tourer swerved wildly and rocked across the load towards a tall embankment. Merlin crammed on the brakes, but it was with a certain amount of violence that the tourer thudded into tlie steep slope. The crooks were badly rattled by the shock, though the car itself sus- tained no damage beyond a burst tyre. Meanwhile, the Madisons' auto was forging through the ploopr of the tunnel. The wedge of brilliant light from the powerful headlamps danced spasmodic- ally as the auto bumped ever the broken groiind, and suddenly the beam picked out a moving .spark of fire. It was the Fatal spark that was eat- ing its way along the fuse to the charge of dynamite! The .<^park reached (he explosive. Tliere was a blinding flash of flame and a deafening roar. A shock of air met the car and stopped it. and from June's lips there catne a scream that mingled shrillv with (he reverberating echoes of the blast. Then, with a sound like a thunder- clap, a section rf tVie tunnel caved in. Shattered timbers and ma.'.ses of rock iaine<1 down as walls and roof collapsed, and the car and its occupants were buried under a cataract of d6bris! (Don't miss next week's enthralling episode. By permission of the Universal Pictures Ltd., starring Tim McCoy and Marian S^ockley.) Every Tuesday ' EVERYTHING'S ROSIE." I ,, (Continued from page 12.) I "It's all right, honey,'" soothed Doc— "it's all right. It's just a joke." "You think so?" thundered the sheriff. "Well, you tell it to the judge and see if he laughs. Take liim along. Sam !" The deputy grabbed Doe by the arm and tried to drag him to the stairs, but Rosie clung. "Don't worry, honey.' urged Doc. 'I'll be right back in ten minutes. You wait here." "She will not!" cried the sheriff. "Get your things, young lady—you're coming with me." "Where are you taking her?" shouted Doc indignantly. "Surely you don't think she had anything to do with it ? Why. she's only a child." "That's just it," was the immediate retort. " She's under age,«she's not your daughter, and you're not fit to take care of her. I'm going to put her in the orphanage where she belongs. Take him away." "Onta orrywa." said Doc cheerfully to Rosie. "I'll be ackba." "What are you saying to her?" dcnuuided the sheriff. "Just savin' good-bye in Chinese." Doc replied. And while the sheriff iield Rosie, the deputy marched him off down the stairs and away to the little town gaol, where he was shut in a barred ci-ll with a singularly stupid-looking ni.i'i in uniform outside it for gacler. Doc. who was still in his dress clotlies and top hat. sat down on a hard bunk and thought. Half an hour passed, and the guard looked in through the doer of iron bars to find that the prisoner was playing on the bunk with three lialves of waliuit shell' and a pea, and talking to himscif in this wise : "Now, you see. Doc. it isn't under there, and it isn't under there. So it's got to be under there. Isn't that right. Dec? Yeah, sure that's right—if you say so. But I still don't understand." "Ho, what are you doing there?" ex- claimed the guard, in astonishment. "Oh, hullo, hullo!" greeted Doc cheerfully. "You know. I was just hop- ing you'd come around." "Who were you talking to?" "Just having a little chat with the three musketters." "Three musketeers! Who are they?" "Come on in, and I'll introduce you." But the guard shook his head. "Nope." he growled. "Us guards ain't allowed to fraternise with the prisoners." "Well, there's no harm in just com- ing in here and locking theni over," suggested Doc. ■I'he guard was tempted and the guard fell. He ui\!ocked the door of the cell and approached the bunk. Doc msnipu . lated the shells and explained the game. " I bet a guy could lose his shirt on a stunt like that." .said the guard. "I hope so." cooed Doc. "I mean — that's impossible ! You see, the eye is nuich quicker than the hand. Let's try it ! Now the pea goes under the little shell, so—so—so " In less than five minutes the guard was doing his best to win money. In less than an hour a uniformed m.-in, whcse clothes fitted him none too well, presented him.self «t the orphanagr-, demanded to see the matron, and, on being ushered into that daiue's pr'j-