Boy's Cinema (1933)

24 "Show myself to Friday and his mob," Steve answered, "and draw them as far away from the south beach as I can. Then there won't be any chance of them doubling back before you can make your getaway." " We can't leave you," Carmichael ex- postulated, but Steve cut in on him briskly. '•Don't worry, I'll be seeing you." he said. "I've got two thousand dollars to collect from Bill here. Go on. now, go on—you've no time to lose. If you gel to the beach while the niggers are still on the sands, don't forget to lie low until I draw 'cm off." Without another word he turned and sped away, and, reluctant as they were to proceed without him. his two friends and Tiari moved on with the pets, fol- lowing Steve's directions faithfully, and swinging along the first branch track that appeared on the left. It brought them, as he had said it would, to the south beach of the island. and as they were drawing near this through the undergrowth two figures rose into view before them. They were the sailors who had accompanied Bel- mont and the professor in the cutter, and, being unarmed, they had abandoned the boat and taken to the brush on sighting the head-hunters. " Niggers, Mr.' Belmont," one of them panted. "Head-hunters at that! They're eomin' ashore by the dozen !" "Belmont nodded, and, parting the foliage, peered along the sands to see the Melanesians leaping from the canoes as the vessels grounded. Here were genuine cannibals, a great muster of them, cunning as they were merciless— head-hunters and eaters of human flesh ! Would Steve, by his resourcefulness and his courage, succeed in outwitting The Last Aboard. OX leaving his companions. Steve had taken a more direct route to the south beach, and, coming towards it by way of "Fifty-second Street," he stained the edge of the forest even as Friday and his fellow-tribesmen were massing on the sands. The crafty Friday, who seemed to be the leader of the expedition, was detail- ing a party of warriors to remain on the shore by the Intrepid s cutter and pre- vent any attempt at escape. Had this strategy been carried out. it would have dashed the hopes of Belmont's party concealed in the brush, but Steve checked it by leaping impetuously into full view. " Hey !" he yelled. The- blacks spun in his direciion with upraised spears. A medley of barbarous shouts escaped them as they saw his stalwart figure capering high up on the sands. Then, to a man, they rushed up the beach at him. Steve was off like a will-o'-the-wisp, darting into the forest amid a rain of flint-tipped shafts. A knife whizzed past him, too, and stuck quivering in a tree- trunk, while a musket-ball clipped the left sleeve of his fibre-cloth tunic. Playful fellows, Steve thought, and, racing on at full pelt, he heard the hue- and-cry come surging into the woods—a hundred deadly foes in hot pursuit, scattering far and wide through the thickets to form an impassable cordon and finally bring him to bay. Well, he had drawn the enemy after him, and only hoped that his friends had been quick to take advantage of the fact. Belmont's parly had not delayed, for the beach was no sooner clear than they bustled out, of cover and rushed to the February 25th, 1933. BOY'S CINEMA ship's boat. Hurriedly they piled into the craft, and in another few seconds they were en route to the yacht and safety. Meanwhile, Steve sped actively through the jungle, back along "Fifty- second Street," back to the pent-house. Ho reached the clearing and sprinted for the terminal home-tower of his aerial railway. To be hemmed in between cannibal cordon and the sea-wastes to the north was by no means Steve Drexel's idea of drawing the adventure to a close. But danger pressed hard in the rear. Fleeter than any of his fellows, the vil- lainous Friday was close behind the fugitive, and, though he had thrown aside his spear so that it should not impodo him in the race, he was carrying a brand-new knife that fairly thirsted for human blood. Stevo gained the steps of the tower, and was in the act of starting the climb. when he realised that Man Friday was at his very heels, swinging the thick blade of the knife for a death-blow. The white man abandoned his grip on the ladder of the tower, and dodged neatly. Friday's knife hissed harmlessly past his shoulder, and, as the black lurched forward with the impetus of the stroke, Steve broke the nigger's jaw with a punch that would have beaten a Dempsey. Up to the 6itmmit of the tower the New Yorker ccrambled. By the time ho reached the platfoTm there, the ground below was thick with yelling natives, and several were clambering up the steps after him. Steve bundled himself into the box- car, snatched up a staff that was handy, then cast free. Away went the aerial wagon, swooping down the gradient of the cable at thirty miles an hour. Howls went up from the blacks near the ter- minal tower, and. like wildfire, the news of the white man's overhead flight went back to detachments which had been .prowling the thickets with the object of making sure that the quarry did not elude the vanguard and double back through the brush. Thus, in his rapid transit through space, Steve found foes rushing into "Park Avenue" from all sides, and. with the box-car now only ten or fifteen feet from the ground, he was perilously near to the enemy. Muskets banged, spears, knives, and clubs were thrown at him. But the fast- traveliing car made its passenger a diffi- cult target, and, without suffering a scratch himself, he registered more than one smart buffet with the staff he was carrying. He was beyond the savages within a few seconds, and, arrived at the turret on the beach, he hastily descended to the sands. At the same time the uproar in the forest told him that the head- hunters were 6warming baok. The yacht was still moored off the island, and the wind was billowing her sails. A little nearer. Steve could see tho cutter that was bearing Belmont's party towards the vessel. The young New Yorker darted to the "mechanical fisherman " that he had rigged up on the sands, and he was settling himself in the net when the foremost savages came bounding from tho jungle. Steve reached for the release-switch of the catapult. Down dropped the weights, and the saplings sprang erect, hurling the net and its occupant fifty feet out to sea. The blacks saw him splash into th'' water and swim to the cutter, which stopped to pick him up. and with in Every Tuesday furiated cries numbers of them ploughed into the surf. Those in the ship'6 boat pulled for the waiting yacht, whilo the savages swam in pursuit. Others of the tribe took to the canoes, and were soon paddlingl ahead of the swimmers, but the cutterj reached the sailing vessel, and, with the! fugitives safely aboard, the anchor was quickly weighed. The yacht stood out to sea, running before a 6tiff.breeze, and steadily draw- ing away from the head-hunters. Beforo many minutes had elapsed tho natives in tho war-canoes were giving up the futile chase, and, standing at the ran, Stevo Drexel had time to thank his stars for his escape. "And what arc you going to do with Miss Saturday ?" It was Belmont's voice that broke in on Steve's thoughts, and, glancing at Tiari. the youngster scratched his In ad. "Yes, what am I going to do with her " he muttered. "You see, she's sort of infatuated with me." "As a rule," Carmichael said with a smile, "tho native girls conveniently jump into a volcano in a case of hope- less love." "Honest, professor, this is a serious situation," Steve growled. "I've got to do some thinking. I'm in a fix." Bill Belmont grinned at him. "You sure are," he commented, "and I'll bet you another two thousand that you don't get out of it with flying colours." A month after their return to New York, Steve, Belmont, and Carmichael had a reunion in a fashionable res- taurant on Broadway, and, as thej talking over a dining-table, the owner of the Intrepid shrewdly eyed youngest member of the party. "By the way. Steve," he inquired. " where i6 your little friend Saturday ? You've kept us in the dark for four weeks now, and it's my idea that you've met one problem you can't solve. Why don't you admit it and say that you don't know what to do with her ?" Steve smiled, but before he could offer any reply a curtain was raised at one end of the restaurant, and the patrohs of the place were treated to a full view of a stage with realistic scenery vividly reminiscent of a coral island. Before the startled gaze of Belmont and Carmichael, a girl in a gay parcti and a skirt of coloured grasses appeared.' and, to the music of dreamy guitars, she! began to twist and sway in the motions of a native dance. Belmont and the professor continued to stare until the girl finished her show amid a storm of applause, and then Carmichael spoke. "Saturday," ho breathed. "In cabaret I" Tiari was descending from the stage and tripping towards the table at which the three friends sat. She smiled a greeting to the two older men, and then solemnly rubbed noses with Steve, while the other diners in the restaurant craned their necks and laughed heartily. Steve responded to the island care=s with a broad grin, and then glanced sidelong at Belmont. "That's four thousand bucks you ovvo: me, Bill." he drawled. Bill Belmont returned Steve's grin with a sheepish air, and fished for ins wallet. "You're welcome to 'cm, boy," ho declared. (By permission of United Artists' Cor- poration, Ltd., starring Douglas Fair- banks and Maria Alba.)