they will not mind what they are going through now.”
Dick and Tony felt that they had box seats at a good show that day. All
morning and well into the afternoon the search went on. Houses and
stores and buildings within several blocks were searched thoroughly,
and finally the villa itself was gone over inch by inch, despite the
protestations of the German army men that the Gestapo officer was
insulting them by searching in their own headquarters for an illegal
Italian radio. But the Gestapo colonel did not care how many people he
insulted. He knew what would happen to him if he returned to his own
headquarters without having found and destroyed that transmitter. And
he knew how silly it would sound to his superior officer when he said
that his locators had placed the radio in German army headquarters in
Maletta.
He himself began to doubt the accuracy of his listening posts. But for
four of them to go wrong at the same time—that was impossible! There
was something radically wrong somewhere and the colonel didn’t like it
one bit. His anger was apparent even to Tony and Dick as they watched
him get into his big black car, slam the door, and pull away with tires
screaming as the cars careened around the corner.
“The colonel is a bit miffed,” Tony said, with a happy smile.
“He’ll be more than miffed in a few days,” Dick said. “Before the week
is out that guy’s going to be in a real predicament.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
A VISIT TO THE DAM
Although Dick and Tony had been entertained by the vain search of the
Germans for their radio, they did not fail to note the increasing
movement of troops and equipment into Maletta. Trucks came down both
main roads into the town, and the Americans could see them both for
some distance from their vantage point high in the bell tower. The road
to the northeast, leading past the dam, they had already seen when they
crossed it at night coming down from their cave in the hills. Now they
could see where it climbed up to circle around the dam itself.
In the other direction they saw the northwest road, over which most of
the supplies were now coming. It passed through a narrow gorge just
outside of the little town, a pass made by the ridge of hills on the
western edge of Maletta valley, and the single big hill at the head of
the town, against which the villa was built. The northwest road had to
climb this fairly steep hill to get through the pass.
“When we get a chance,” Dick said to Tony, “I’d like to have a look at
that road up there. It looks as if it might go through a narrow pass
that could easily be blown up. I’m not forgetting that Slade has a good
deal of extra dynamite, and I’d like to put it to good use.”
“The dam comes first, though, doesn’t it?” Tony asked.
“Yes, of course, the dam is the most important,” Dick said, “but if we
could cut off the German line of escape up the northwest road, it would
be mighty good!”
Dick and Tony saw that most of the truckloads of soldiers that came
into town went right on through, heading down the valley to the south
to reinforce the men there beating off the American frontal attack.
Tanks, both light and heavy, rumbled along the roads, too, and huge
155-millimeter howitzers were towed slowly by tractors.
They got a complete report on the German troop movements shortly after
dark that evening, when old Tomaso crept forward to the bell tower on
the roof of the rear wing of the villa. Dick let down the rope quickly,
waited a moment, and then felt three jerks. He pulled it up again and
found a sheet of paper tied to the end. He was unfolding the sheet of
paper when he saw the dark figure of the old Italian creep back along
the roof and disappear at the end.
“This is just what we want,” Dick said to Tony. “Your uncle has some
good friends that really know their stuff.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration: _Dick Read the Report of German Troop Movements_]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Well, he probably has the local policeman and the grocer and a few
others looking and listening,” Tony said. “And I imagine Tomaso himself
overhears a good deal when he’s cleaning up in Army headquarters below
us.”
Dick got down on the floor of the tower and got out his flashlight.
Tony stood over him so as to prevent as much as possible of the light
from showing. Even then, Dick covered the front of the flash with his
shirt so that only a faint glow came through on to the paper. But it
was enough to read by, and enough to show him what code words he should
use in making his radio report.
“The fourteenth motorized division has come through today,” Dick said
to Tony. “In addition there’s a panzer force of forty small and twenty
large tanks. Eighteen pieces of heavy artillery have gone through and
are being emplaced about three miles south of the town.”
“The floods will get every one of those,” Tony cried. “The Germans
certainly do think we’re making our big push right straight up the
valley. They’re pouring everything in here to stop it.”
“Okay now, Tony,” Dick said. “I’ve got all the code words in my mind.
Let’s give our report and, incidentally, set the Gestapo on their ears
again.”
They went to the radio and Dick began to crank the generator. In a
moment, Tony had made contact with the American Army headquarters and
repeated clearly the code words that Dick spoke to him. Then he
repeated all again and shut off the radio.
“I’ll be leaving you now, Tony,” Dick said, standing up. “I’ve got lots
of work to do tonight.”
“Wish I could help you,” Tony said.
“Same here, but somebody’s got to stay here with the radio,” Dick
replied. “We’ve got to have someone to keep his eyes on the town,
somebody who can get a message from Tomaso in case anything important
turns up, and especially someone to let down the rope when necessary.
If we both left, we’d have to leave the rope hanging here for us to get
back up again, and that’s out of the question.”
“Sure, I understand,” Tony said, as Dick climbed to the ledge and
tossed out the rope to the roof below. “I’ll stick by my radio. What
about the next report?”
“Either Vince or I will come shortly before dawn,” Dick said, “when
Tomaso sends up his next report. The schedule is each evening after
dark, each morning before dawn—unless something comes up to prevent it.”
“In a pinch I can turn the generator and handle the radio at the same
time,” Tony said. “It’s not easy but I _can_ do it if I have to.”
“Maybe you _will_ have to some time,” Dick said. “But there’ll be
somebody here with you as much as possible. So long, Tony.”
“Good luck, Dick,” the radioman replied, and Dick slipped down the rope
to the roof. Then Tony pulled the rope up again and settled down for
the night as he saw Dick’s shadowy figure making off across the hill at
the rear.
Dick’s first inquiry as he approached the cave in the hills was about
Lieutenant Scotti.
“He’s talking some,” Slade reported. “It’s not easy, but he can move
around a bit. I really think he’s coming along okay. There may have
been some internal bleeding that caused some pressure against the
brain, but that’s stopping now. Anyway, he’s anxious to see you. He
knows about getting the radio up in the bell tower and he’s delighted.”
With a nod to Vince and Max, Dick went on in the cave and knelt down
beside Scotti. The wounded man smiled a little and his eyes shone.
“Dick,” he said, and that was all. Dick saw that it was a great effort
for him to speak.
“Wonderful to see you getting better, Jerry,” he said, “but don’t try
to talk too much. Let me do most of the talking and you answer with
nods as much as you can.”
Dick then told his lieutenant about the safe installation of the
transmitter in the bell tower, about getting the first message through
to American headquarters, then about the frantic search by the Germans
for the illegal radio. At this, Scotti started to laugh but it hurt his
head too much and he stopped. But Dick saw that he thought it was a
wonderful joke on the so-smart Germans.
Dick went on to tell Jerry about the movement of German troops and
supplies through the town, the detailed reports given them by Tomaso,
and the second radio report that had been sent in just a short while
before.
“You’re doing wonderful job,” Scotti said slowly and with great effort.
“Keep it up!”
“Sure,” Dick said. “We’ll carry on, and I feel better now because I can
tell you our plans, and you can tell me if you think I’m doing right or
not. Now we’ve got to have a look at the dam. I’m taking Slade and
Vince with me to look it over so Slade can decide where his dynamite
charge must be placed, and I can figure out how to handle the guard so
he can get in to do it. It won’t be easy. Max will stay here with you
until we get back. Tony’s in the bell tower with the radio.”
Scotti nodded his approval of these plans and Dick gave him a pat on
the shoulder and moved away. At the front of the cave he found the
others and gave them the latest news.
“Now we’re going to look at the dam,” he said, and Slade sighed with
relief.
“I was beginning to wonder,” he said, “when we would get around to the
main objective of this mission.”
Dick laughed. “Okay, Boom-Boom, tonight is your night. Vince will come
along with us. Max, you stay here with Scotti until we get back.”
The three men started down the hill from the cave. But this time they
did not go as far as the field below. Instead, they kept to the woods
and circled around to the east where the hill ended at the right-hand
branch of the Y which was the northeastern branch of the Maletta
valley. It took them almost an hour to reach the dam, for they were not
always sure of their direction.
It was the glinting of a light on the water of the artificial lake that
finally told them it was near at hand. They moved forward much closer
to the edge of the trees and looked down. From where they stood, on the
hill a little above the dam, they had a perfect view of everything.
Directly below them about seventy-five feet was the main northwest road
which went part way up the hill in order to circle around the dam and
lake. On the other side of the road there was a short drive which led
in toward the dam itself, which was a concrete structure about three
hundred yards long, stretching to the opposite hill. On top of the dam
wall at this end was a concrete building and near it stood several
sentries.
“Probably the control house for the sluice gates,” Slade said, “and
headquarters for the guards. There’s a similar structure at the other
end of the wall, but smaller.”
Below the dam itself, on a stretch of level ground, stood the electric
power station. It was a low building made of brick, about fifty feet
square.
“Not a big plant at all,” Slade told Dick, “but I imagine in the
present battle emergency it’s pretty important as a source of electric
power for the Germans.”
Dick and Vince nodded, watching Slade as he looked over the objective
with a practised eye. There was a long black steel pipe, at least ten
feet in diameter, leading from the bottom of the dam to the power
house. That, Dick knew, was the sluice, or pipe-line, which carried the
water under pressure into the power house for turning the turbines that
drove the generators.
“It won’t be easy,” Slade said. “Even figuring that you can get me in
there despite all those guards, it’s going to be tough to place the
charge so that it will surely knock the dam completely out and not just
crack it.”
“Tell me the place you want to put your dynamite,” Dick said, “and then
it’s up to me to get you there.”
He knew that was a broad statement, for he still had no idea how he
could get Slade and his dynamite past the guards on the wall and around
the power house.
“There _is_ one spot that would do the job, without a doubt,” Slade
said. “But I’m afraid that would be asking too much of you. Do you see
that pipe-line over there?”
“Yes, I see it,” Dick replied.
“Well, if I could get inside that and crawl up to where it comes out of
the dam itself, it would work,” Slade said. “With the big pipe coming
out of it, that’s the weakest part of the whole structure. But that
pipe is filled with water under very high pressure.”
“Wow! That’s a tough assignment all right,” Dick said. “But let’s
see—what if the pipe didn’t have any water in it?”
“You mean if the water-gate at the entrance to the pipe were closed?”
Slade asked. “If that were done, I could get there all right. All those
pipes have a couple of hatch-like openings along them so that workmen
can get in to clean them out and so on.”
“Then you wouldn’t have to go through the power house itself?” Dick
asked.
“No, I could get in the pipe, I’m sure, not far from the spot where it
enters the dam,” Slade answered. “And I could place the dynamite right
under the weak spot of the dam. But the water-gate would have to stay
shut completely until after the charge was exploded.”
“I see,” Dick said. “Let me think that one over a bit. You go on
getting the lay of the land completely in your mind.”
Slade and Vince continued their observations while Dick tried to figure
out a way to get Slade and his dynamite into the pipe-line. Suddenly he
remembered something that Tomaso had said to him on the first night
they talked together.
“Boom-Boom,” Dick called to Slade, “tell me something. If for some
reason the turbines or dynamos were damaged badly and the plant had to
shut down for a few days, would they close the water-gate leading from
the dam through the pipe-line?”
“Of course they would,” Slade replied. “That’s the first thing they’d
do. And they wouldn’t open it again until all repairs were made.”
“There’s our answer,” Dick exclaimed. “Old Tomaso told me that the
underground has several times performed a little neat sabotage at this
power station, stopping it for several days until repairs were made. If
they did it before, they ought to be able to do it again.”
“Swell,” Slade said. “Then I could really do the job—_provided_ we can
get through all those guards, place the ammunition, lead out my wires
and hook them up to a detonator.”
“All right, I’ll have to figure that out, too,” Dick said. “But I can’t
see how yet. We’ll just have to find some way, but for the life of me I
don’t see what it can be. Anyway, we’ve solved part of our problem.
We’ll get our dam blown up right and proper, boys, and don’t you ever
forget it. But we can’t waste very much time. Tonight is already the
third night. We have just three nights more in which to do our work!”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE FOURTH NIGHT
Halfway back to the cave, Dick suddenly felt exhausted. He realized
that he had had very little sleep and not a great deal to eat.
“Vince,” he said, “will you go down to the bell tower and stay with
Tony? He’ll be on the lookout for someone before long and will let the
rope down to you. Tomaso will come with the latest reports just before
dawn, and you can crank the generator for Tony while he gives his radio
report to our headquarters. Tony has the code book. Tell him to add, in
addition to Tomaso’s details on troop movements, that we’ve figured how
to blow up the dam.”
“Okay, Sarge,” Vince said. “But that’s putting yourself out on a limb.
Then you’ll really _have_ to figure out how to do it!”
“That’s the point,” Dick said. “If I’ve committed myself to the
general, then I’ll make myself come through somehow. Okay, Vince, on
your way. Duck out before it gets light and come back to the cave.”
Vince walked down the hill toward the road and the town, as Slade and
Dick circled around the hill toward their cave.
“How much dynamite will you have left over after placing the charge in
the dam?” Dick asked.
“About half of it,” Slade replied.
“Good. Then tomorrow you can teach me the ropes on how to place a
charge, attach fuses, wires and detonators. You’ve got two sets of
everything, haven’t you?”
“Sure I have,” the demolition man replied. “What else are you planning
on blowing up?”
“Not sure yet,” Dick said. “I’ll tell you after I take a little trip
tonight. Right now I’m too tired to do anything.”
When they returned to the cave, Dick found that Scotti was sleeping
soundly, so he did not report to him then about their observations at
the dam. Instead, he stretched out and fell into a deep sleep almost at
once. Despite all the difficulties confronting him, he could sleep. He
knew he had to if he were to be fit and able to solve all his problems.
The sun was high in the sky when he awoke. He had not heard Vince
return from town, nor the others eating their breakfast. But he felt
completely refreshed and ready to tackle anything. After washing his
face and hands, he went in to Scotti and told him all the news,
including that brought by Vince about the latest radio report to
headquarters, which had gone smoothly. Scotti was better, finding it
possible to talk more easily and without the great effort of the day
before. He was now propped up against the wall of the cave, with nylon
parachutes behind him.
“You’d better get out in the sun a bit,” Dick suggested.
“It would be good,” Scotti replied. So Dick called Vince and Max, and
the two big men carried their lieutenant gently outside and placed him
near the entrance to the cave. Then he joined Dick in a bite to eat and
listened to their plans.
Dick told about the dam, and explained that he had to find some way to
draw the guards away before Slade could get in with his dynamite.
“I’m sure Tomaso can get the sabotage work done all right,” he said,
“so that the water will be shut off. But then the guard might even be
increased at the dam. If we could go in and do it at the last minute,
we might be able just to mow the guards down with our guns. But we
can’t take that chance. We’ve got to be _sure_! That means we ought to
get in there and get our dynamite placed the night before the
explosion.”
Scotti thought the problem over but could not come up with an answer.
Slade did not even try to figure it out. He was too busy going over in
his mind how he would crawl up that pipe and place his dynamite
charges. It was Max who finally made a very timid suggestion.
“Dick,” he said, “this may sound like a fairy-tale idea, but maybe it
would work. Remember we were kidding about wearing Italian peasants’
clothes when we first got here and we said something about swiping a
German uniform for me? Well, if your Uncle Tomaso could get a really
good officer’s uniform, I might be able to march right up and give
those guards a few orders and so get them out of the way for a while.”
“That would be dangerous as the devil!” Dick replied.
“Of course it would,” Max said. “But this whole operation is dangerous.
If it doesn’t work it means I get caught, that’s all. But if it does
work, we’ll get our dynamite in place. We can figure out exactly what
to do, all right.”
“Maybe so,” Dick said. “At least it’s an idea. What do you think of it,
Scotti?”
The lieutenant shrugged his shoulders as if to say he did not know.
Then he spoke.
“Depends on rank of officer in charge of guards at dam,” he said
haltingly. “Also on rank of uniform Max would wear. He must be able to
awe everyone at dam completely so they do not question his word at all.”
“Well, we can find out about that after the dam is sabotaged,” Dick
said. “Tomaso will be able to tell us the details about the guard there
the next day. And he’ll be the one to get us the uniform. We can tell
him to try to get a good one.”
“Suggest you ask him to do that,” Scotti said. “Then Max will have
uniform if we can think of no other solution.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration: _“If I Could Only Get a German’s Uniform!”_]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Right, Scotti,” Dick answered. “I’ll do that when I see Tomaso
tonight. Meanwhile, we’ll all be thinking of some other plan that might
work.”
Dick noticed that Scotti was looking tired and in some pain.
“You’d better get back inside now,” he said, “and lie down for a real
rest. You’ve got to take it easy. But I feel a lot better being able to
go over these things with you.”
After Jerry was settled comfortably in the cave again, Dick went
outside with Boom-Boom Slade, who proceeded to give him a lesson in
demolition, explaining just how to place the charge and attach the
detonator. Dick spent the afternoon going over the lessons he had
learned.
After dark, Dick, Max, and Slade set out for the town, while Vince
stayed behind with Lieutenant Scotti. As they approached the villa,
they saw that there were many cars parked in front and there seemed to
be many lights inside the front rooms. In the servants’ wing, however,
there was nothing but a faint glow from old Tomaso’s room.
“Seems to be plenty going on there,” Max said. “Think it’s safe to go
up to Tony so early?”
“Sure,” Dick said. “They’re too noisy and too busy to look on their own
rear roof. But you and Slade stay back here in the trees and wait for
me. Tomaso will be coming back after a while, too, and I must talk to
him.”
Dick went forward alone, got on the low roof and went forward quickly
to the bell tower. Tony had apparently been on the lookout, for the
rope was waiting for Dick when he got there. In another two minutes he
was inside the tower with Tony.
“They’ve been tearing this town to pieces today,” Tony said. “Looking
for our transmitter, of course. They’ve even sent some details down
into the sewers around here. They haven’t even bothered around the
villa itself, though, except once when that Gestapo colonel asked about
this bell tower. They took him inside and showed him the ruined steps.
I could hear their voices up here as they looked up, with a flashlight
shooting around. Of course they couldn’t see anything, and the colonel
was convinced.”
“How long do you think he’ll stay convinced?” Dick asked.
“I don’t know,” Tony replied. “It looks as if he’s moved right in here
permanently. I’ve kept my eyes open, and they haven’t come in with a
radio locator on a truck. When they do that, we’ll have to watch our
step, maybe cut down our reports to once a day and vary the times a
little bit.”
“We’ll see,” Dick replied. “Now I want to write a note to Tomaso before
he comes, telling him to meet us in the trees behind the villa in a
little while.”
He scribbled the note on a piece of paper and tied it to the end of the
rope just in time, as he saw the figure of the old man creeping forward
along the roof. Looking down as he tossed the rope down, Dick saw
Tomaso take the note from the rope, then attach his own paper to it and
give three jerks.
After studying Tomaso’s details on the day’s movements of German troops
and equipment, Dick and Tony made their report to American
headquarters. And at the last moment, Dick decided to tell them the
broadcast schedule would be changed for safety’s sake. The next report
would be at one A.M. the following night.
“That’s a good idea,” Tony said, after they had switched off the radio.
“They’re bound to get mobile locators here tomorrow anyway. And they’ll
be listening especially after dusk and just before dawn, when we’ve
broadcast before. If we go on the air at one in the morning for only
about two minutes, they won’t have time to do much of anything.”
“Sorry you’ve got to stay here all the time, Tony,” Dick said, as he
prepared to leave. “But it’s the only thing to do.”
He gave the radioman the latest news of the dam, of Scotti, and their
plans.
“They’re actually giving an opera here in town tomorrow night,” Tony
said. “Wish I could hear it. I think it’s wonderful the way they won’t
let anything stop their opera!”
“Opera seems a million miles away from me right now,” Dick said. “It’s
hard to remember that I ever sang in opera. Well—maybe I’ll sneak in
for a look tomorrow night if I haven’t anything else to do.”
He laughed, and then crawled over the ledge and let himself down the
rope to the roof below. Crouching low, he made his way back to the end
of the wing, dropped off, and scurried up the hill to the clump of
trees. There he found old Tomaso waiting with Max and Slade.
“Tomaso,” Dick said, “you are doing a wonderful job. Your reports are
perfect—just what we want. They are of very great help to our Army.”
The old man beamed with pleasure. “It is my friends, too. They know the
information is for the Americans, who will soon be here to free us.”
“Now I must ask two more big things of you and your friends,” Dick
said. “And for these I must tell you of our plans. Two nights from now,
just before dawn, we plan to blow up the dam!”
“The dam!” Tomaso exclaimed. “Why—the town will be washed away!”