Boy's Cinema (1935-39)

22 "By golly." Miic iaid then, "we're sure I'.ickj' to walk away fi-om this crack-iip. But wlio was the guy that knocked me out?" "Tlie guy that knocked j-ou out!" Jim reiterated. '.'Yeah, we've got to get after him. He's stolen the Schiller gyro-compass." Without attempting to enlighten the bewildered McGowan lie turned from the wreckage of the 'plane, and as he did so he caught sight of Frances Schiller hurrying towards him, for the ship had craslied only a couple of hun- dred yards from the spot where she had been overtaken by the thief. Almost in the same instant Jim descried the figure of the man who had commandeered the gyro-compass. He was sprinting across the flying field in the direction of the road that skirted it, having doubled back with the obvious intention of regaining his sedan car. Calling on Mac to follow him, Jim started towards the road in an attempt to head him off, and the two Marines were running at full pelt when Frances met up with them. "Oh, Jim!" the girl panted. "Are you and Mac all right?" "What do you think?" the corporal rejoined. "Don't look like a couple of stretcVicr cases, do we? Come on, Frances, we mustn't let that fellow get away!" He raced on with Mac close at his heels, and Frances set out after thom. But their quarry was considerably nearer to his car than they were, and he had scrambled into the vehicle and driven off before they could gain the road. The dust from the automobile swept over them in a cloud as they reached the highway a few seconds too late. Yet Frances Schiller's car was standing nearby, and the three of them tumbled into it, Jim taking the wheel and start- ing up the engine. He drove in pursuit of the man who had robbed Frances of the gyro-com- pas.s, and there ensued a hair-raising dash along the San Diego road, with the fugitive holding his foot hard down on the accelerator, but Jim keeping him in view despite the fact that the thief's car was the more powerful. In entering the town, however, the difiicultj' of keeping track of the big .sedan was increased by the presence of a good deal of traffic in the streets, and by the fugitive's successive efforts to throw the Marines and their fair com- panion off the scent. Again and again the man turned off to weave his way through labyrinthine side-roads, and at last, \inder the im- pression that he had baffled his piusuers. he swept into a street flanked by. tall warehouses and slewed his sedan into the dark, yawning entrance of a build- ing that towered higher than any of its iieighbov\rs. But he had made a mistake in imagin- ing that Jim Lawrence had lost the trail, for the coiporal swung round into that street in time to see the tail of the sedan disappearing thiough the wide doorway of the big warehouse. "Now we've got him!'' jerked McfJowan. who had also espied the fugi- tive's car before it had vanished from .sight. "Attaboy, Jim—drive right in after him !" "That's just what I don't intend to do." the corporal retorted. "That guy may have friends inside there. Mac, and we don't want to run blindly into a tough spot—especially ae Frances is ^ith us." At unabated speed he flashed past the entrance of the warehouse, and, if theii oiiarrv saw the two Marines and Frances ■ April 24tli, 1937. BOY'S CINEMA Schiller drive by, he must have been convinced that even if they had traced him to this particular street they had failed to see him swerve into the ware- house, » Now at the far end of that building there was a tjuiet side-road leading to the waterfront, and it was into this side- road that Jim elected to turn. Then, pulling up at the kerb, he climbed out of the car with Mac. "You stay here." he said to Frances. " We're going in to take a look around. Wait fifteen minutes, and if we're not out by then—well. I reckon you'd better send for the riot squad." A moment later the two Marines were striding round to the front of the ware- house. Here they discovered that the main entrance to the building had now been closed, but after a tour of inspec- tion they located a small side-door that opened at a touch. They passed through to find them- selves in a narrow corridor with a flight of stairs leading up from it. Then all at once they heard the murmur of voices, and the sound of those voices drew their attention to a room on the left. The door of the room was closed, but, stealing towaids it, thej- crouched down by the keyhole, and oh peering through Jim Lawrence saw three men standing beside a table on which Bob Schiller's gyro-compass had been placed. One of those men was th.e rogue Avho had snatched the invention from Frances, and, taking closer stock of him than he had previously been able to do, Jim noted that he was as shifty-looking a customer as ever he had set eyes upon. As for the other two, one was a hulking, florid individual of a brutal cast of coun- tenance, and the third man was a lean fellow dressed in fljing kit. The aviator was doing the talking at the moment, and he was addressing him- .«elf to the man who had stolen the gyro- compass, " The Tiger Shark will sure be glad to hear, that this invention is in our hands. Miller,'' he was saying, "But are you positive that you shook off the Schiller girl and her friends?" "I'm certain of it," answered the rogue known as Miller, "But say, if you're goin' to Halfway Island to pick up a ,shipment of loot you'd better get up to the roof and take off." "That's right. Nelson," the florid-faced individual put in. "And, by the way, .[ hope you're expected at Halfway Island, otherwise you might share the fate o' Bob Schiller an' that Murine captain." " Not a chance," was the reply. " The boys have been warned, an' they know the 'plane I'm flying. They won't put the spot on me by mistake, you can de- pend on that." Outside the door Jim Lawrence and McOowan had lieard every word, and they exchanged startled glances. Then, nodding to his comrade significantly, Jim drew himself to his full height and barged his way into the room occupied by Miller and his associates. Mac followed him. and. though the crooks whipped round at once, they were taken completely imawares by the sudden intrusion of the two Marines. Miller going down before a terrific right-hand punch that Jim aimed at him. Almost in the same instant McGowan sprang at the man with the florid coun- tenance, and his bunched kiuickles took that worthy on the point of the chin, hurling hiiii to the floor in a senseless heap, Nel.son, the aviator, had recoiled, and now he readied inside his leather jacket and plucked out a revolver. But ere he could cover the Marines Jim Lawrence Every Tuesday wa.s within stiiking distance of him. and a slashing upper-cut knocked back the airman's head. Nelson swung away across the room, cannoned against tne far wall and slumped to the floor. Yet Jim was taking no chances, and. pouncing on hin), he hit him a second time and then wrested the six-shooter from his nerve- less fingers. The crooks lay where they had fallen, and some thirty seconds elapsed before they struggled to their feet to find them- selves threatened by the forty-five thai Jim Lawrence had appropriated. Then, surveying them grimly, the corporal spoke in a cool and deliberate tone. " So you guys work for the Tigei Shark, huh?" he observed. "And you've got some kind of a set-up on Halfway Island, huh ? All right, how about doing a little talking? How about telling us what happened to Bob Schiller and Cap- tain Grayson ?" The three prisoners looked at one another anxiously, but presently assumed a sullen air, and, none of them volunteer- ing any information, Jim spoke again. "Close as clams, eh?" he commented, "Well, maybe you don't have to talk. Maybe we can find out for ourselves all that we want to know. We heard you say there was a 'plane on the roof, ready for a hop to Halfway Island. Okay. I reckon if Sergeant McGowan and I take that 'plane and make the trip, we'll have a clear run to the island without any— accidents. How about it, Mac?" He had directed a sidelong glance at the sergeant, and the latter was quick to igspond. "You mean, take the place of this guy Nelson, or what his name is ? That suits me, Jim, and I reckon Colonel Bennett down at the Marine base won't mind us grabbin' time off for a job like this. There's just one thing, Jim. I'd like to see these fellers tied up afore we leave, and I think I spot some rope over in the corner there." There was rope in plenty, and, after securing the three hirelings of the Tiger Shark and informing them that they uould be picked up by the police in due course, the two Marines took possession of Bob Schiller's gyro-compass and made their way upstairs to the flat roof of the building, where sure enough a sleek 'plane was standing. Before climbing into it, however, they moved across to the eastern parapet of the spacious roof and looked down into the side-street where Fiances Schiller was waiting with her car. Then, having attracted her attention. Jim .scribbled a note of explanation and added a request that she should repair at once to Colonel Bennett's Quarters and have him com- municate with the police. Wrapping the missive around a frag- ment of mortar that was lying loose on the parapet, he tossed it into the street below and lingered long enough to w'atch Frances pick it up and to wave a hand to her in farewell, after which he and Mac strode across to Nel.son's 'plane. They clambered into the cockpits, and, from (he forward compartment, Jim glanced round at McGowan. "Here we go, sargc." he declared. " This is the second time we've heard talk of the Tiger Shark. The first time was down in Porto Rico, when the bandits who kidnapped Bob claimed that they'd been liired by the Tiger Shark's agents. But this time we've got a few more facts to go on." Mac nodded. "You said it, buddy," he stated. "Okay, get that motor started and let's be on our way. Don't stop till you reacli Halfway Island—an' don't spare the bosses."