Boy's Cinema (1933)

24 BOY'S CINEMA Eioaato greeting Magna ordered tke will rise in arms against the French older girl to climb up behind Alice. Magua.' " "Many miles lie between us and my village, where the rest of my warriors have gone." he said. "Come, we have no time to delay." The Cunning of Dulac. WHEN Magna and Cora had dis- appeared into the thicket, Dulac and his accomplices made a thorough search of the vicinity in -which t lie dead .wagon-driver lay. But they found no trace of the gold, and, realis- ing that there were a thousand-and-one hiding-places in which it may have been concealed, they finally rode off m disgust. Their trail chanced to cross that of Magua's party, and, seeing the Hurons from a distance, they marked the strength of the band. Then Dulac spoke, and from the man's first words it was clear to his confederates that he had a plan in mind. -'We may still secure that girl and force her to tell us the whereabouts of the gold," he said, "and Montcalm him- self will help us." "Montcalm!" Bertier scoffed. "Do yOu think he would hand over those louis to us if their hiding-place were discovered? You must be out of your mind." "You do not follow me," Dulac rejoined, "but I will make myself plain mi our way to the fort. All we need i. an Indian bow and arrow, and we .should have no difficulty in finding these near the spot where the British civilians were massacred." Ilr was right, and the bow and arrow were handed over to Juliard. By this tune Dulac had outlined his scheme, and. separating from his companions, in a tract of brush a stone's throw from the fort, he rode through the stockade gate alone. A request for an immediate interview with Montcalm was granted, and Dulac was shown into the room where the French general had taken up his quarters. He found him there with several of his officers, and Colonel Munro \\ as also present. "General," Dulac began, addressing the French commander, "I bring news of the British colonel's daughters. Both are in the hands of Magna and a party of his braves, whose trail I picked up about three miles from here. It seemed as if the Redskins were headed for their village away to the north." "For their village, hein?" Montcalm rapped out. "Then I'll send a regiment of cavalry there without delay. I'll have those two girls back here ere another twenty-four hours have elapsed, and Magua shall learn to his cost what n means to defile the fair name of France by breaking a treaty made in her name." The words were scarce spoken when there was a crash of glass, as a blunted arrow shattered the window-pane and fell on the floor at the general's feet. Montcalm picked it up. "There's a message bound to it," Montcalm said, "written on a strip of bark with a dagger's point—or so it would seem. Dulac, you understand these Indian hieroglyphics." Dulac had good reason to understand 'those which .figured on the bark, mi he had carved them himself en- parting company with Bertier and .Juliard. I'm he made a pretence of poring over the signs, and spelled them out with apparent difficulty. "'Send troops to the rescue of the Paleface girls, and it will mean instant death for them,' " he quoted. "' Neither seek to punish me, or all the Huron villages and all the allies of my tribe March lltli, 1933.. Montcalm's face grew serious at these statements, and he was standing in solemn silence when Colonel Munro clutched him fiercely by the shoulder. "Don't tell me those threats mean anything to you," he jerked. "Don't tell me you'll abandon my daughters to a living death because an insolent Huron threatens you." Montcalm pursed his lips. "Colonel." he answered, "Magua's is no idle threat, and if all the Indians of Eastern Canada w*re to rebel, it would mean that the French army would be overwhelmed—confronted by your own people in the south, and by swarms of hostile Redskins to the north. Besides, my friend, you overlook the fact that Magua proposes to put your daughters to death if French troops are despatched to their rescue." A hollow groan escaped Munro, and his face was a study in tragic despair when Dulac spoke suavely. » "General," he suggested, "an idea has occurred to me. If you were to give me a dozen cavalrymen dressed as civilians, I could lead* them on the trail of the small band which has captured the Munro girls." "What good would that do?" Mont- calm asked. " YA ell, Magua would never suspect that we were troops," Dulac rejoined, "and we would overwhelm him and his party before he could carry out his threat of killing the colonel's daughter. Naturally, we should take care that no harm would come to Magua himself, so that he would have no excuse for rousing the tribes of the north." Montcalm considered for a moment, and then slowly inclined his head. "Your scheme sounds feasible," he murmured. " and I am willing to try anything if it offers the slenderest hope of returning those two ladies to their father. I'll have a dozen dragoons selected for your purpose." Juliard and Bertier had by this time entered the fort, and, in less than a quarter of an hour, they were leaving the .stronghold with Dniac again, at the head of a dozen troopers rigged out in civilian clothes. o x Stealth in the Night. their escape., from the massacre in the woods. Hawk-eye, Heyward and the Mohicans launched out in a quest for Gamut and the missing girls, and thanks to the scouting sense of the rugged frontiersman and his Indian friends, it was not long before they came upon tracks that seemed as if they might be those they were seeking. "There's Huron footprints here." said Hawk-eye, pointing, "and there's one set that was mode by a white man's shoes—Gamut's. I'll warrant, for they're big enough. Besides, the Indians would nut bother to carry off any other man but the tootin'-master, whom the;. reckon crazy. They'd kill and .scalp anybody else instanter." "Look," the Sagamore interposed quietly, "hoofs of one horse among the tracks, too." They set out at a smart pace, but rapidly as scout and Mohicans marched. Heyward kept up with them doggedly. Mile after mile they covered, plodding tirelessly through the vast tracts of tall timber that masked the country about the Lakes of North America. Night overtook them as they tramped, but. satisfied by how that those whom they were following were' headed direct Tor Magua's village', they pressed on through the gloom until they came to a strip of prairie dotted with scriib. Every Tuesday Seventy yards from the edge of the .woods stood a horse, and round about were the huddled, sleeping forms of Magua's band and his captives, the latter slumbering soundly from utter weariness. Hawk-eye and his companions saw the group from the trees, making out each figure quite distinctly, as the moon was now shining in a clear, starry sky. "Uncas, Sagamore," Hawk-eye whis- pered, "we've got a nervy business on hand, and it will be no easy matter to lift Gamut and the girls from amidst those drowsiu' Huron devils. But, if ye'll do your best, the major and I will cover you from the trees." The Mohicans nodded, and then moved on towards the camping-ground of the Huron band, treading as softly as a pair of cats. Without incident or mishap they passed between the curled-up 'bodies of the enemy braves, and, reaching Cora and Alice, father and son clapped a hand over each girl's mouth, so that they awoke with a start but were prevented from crying out. Gamut was aroused in the same man- ner, and. not daring to 6peak, the Mohicans signed to the Hurons' captives to follow them cautiously. Then they faced in the direction of the woods again". But their movements were doomed to discovery, for, in passing between two shrubs, Alice stepped on a twig, and as it snapped underfoot a Redman lying near by sprang up with a start. , Uncas felled him with hi6 tomahawk ere he could utter a single cry, but his body went sprawling across that of an- other slumbering Huron, who promptly awoke with a shout. In a moment the whole camp was in an uproar, and to the number of thirteen men Magua and his warriors rushed upon the Mohicans. On the edge of the woods, Hawk-eye and Major Heyward moved into action at once, each carrying his musket to his shoulder. There was a double flash of fire and a dual report, and two Hurons fell—then the scout gave a ringing cry and leapt from cover with the officer close at his heels. They dashed for the spot where the Mohicans had been surrounded, and, swinging their muskets fiercely, they managed for the instant to scatter the foe by the suddenness of their rush. Next second Hawk-eye saw the figure of Magua standing in threatening atti- tude over the Sagamore. Before the death-blow could fall on the Sagamore's unprotected head, Hawk-eye lunged forward and struck aside Magua's arm with the butt of his musket. Then he brought the heavy butt down on the Huron's skull, le\elling him to the ground. But brief was the success of the scour. for in another moment the warriors of Magua's band were surging close again, and, while Gamut and the Munro girls cowered down beside a clump of thorn- bushes. Hawk-eye. Heyward and the Mohicaas strove to hold the swarm of enemies at 'bay. Scout and major were overthrown. The Sagamore, too, was born down and pinned to the earth, and Uncas shared the same fate. Above the heads of the two helpless white men and their Indian friends the Huron knives and tomahawks flashed menacingly, and it seemed cer- tain that their scalps would decorate enemy belts ere the night ran its course. (To be continued in another thrilling episode next week. The story of the film based on James Fenimore Cooper's immortal classic, " The Last of the Mohicans," and specially written for BOY'S CINEMA by permission of the Ideal Film Co., Ltd., starring Harry Carey, Edwina Booth, and Hobart Bosworth.)