Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

24 "In Uiat case," said Arnolcl, turning to Arlcnc, "you'd better go to your cabin and stay tliore." Arlcnc tooli liis advice and departed, and when she liad gone Arnold glanced at Bull. "That girl may make herself awkward vet," ho muttered. "She thinks she's got reason to be jealous of Bonnie Adams. Well, maybe she'll have reason yet. I've been thinking, Bull, that if Bonnie was to marry me there wouldn't be any need to get rid of her. For I'd bp in full control then, and I'd sec that she realised the folly of making a free gift of this radium to science." At that moment Bonnie was loaning against the bulwark and staring thought- fully across the vast expanse of ocean, and she was still in this pensive attitude when Rogers di.scovered her. . Ho touched his cap and spoke to her in a guarded tone, and, wondering at his manner as much as his words, Bonnie followed the man for'ard to the hatch. He conducted her down to the hold, and uttered a low call, which was immedi- ately answered by Harry and his fellow- stowaways. "Harry!" exclaimed Bonnie, as the Englishman stepped from his hiding- place. "And Briney and the boys! How did you get here?" " I told you the .ship that carried j'ou away wouldn't leave me far behind," Harry answered, with a grin. "Bonnie, we're here because we considered you were in danger. We've got friends among the new hands, and pretty soon one of them will give us the signal to cut loose. It may mean a desperate fight, but I'm going to regain command of this ship, and I want you to promise me that you'll stay in your cabin till it's all over " He got no farther, for at that instant the very sound that they awaited rang out clear and shrill upon the deck over head. Harry at once gripped Bonnie by the arm. "That's the signal." he said. "On second thoughts you'd better stay down here. Come on, boys." he added to his men. '' Up we go. and. remember—don't frlioot unless you have to." Harry was the first to ascend, and he V as closely followed by Briney and Bt(rke. The last-named had been pull- ing surreptitiously at a cigarette, and fliuig it to the floor as he set foot on the ladder. The glowing stub fell among some straw and sacking, and remained there unheeded. The men, climbing eagerly to the deck in response to the blast of that whistle, were too intent on their bold venture to notice the circumstance. The signal had been heard all over the ship, and it had not escaped the cars of Bon Arnold and Bull Black. They came striding from the state-room where they had been in conversation, and, look- ing for'ard, saw Harry and his party clamljcring from the hold. The faces of Arnold and Bull became a dual study in amazement. "Drake?" gasped Arnold. "What's he doing on board this ship?" Hairy and his men advanced along the deck, and then came to a halt. At the same time, Bull Black's minions gathered aft. and were joined by those of the new hands who had not been tnusted with the secret of the stowaway's presence. Briney and the boys kept their eyes on the rascals, but they did not see a man perched in the cross-trees up above them, a man who began to de.scend the ligging stealthily. "Mr. Ainold," Harry called, "I don't like to flout the letter of the law, but I feel compelled to do so. I'm going to l)ecernl)"r26tli, 1931. BOY'S CINEMA take command of this ship, and if you don't hand it over peacefully we'll fight for it!" There was a sharp, mocking crj' from aloft, and Harry looked up to see the man in the rigging. The tello%v was in the act of plunging through mid-air, and he dropped feet foremost into the midst of the Englishman's party, scattering them for an instant. Arnold and Bull Black were not slow in seizing their opportunity, and, with a roar, Bull led an ugly rush across the deck. His pack of ruffians clamoured at his heels, and next second they were at grips with Harry's followers. As regards numbers, the two factions were fairly evenly matched, with the odds slightly in favour of Arnold's hire- lings. Yet it was soon plain that Harry Drake and his staunch band of honest sailor-men were likely to do more than hold their own. Harry himself was a trojan who carried a devastating punch in each hand, and Briney's fists fairly played havoc with those of Black's cut- throat gang whom he singled out for jjunishment. It was Briney's ambition to tackle Bull Black in person and avenge him- self for the ill-treatraeut he had re- ceived when serving under the man. He hammered his way to where Black was overwhelming Rogers with a shower of blows, and, intervening between them, he soon had the tyrant fighting on the defensive. Briney was on the warpath, and he battled with a fui-y that taxed Bull's stamina to the utmost. It was a conflict of heavy-weights, and, though Harry Drake had previously shown that Bull Black was by no means invincible, he had done so by superior speed and skill. Briney was as cumbei-some as his opponent, and as ignorant of the fine art of boxing. They were fighters, the pair of them, giving and taking punches that a man with any sense of ring-craft would have had no difiiculty in avoid- ing. Tlieir conflict was a sheer bom- bardment of bunched knuckles, and he who survived the battering would prove himself beyond all question the stronger and more determined man. Bull took heavy punishment during the early stages, but managed to rally, and he launched a counter-attack that would have crushed anyone of normal physique, yet Briney fought back doggedly. In the meantime, the rest of the men were engaged in a desperate melee. Fists alone were used, for in thnt fierce mix-up there was no chance of g\m- play, but the scenes enacted on the deck of the Lottie Carson were none the less violent. Fire ! STANDING in the hold at the foot of the ladder up which Han-y and his companions had climbed, Bonnie Adams listened anxiously to the tumult of the strife that was going on over her head. Now and then men lurched close to the hatch, and for a blink of time she caught sight of them as they fought. But she could not guess how the battle was faring, and, though she was not yet fully convinced of Arnold's villainy, her fears were for the young Englishman who had championed her. She was waiting there in suspense when a faint, crackling sound arrested her attention. It was accompanied by the smell of smoke, and as she turned her head quickly she .saw the gleam of flames a few feet away from her. The cigarette-end, so carelessly thrown aside by Burke, had set fire to the straw with which the floor of the hold was covered. A cry of consternation escaped Bonnie, and she tried to stamp out the Every Tuesday blaze under her heel. But it was spread- ing swiftly through the dry straw, and her efforts were futile. As she en- deavoured to trample it down, the fire baffled her and sent out tongues of flame. A considerable blaze was soon ragiog m the hold, and it reached the pile of boxes behind which Harry and his fellow-stowaways had earlier concealed themselves. Next moment Bonnie caught sight of the inscription that had been painted in red letters on every one of those crates, and as she spelled out the word "Dynamite," a thrill of horror ran through her. She turned and made for the ladder again, and scrambled frantically towards the deck. Her foot slipped on one of the rimgs, and she almost tumbled back into the hold, but saved herself from falling and climbed on. Her head rose above the hatch-open- ing, and a thin spiral of smoke drifted aloft. She looked round at the mob of sailors who were struggling close by and called out frantically in an attempt to give the alarm. "Fire!" she screamed. "Fire!" The men paid no heed, for none heard her in the stress of the moment. The ship might have been sinking under them for all they knew. Indeed, it was in a worse plight—it was in danger of being ripped open from stem to stern by the terrific explosion of several tons of dynamite, and evei-y soul aboard her stoo(l on the drink of doom! "Help!" Bonnie shrieked again. "There's a fire in the hold!" Still there was no response to her terrified cry, but all at once she saw Harry and Ben Arnold grappling fiercely at the other side of the hatch. She clambered on to the dock and ran round the opening in the hope of separating them and forcing them to listen. The hulking form of Bull Black stumbled into her path. He was striv- ing to ward off a regular tornado of blows that Briney was aiming at his head, and was meeting with no great success, for as he loomed up in front of Bonnie a pmich crashed into his jaw and hurled him to the planks. Bonnie dodged past his prone form even as Briney was assailed by one ot Bull's minions. But again the girl wa» balked, this time by Collins and an assailant of powerful physique who were hammering at each other lustily. Bonnie managed to avoid them, and in another instant she was close to Harrv Drake. "Harn!" she cried, tugging in- sistentlv at his sleeve as he wrestled with Arnold. "HARRY, THE SHIP'S ON FIRE!" Even now the young Englishman seemed scarcely aware of her presence, and as she was about to repeat the words, Collins and his assailant blundered close ta her. Collins swung a right to the other man's chin. It landed with shocking force and knocked the fellow staggering, and he came up sharp against Bonnie as she was inaking her frantic attempt to attract Hari-y Drake's attention. The collision threw the girl off her balance. She reeled towards the hatch, tottered precariously on the edge of it for an instant, and then plunged into the hold. A swirl of flame and smoke closed over her as .she dropped. She struck the floor with an impact that stunned her, and rolled aside on to a patch of straw that had not yet caught fire. (Don't miss next week's enthralling episode of this grand serial. By per- mission of Universal Pictures. Ltd., starring Kenneth Harlan and Lucille Browne.)