Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

24 HEROES OF THE FLAMES."! (Continued from page 22.) I hand-brake on my i-nadstor seems to be out of order." He went out of the house, and June heard him start up^ier auto and drive off. He could not have been gone for more than a few minutes when the 'phone bell rang, and as she picked up I tlic receiver she heard the voice of Battalion Chief Wilson. "Oh, hallo, chief!" she called. "Xo, dad isn't in. Oh, yes, about Bob. Morgan's Point, you say? Bob's going there." She chanced to raise her glance, and with the movement saw a man's rtflec- tion in a minor on the wall. He was standing on the threshold of a pair of french windows, listening attentively to all she said, and as she recognised him as the rascally Butch she slammed down the receiver, wreiMied open a drawer in the desk and snatched a revolver that was lying there. "What are yon doing here?" she rapped out, wheeling round. Butch took one look at the gun and then fled. Ruiniing to the french windows, June .saw him sprint along the drive and clamber into a car out- side the gates. On the spur of the moment she . darted to her father's roadster, which stood near the fron* door of the house, and in anothei second or two she was speeding in pur- suit of the gangster. The chase that ensued was one that covered a distance of two or three miles, and June quickly realised thai her quarry was travelling in the direc- tion of Morgan's Point. It seemed imperative to her then that he must be prevented from warning any of his associates of Bob's intention, and with this object in view, June did her utmost to overtake him. Her father's roadster was consider- ably faster than the auto Butch was driving, and, drawing ahead of him on a lonely stretch of road, she swerved precariously into his track. To avoid a crash the gangster wrenched his car aside, and in an instant it had driven its bonnet into a steep embankment that flanked the trail. June carri6d on, and by the time Butch had crawled from his auto she was out of sight. The gangster's machine was crippled, and he had re- signed himself to . a long walk when another car came into view. It was travelling from the city, and it contained Spike and tlie rest of the gang. Butch waved them down, and as they came abreast he hurriedly ex- fjlained what had happened. "That Madison jane ran me off the road," ho snarled. "Wrecked my car an' nearly wrecked me. I heard her answer a 'phone call at her house, an' it seems Darrow is headed for Morgan's Point." "Get in here. Butch," jerked Spike Beldon. "We'll have to hurry." Meanwhile, a mile down the road, June was approaching a fork. She wa.s uncertain of tho route to Morgan's Point, and chose the left-hand branch, and she had proceeded some distance along it before she realised that she was on the wrong trail. Bringing the car to a standstill she turned and drove back towards the fork. October Slst, 1931. BOY'S CINEMA praying that she might yet be able to warn Bob that he was in danger. Into the Depths. REACHINCr the garage under the water-tower at Morgan's Point, the crooks drove round to the back of the structure and scrambled out of their car. "Well, I don't see any tracks," said Spike, after scrutinising the immediate vicinity. "Darrow ain't here yet. Come on, let's get in that garage and search the auto we used last night." They filed into the building and pro- ceeded to ransack the car that stood inside, and it was as he was dragging out the uphoUtery in the back of the automobile that Silk Connolly gave vent to a triumphant exclamation. "Hey, fellers," he announced, "I've got it ! Here it is!" And he produced a paper that was covered with chemical symbols. "It's Greek to me," said Spike, taking it from him and examining it. "Yeah, but it's the formula all right," declared Merlin, who could boast ol some education. " I took chemistry at the school I went to when I was a kid, an' even though I couldn't tell you what they mean now, I recog nise some of them ciphers. Spike, you can get in touch with Mitchell an' " He did not finish the sentence, for at that moment the nimiistakable sound of a motor-bike's engine was heard. The machine was brought to a halt outside the garage, and, with a significant look at his companions. Spike suddenly threw open the door. The gangsters saw Bob Darrow and Pat Heeley climbing from the bike, and made a concerted rush at the two firemen. It was an attack that took the newcomers completely by surprise, but though they were driven across the road at tho outset they speedily asserted their fighting qualities. Silk Connolly and Buck had launched themselves on Pat, but they learned to their cost that he was more than a match for them, and though they landed one or two early blows, the OUR GRAND NEW ANNUAL. Don't forget to get a copy of this wonderful new Annual. It is packed with thrilling film stories, pictorial articles and coloured plates. Price 6/- net, at all Newsagents, Every Tuesday Irishman levelled Buck with a terrifi" swing and then gave Silk his ut- divided attention in hurricane style. In the meantime. Bob was tackling Spike, Merlin and Butch with devastat- ing effect. Spike he laid low with a smashing right-cross that swept the gang-leader off his balance and hurled him to the ground where he seemed content to remain. Merlin •wa.t hammered into a dazed condition by a slashing attack that finally bundled him into a ditch by the roadside. Butch proved a tougher handful,' and, in the instant of Merlin's fall scored with a dastardly blow that, caught Bob behind the ear and knoclied him staggering. But Bob recovered iu time to swing around and meet the formidable rush with which his adver- sary followed up his success. He checked that rush with a stiff left, and the two men fought toe to toe, with Bob gradually taking the offensive. A sledgehammer drive to the ribs winded the big gangster, and a smart clip across the point of the jaw rattled him badly. He was floundering backward in an ignominious retreat when Spike Beldon struggled to hia feet, reluctantly summing np enough courage to tackle Bob again. Bob diverted his attention , from Butch and slammed his right to the point of Spike's chin, and Dan Mitchell's henchman tumbled to the dust once more. But the brief interlude had given Butch a chance to redeem himself, and he launched a fresh onslaught on Bob. This time the young fireman side- stepped, and as his man bhmdered past he ripped a punch to his heavy jowl. It was at this juncture that June ^Madison appeared on the scene, and, drawing uj) close to where Bob was standing, she pullctl on the hand-brake. The rachct that should have held it fast was ineffective, but in her agitated frame of mind she did not notice tho circumstance, and her father's reason for using her car completely slipped her memory. ■ She climbed out of tho roadster as Butch spun around and made anotlier rush at Bob. Bob hit tlie gangster with a force that battered him against tho door of the car. and under the impact of tho man's bulk it swung violently on its hinges and struck June on the' lomple. She sank (o the ground with a little moan, and in a moment Bob was beside lor. ".June!" ho panted, lifting her mxiously in his arms. "June, you ould never have come here!" .She made no answer, and he realised I hat tlic collision with the door had >tuiniod her. Then he saw Butch npi^roaching him onco more, an(^t liuiulliug the girl into the roadster, dosed the door and wheeled to face ;i>sailanl. Butch grappled with him, and, lock! ui a fierce struggle, tho two meal staggered towards tho back of tho otr^j where, with a sudden lierculean cfl< l?ob swung his man clear of liis feet ancj Hung lum away. The biuly ruffian struck the roadstet^ and. standing as it did on a .sli^ inoline, with tho rachet of its hand-braki failing to hold fast, it needed only th* single shock to set the automobile ,ii motion. It rolled forward, and, before Bo' realised that it was on the move, it f»' ■ running to tho brow of a steep nil