Boy's Cinema (1935-39)

2G way surprised by the white man's abrupt appearance. "Ho-Fang still goes!" Chet seated himself in a chair beside his brother, drawing the gun unobtrusively as he did so; and under the table he held the gun ■within a couple of feet of the brigand's paunch. "I've got you covered, and I understand Chinese," he warned, "so be careful what you say!" Ho-Fang blinked, but otherwise did not move. "Tell your men that Johnny's going- out!" In his own dialect Ho-Fang did so. "Go on," said Chet. to Johnny, "and take it easy. Tell the boys I'll be with ihem directly." Johnny rose and went slowly to the steps. "Send your men out," directed Chet, after he had gone; "we're going to talk business." Ho-Fang obeyed, and the members of his band mounted the steps to the street, and in (he street looked sullenly on as Johnny mounted his horse and sat wait- ing upon it with Red and Burton and Jackson. Chet immediately brought his gun from under the table to the top of it, and for nearly two minutes he sat facing Ho-Fang, his eyes as cold as the steel that could spit death. "Now get up and walk towards the door!" he rasped. And as Ho-Fang rose heavily to his feet he also rose. Together they reached the foot of the steps, and there Chet stood in front of the defeated brigand. " That's for Wong!" he suddenly thundered; and out shot his left fist with such violence that Ho-Fang's jaw was nearly dislocated by the blow that lauded on the point of it, and he was unconscious before he fell. Chet ascended the steps and saw the members of the band clustered round the entrance. "Good-bye, general," he turned to shout down into the cafe. "Take care of yourself!" Ming Yen was suspicious, but he moved aside, and Chet walked over to Johnny and the others and got on his horse. "Come on, boys," he said, "let's get going!" Paid in Full! IX the cool night air of the desert, Chet had plenty of time for reflec- tion as he and his companions gal- loped back towards the distant camp. He could not bring himself to regret that final knockout blow he had ad- ministered, but he realised that Ho- Fang would be swift to retaliate. "Don't spare your horses!" he shouted. "We've got to. get back just a> soon as we know how! Ho-Fang will strike before the night's out, and we've got to be ready for him!" Before tiny were half-way to the camp Tin Pang had mustered the whole of his gang of ruffians, and was riding at their head with an aching jaw and a thirst for blood. But the camp was reached, and outside the office building Chet issued orders. "Sec that the coolies are armed," he said to Bed, "and send all the men over here." Joan came running out from the ad joining cabin with Lucky, and Uttered a cry of relief as she saw Johnny Stand- ing there. But she and Lucky had to Fcbrtian 5th, 1038. BOY'S CINEMA be content with what Johnny could tell them while Chet directed Burton to put away the horses and Jackson to help get rifles and ammunition from the shed in which arms were stored. A period of intense activity followed, and crates full of rifles were on the veranda when the coolies were lined up in front of it, and Chet addressed them. "Men," he said, "there's going to be trouble with Ho-Fang. Now, you were hired as oil workers, not as soldiers. There may be fighting to-night, and if any one of yon wants to get out of it before it's too late now's your chance." He called an intelligent-looking yellow man forward. "Chang," he said, "tell them what it is." Chang translated at some length into Cantonese, and he translated into English the replies the men made. "These men all good Chinese," he declared proudly. " They say Ho-Fang not Chinese, or his army, but bad ban- dits from border country. They stay and fight." "Give them rifles and ammunition!" cried Red. Under Chang's command some of the coolies were distributed about the oil- fields, using the derricks for cover, and the rest were posted round about the buildings with Jackson and another white man. Red, Johnny, Lucky, and Burton mounted guard in the office with Joan, and Chet made a final tour of in- spection. He returned to the office in a stillness that seemed uncanny, and the half-hour of waiting that followed was almost more of a strain on taut nerves than actual conflict. The two windows in the office were open, and at one of them Johnny and. Lucky were crouched with rifles in their hands, and at the other Red had mounted a sub-machine-gun on the sill, and Burton was on his knees with a rifle. Joan was standing beside Johnny. an easy target for any creeping enemy, and Chet made her retreat behind the counter and sit down in a chair there. "I'm getting fed-up with this sus- pense," growled Red. "We'll hear from them soon enough," said Chet. "Lucky, how's that aero- plane?" "All set and ready to go^' Lucky replied. " Machine-guns loaded ?" "Yeah, and there's half a dozen dyna- mite bombs on board, too." "Good!" approved Chet. The expected attack began with a direct raid on hprseback. Ho-Fang evi- dently imagining that there had been no time for any elaborate defence to be organised. He swept with his men across the oilfield towards the buildings; but a coolie perched high on the tim- bers of a derrick saw the approaching riders and opened fire with a rifle. One of the bandits pitched headlong from the saddle, and the others stopped at a harsh shout from their leader. A coolie who had crept under a motor- truck blazed away at them through the spokes of a wheel, and shots rairg out from all sides. Off went the horsemen info the dark- ness; hut behind some rocks they dis- mounted, and then they crept towards the camp again on foot, at least fifty strong. They reached a trench and Spread out in it. and the first intimation of their return wa- a volley of rifle fire that shattered the windows of cabins and shacks and caused several casualties among the defenders in the open. Jted raked the top of the trench with his machine gun. but the bandits could not have chosen a stronger position, or Every Tuesday one from which move damage could be done. "Keep them busy while I get to that aeroplane," said Chet, who had put on a leather jacket and helmet. "All right, boss," said Red, and his machine-gun rained bullets at the dis tant trench while Chet slipped out at a back door of the office building and sped to the machine. Lucky, firing out at the other window- to help keep the enemy occupied, dropped his rifle and staggered back- wards with a wound in his right fore- arm; and Joan promptly ran to him, led him away into the adjacent room, and washed and bandaged the arm with all the skill of a nurse. "There's no bullet in it," she told him. "I guess the bullet's somewhere in the office, but it's ploughed up a lot of flesh, hasn't it? Sit still, I'm going to put that arm in a sling for you." Chet reached the aeroplane, though it was almost a miracle that he did so with- out being hit, and he heaved himself into the front cockpit and started up the engines. Off went the machine across the sand. and instantly the bandits' fire became concentrated upon it; but it rose into the air, went roaring over the foothills, and presently came sweeping back above the trench. Chet rattled away with one of the machine-guns in its passage, and there was more than one casualty amongst the enemy before he soared off again to cir- cuit the camp and return to the attack. But Ho-Fang, meanwhile, had shouted to Ming Yen. and Ming Yen. was creep* ing towards the nearest of th4Avells with a bomb. He hurled the bomb, and it exploded close to the base p{ the der- rick of well No. 4. * The timbers were shaken by that ex- plosion, the stream of oil from the well caught fire, and its blaze lit up the whole camp. "There goes Number Four!" ex- claimed Red; and Johnny immediately dropped his rifle and stood staring out through the window, clenching his hands and trying to summon the courage he needed for a task fraught with infinite danger. Joan caught hold of his arm with both hands, and somehow that decided him. "I've got to cap that fire!" he cried hoarsely. "Give me the asbestos suit, quick!" "Oh, Johnny!" shivered Joan; but she fetched him the suit, and the gloves and the mask to go with the suit, and she helped him into the very clumsy garments. Gunfire was still continuous outside, but Ho-Fang and his bandits had de- serted the trench to take cover behind the rocks because Chet was sweeping back again in the aeroplane. Once more the machine-gun rat-tatted lead, but to no purpose; and Chet flew off again. Johnny became a target for bullets as he made his way to the blazing well, but he knew that Joan was watching him from inside the office, and the knowledge inspired him. He reached the platform and the open pipe, which had become a volcano of flame. The cross-beams of the derrick were alight, and blazing frag- ments of wood showered down upon him as time and again he caught hold of the metal cap and tried to pull it down over the pipe. Ten times, at least, he was driven back by the almost intolerable heat just as success seemed assured; but at last he managed to get the cap down over the flaming vent and to fasten it there. The well was saved, but the derrick was burning fiercely as he tottered back towards the office. He Was a little less than half-way when a terrific e\plosion,