Boy's Cinema (1935-39)

Every Tuesday veteran rancher Anderson in the lead and the white gelding by his side. Then, the thunder of hoofs becoming ever more distinct to the men who waited in hiding among the rocks, the band of Vigilantes surged down the Stony Gulch trail at headlong pace. They reached the locality where the track passed through the boulders, and, with every man of the Eagle's sup- porters penned in between the rocks, the Cossacks under Petroflf's command sud- denly disclosed themselves in full force, moving out of their countless hiding- places on horseback and levelling their carbines at the luckless Mounties. Taken completely unawares, Anderson and his comrades pulled up abruptly, and as they looked about them they realised how hopelessly they were trapped. A formidable party of the Russians barred the trail in front of them, another party had mustered in their rear, and on both sides the clut- tered boulders seemed alive with fur- capped Muscovites. "Keep your hands away from your guns, or we'll mow you down like rats!" came the voice of Petroff. Resistance was futile. Each rancher was covered by at least half a dozen oar- bines, so heavily did the odds favour the Russians, and any attempt to stage a battle would have been suicidal. Slowly, reluctantly, the Vigilantes lifted their hands in surrender, and at a com- mand from Petroff a group of the Cossacks rode in amongst them to dis- arm them. The Bargain ONCE again General Jason Burr had received a visit from Count Raspinoff, emissary of the Tsar, and the two men were discussing their plans in the would-be dictator's study when the murmur of their voices was interrupted by a commotion in the patio. Rising from his chair, Jason Burr strode across to tho windows of his sanc- tum, and as he looked out he saw the Yankee renegades in his employ hurry- ing from all directions to greet the arrival of Petroff's squadron of Cossacks and their Vigilante prisoners. Burr's piggish eyes gleamed as he be- held the captives, and, turning to find that Raspinoff had joined him at the windows, he spoke to the count in a voice that rang with exultation. "Do you see what I see?" he jerked. " Do you see what I see ? By thunder, this means our enemy's back is broken!" Raspinoff was scanning the prisoners as the Cossacks escorted them to a long, low shed where they were apparently to be housed. "The Eagle's white gelding has been taken by Petroff's men," he commented, " but there is no sign of the man in black to whom it belongs. General Burr, if he has escaped your troubles are far from ended. He can still incite opposi- tion " "Here comes Petroff himself," Burr interrupted. "We'll wait till we've heard what he has to say before we dis- cuss the Eagle." The Cossack hetmarj entered the study a few seconds later, and the general looked at him approvingly. "I notice you ve rounded up those cursed Mounties, Petroff," he stated. "Yes, but not by blasting them out of their hide-out with gunpowder;" was the reply. "I know that. The driver of the powder-wagon showed up here a little while ago. So did a bunch of my men who were to have rubbed out the Eagle before the real powder-wagon put in an appearance. I gathered from their stories that the Eagle had been too BOY'S CINEMA smart for us. But how did you manage to capture his Vigilantes, anyway?" Petroff gave him a full report, and when the hetman had finished his narra- tive Raspinoff interposed a remark. "You have done well, Petroff," he de- clared. "But the Eagle is still at large, and I have just- been telling General Burr that he will continue to be a dangerous factor in this game that we are playing." Burr took up the discussion at this juncture. "His Excellency is right," he said. "The Eagle may stir up revolt against my regime, and I can't afford to have any unrest in my territory if I've got to meet trouhle from the United States. But listen, Petroff, I think I know a way of laving the Eagle by the heels. You used his horse- to trap his men. I'll use his men to trap him." "How are you going to do it?" the hetman asked. Burr's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "We know precious little about the Eagle," he mused, "but from our ex- perience of him I figure he's one of these self-sacrificing fools who should have been born in the so-called age of chivalry. In other words, he'd throw away his own life to save his friends. Remember, for instance, how he risked the bullets of a firing squad to rescue that fellow who answers to the name of Salvation." Petroff failed to comprehend the pro- ject Burr had in mind, and Count Ras- pinoff seemed equally in the dark. "Now, supposing," the general went on, "supposing I sent the Eagle a mes- sage, telling him that if he gave him- self up I'd let his Vigilantes go free. I'm pretty well convinced he'd accept the proposition." Raspinoff and the Cossack hetman glanced at each other dubiously. Then the latter spoke. 23 "If he did give himself up, would you let the others go free?" "Of course not," Burr scoffed. "We'll delay their execution so that he can share their fate, that's all." "How are you going to get in touch with the Eagle?" Raspinoff put in. By way of answer, Jason Burr moved across to a cage that was hanging in one of the study windows. It was the cagi containing the homirg-pigrcr.s which he had discovered in Doris Col- ton's possession. "Any of these birds," the general said, "can be relied upon to By straight to our man. Colton's daughter was caught last 11i_;lit in the act of sending a message to the Eagle by one of tin m He returned to his desk, and while Petroff and the count looked on in silence he wrote a few sentences on a sheet of paper. Then he folded the note tightly, and. removing one of the pigeons from the cage in the window, fastened the communication to its leg with a piece of strong twill. He had scarcely accomplished this when there was a knock on the door, and as he called out in brusque response the figure of Doris Col ton entered the room. For although she was not allowed beyond the gates of the fort she was al liberty to walk anywhere within its pre- cincts. "Ah," said Burr, grinning at her. though something in his manner belied the indulgent expression on his ugly face, "come right in, Miss Colton. What can I do for you .'" The girl was pale, and her fingers were twitching nervously. " I saw the Cossacks arrive with those prisoners and I understand they're the Vigilantes," she faltered. "What are you going to do to them ?" Burr continued to smile at her. "Well," he stated, "that depends on the Eagle. I'm just sending him a mes- sage, informing him that I'll turn his " Right now I ain't feelin' so good," Salvation said. " But you wait till I'm on my feet again. I'll show them Cossacks that they can't make a dictator outa that rattler Jason Burr ! " August 21st, ]937.