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.”

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 Icando it if I have to.”

“Maybe youwillhave to some time,” Dick said. “But there’ll be somebody here with you as much aspossible. 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 tolaugh 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.

“Thereisone 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—providedwe 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!”

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 reallyhaveto 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 besure! 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 whenwe 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.”

“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!”

“Yes, Tomaso,” Dick said. “But with the town will go thousands of German soldiers, hundreds of trucks, tanks, guns, and many supplies. The German Army will be trapped and defeated. When the flood waters recede you will have your town again, and there will be no more Germans here. Won’t it be worth it?”

The old man thought a moment. “Yes,” he finally said. “It will be worth it. Of course. If the town were to be wiped off the map forever, it would be all right if it meant we got rid of the Germans. But what about the people here?”

“Your own people must be warned in time so they can get to the hills,” Dick replied. “But not too long in advance must they know, lest some word leak out. Tonight you can tell those closest to you, those who can surely be trusted completely. Then, on the night before the wrecking of the dam, these can pass the word to all others. They must filter out into the hills, trying their best to cause no wonderment among the Germans.”

“I understand,” the old man said. “We shall do as you wish. But you said there were two other things to do.”

“Yes, to help us blow up the dam,” Dick said. He explained that Slade must be able to get into the pipe-line from the dam and for that the power plant must be damaged so the water-gates would be shut off for a few days.

“You said that your people had damaged the power plant before,” Dick went on. “Can they do it again, tomorrow?”

The old man thought for a few minutes. “Yes,” he said, “I believe they can. You see, there are now only a few Italians allowed to work there. Those are on the day shift. Only Germans are there at night.But one of our men there has been experimenting. He told me that he had discovered that a wrench set on a certain ledge near the big dynamo would gradually move, from the vibration, and fall into the mechanism in about fifteen minutes. His idea was to place some tools on that spot just before he left work. Then, if none of the night men saw them within fifteen minutes, they would topple into the dynamo. And they would surely damage it badly. You see, they could not blame it on the Italians, because no Italians would be around at the time it happened. He wanted to find some way to wreck the machinery without having a few hostages shot as a result. That’s what happened the last time.”

“It sounds perfect,” Dick said. “Will he try it tomorrow?”

“When he knows who asks it,” Tomaso replied, “he will do it. He is now the tenor in our little opera company and he will do anything for Ricardo Donnelli. And after doing that he will sing even better in the performance tomorrow night.”

Dick smiled.

“What are they performing tomorrow night?” he asked.

“Pagliacci,” Tomaso replied. “Nowadays we can give only short performances.”

“Now for the second request,” Dick said. “We must find some way to get our men to the pipe-line at the dam, which is well guarded. It may beguarded even more completely after the sabotage tomorrow. So—you know that this man, Max Burckhardt, speaks German. If he could appear at the dam in the uniform of a high German officer, he might be able in some way to order the sentries to allow our other men with dynamite to get in.”

Tomaso looked puzzled for a moment, and then he understood. “You would like me to take a uniform for this man, so that he could wear it?” he asked.

“Yes, if you wouldn’t endanger yourself in doing it,” Dick said.

“Oh, even if there were danger,” Tomaso said, “that would not bother me if it helped you. But there will not be any danger at all. I clean all the rooms. I am even alone in them sometimes. And they pay no attention to me, just an old man puttering around. They think I am not quite bright, anyway. I have made them think that my mind is almost gone, that I am a little imbecilic.”

He chuckled, and the others smiled. How could the Germans ever hope to win against people like that?

“I know what uniform I shall take,” Tomaso said, with a broad smile. “It should fit this man quite well, too. I shall take the uniform of the new Gestapo colonel who has set up headquarters here to search for that illegal radio everyone is talking about. He has many beautiful uniforms. He is a very vain man. And he is a very high official. Even the regular generals here are afraid of him—of the Gestapo!”

“Perfect!” Dick cried. “That couldn’t be better!”

“Tomorrow night I shall have it for you,” Tomaso said. “And I shall also be able to tell you then about the sabotage at the power plant. But come before eight o’clock. I do not want to miss any of the opera.”

With a good-bye, Tomaso went back to his rooms, and the three Americans struck off for the northwestern road, which Dick was eager to look over. They kept to the side of the hill above the town so they would not be seen. In half an hour they came to the road where it cut into the hill above the gorge. They were able to get close to it, as the trees covered their approach.

“This road has been cut out of the hillside,” Slade said. “It would be very easy to blow up. All you’d need would be a fair-sized charge behind some big rocks up here, and the side of the hill would just slide down on to the road. Of course, a good engineers’ company could have it clear again in about four hours, with the proper equipment—bulldozers and such.”

“The Germans won’t have any such equipment by that time,” Dick said. “It will all be under water. And a few hours is really all we need anyway. If they can’t escape up this road, they’ll be caught by the flood waters from the dam. The only way anyone could get away would be on foot into the hills. And that’s just what we want.”

“Then you’re going to try to blow up this road?” Max asked.

“Yes, as my own private venture in this operation,” Dick replied, “provided everything else works out all right. If I’m needed at the dam, then I’ll forget this, but if our plans there look good, I’ll come over here with the leftover dynamite.”

They spent another half-hour on the hillside, looking over the land. Slade finally pointed out to Dick the best spot for placing his dynamite charge, and where he should stand with his detonator. Then the three men headed back behind the town and up to their cave on the opposite hill. It had been a busy night.

INTERRUPTED PERFORMANCE

They spent a good part of the next day sleeping, although they still had plenty of time to talk over their plans. They found it more difficult than ever to sit in front of the cave doing nothing when they knew so many things must be going on elsewhere. They wondered if the local tenor would succeed with his scheme of wrecking the dynamo. They asked each other a dozen times if old Tomaso would really be able to steal that Gestapo colonel’s uniform. Max even spent some time practising his German, trying to get a note of authority and command into it.

“If I can just try to be as tough and nasty and mean as possible,” he said, “then I may begin to sound a little bit like a Gestapo colonel.”

“Well, you’ll be talking to German soldiers,” Scotti put in, “and you ought to find it easy to act nasty to them.”

The lieutenant was much better now, and he could talk almost normally. There was a throbbing pain in his head regularly, and his broken leg was uncomfortable, but the thing that bothered him most was his inability to take any active part in theproceedings.

“You don’t let me do anything, Dick,” he protested. “It’s you who figured out every plan so far, as well as carrying them through. I needn’t have come along on this trip at all.”

But Dick was relieved to be able to have the advice and counsel of his lieutenant in his complicated plans. Each one of them was a long gamble, and he knew it. He wanted the benefit of every bit of advice he could get. And it was Lieutenant Scotti who figured out the method Max was later to use in diverting the attention of the guards at the dam so that Slade could get in to place his dynamite.

That action was planned for that night—the fifth night of their stay behind the enemy lines. At dawn of the sixth night the dam was scheduled to be blown up, and they wanted to get their dynamite in place twenty-four hours ahead of time. Slade had figured that he could place the dynamite, run a wire down the pipe so that it extended about one inch from a hatch opening. Then, on the last night, he could hook up another length of wire to that, lead it away to his detonator, and set it off.

But they did not know that the Germans had decided there were Americans in the neighborhood. The decoding experts had not been able to decipher completely the radio messages which Tony had sent, but they had gotten enough of a hint to know that they were reports on German troop and supply movements through Maletta. And they felt sure that military men were making those reports.

“I Didn’t Need to Come Along,” the Lieutenant Said

Dick Donnelly went off to town alone shortly after dark that evening. He was going to find out about the sabotage at the power plant and pick up the German uniform from Tomaso—that was all. Then he planned to return to the cave, where Max would put on the uniform, and they would all set out for the dam together.

There was nothing to worry him unduly as he circled over the fields and came up toward the villa on the north hill. He saw many trucks and cars on the road, but this was nothing new during the last few days. Just as he left the little dead-end side street and walked up the hill to meet Tomaso at the clump of trees, a car roared to a stop at the end of the street and German soldiers poured out of it, heading straight up the hill.

Dick ran forward quickly to the trees, and there he found Tomaso, nervous and agitated.

“It’s terrible,” the old man said. “You’ll be caught!”

“What’s terrible?” Dick asked. “What has happened?”

“I just learned—overheard the officers talking,” Tomaso said. “They feel sure Americans are hiding somewhere in Maletta. They’ve surrounded the town and are going to search it thoroughly. They’ve got a ring around the town now, and it will close in more and more tightly as soldiers go through every house, every building.”

“Oh—those soldiers who went up the hill over there—” Dick muttered. “They’re part of the ring around the town.”

“Yes, I heard them say men must circle up behind the villa, and then walk down so closely that not a person could slip through the ring. They’ll be here any minute. We cannot stay here.”

“No, come on down toward the villa,” Dick said. “We can talk as we go. You have the uniform there?”

“Yes, shall I try to put it back now so we won’t be caught with it?”

“No, I’ll take it,” Dick said. “I may be able to get away with it yet. What about the power plant?”

“The plan succeeded,” Tomaso said. “The dynamo is wrecked, the water-gates shut, and specialists have been summoned from the north. But I hear they cannot arrive with new parts for at least three days.”

“Good,” Dick said.

“Not good,” Tomaso said. “Of what use is all this if now you are to be caught?”

They were approaching the wing of the villa now, and hid in its shadow.

“I may not be caught,” Dick said. “And even if I am, the others will carry through somehow. Has the guard been increased at the dam?”

“No, because they believe the damage was caused by a German workman,” Tomaso said. “No Italians were there. So the German was judged careless and the Gestapo colonel had him brought down here at once. He ordered him shot. So the guard is not increased. Only a corporal is in charge at night. There are nine sentries under him.”

They stopped and listened. Up above on the hill they heard the tramp of men’s feet, the calling of orders in German.

“Come on,” Dick said. “We might as well make them take as long as possible to find me. Where can we go?”

“I—I was going to the opera,” Tomaso said. “I don’t know now if I should go.”

“Of course,” Dick said. “You must not be found with me if I am caught. But wait—where is the opera house?”

“In the next block—to the right,” Tomaso replied.

“Can we get there without crossing in front of the villa?” Dick asked.

“Yes, around in back,” the old man said, grabbing his arm, “but we must hurry.”

He led Dick behind the rear wing to the western side, cut behind a small house not far from the villa, brushed aside a dog who started to bark at the next house, and then stopped at a narrow street. Between two houses Dick could see what must be the opera house, a large building with numerous lights in it, and people already going in the front doors.

Dick hid the German uniform under his loose peasant’s coat and spoke quietly to Tomaso.

“Take me to the stage door,” he said. “Tell your tenor friend, the man who wrecked the power plant so cleverly, who I am. Then leave me. I have an idea.”

They walked quickly across the street and along the side of the opera house to a side door near the rear. A man leaned against the doorjamb and looked up at them curiously.

“Arturo, quick,” the old man said. “Ask no questions. Find Enrico at once. Bring him here.”

The man’s eyes opened wide, then he darted inside. He reappeared in a few seconds with a young man who limped slightly. The young man had begun to apply make-up to his face. He beckoned them inside.

“Enrico, this is the American,” Tomaso said. “This is Ricardo Donnelli.”

The young man looked at Dick in admiration but said nothing.

“The Germans have surrounded the town, and are searching for him,” Tomaso said. “Help him. Do what he asks.”

“Anything,” Enrico said. “You go now, Tomaso.”

The old man stopped at the door long enough to say, “Not a word of this,” to the doorkeeper, who nodded his head in vigorous assent. Then he disappeared.

Dick spoke quickly in Italian to the young singer.

“I’ve got only one chance to escape detection,” he said. “Let me play your role tonight. In the clown costume ofPagliaccithey’ll never recognize me. They’ll just think I’m the regular tenor.”

“Not if you sing as you used to,” Enrico smiled. “You must be sure to sing very badly. Then you will sound like me.”

“Perhaps the audience will know the difference,” Dick said, “but I’ll have to take a chance on that. Even if they do, maybe they will say nothing.”

“They will say nothing,” Enrico assured him. “They will know you are the American for whom the Germans search, and they will want to help you.”

“What about those among you who work with the Germans?” Dick asked. “There are still some quislings, I believe.”

“Yes, but they dare not come to public gatherings like this,” Enrico said. “They are afraid of the rest of the townspeople.”

“All right then?” Dick asked.

“All right,” Enrico replied. “Come to my dressing room now. The others in the company must be told. They can be trusted, all of them. I shall tell them while you get into costume and make-up. Then I shall join the orchestra in the pit and play a drum inconspicuously.”

In a few minutes Dick was putting the clown costume over his clothes. The floppy suit was so roomy that he was able to tie the Gestapo uniform around his waist beneath it. Then he smeared over his face the heavy dead-white make-up of the clown. When it dried, he put on his wig, and then the round red spots which covered the clown’s face. He looked at himself in the cracked mirror.

“A mother couldn’t recognize her own son in this get-up,” he laughed. “I may be able to get away with this.”

He heard a tap on his door and called “Come in,” in Italian. A man in the costume of Tonio, with the fake hump on his back, entered the room and smiled.

“We all know,” he said. “We shall help, no matter what happens. You are safe. And we shall never forget the great honor of having sung with—” then he decided he should never even mention the name, lest the Gestapo hear—“with the world’s greatest tenor.”

“Thanks,” Dick said, with a smile. “I hope I won’t get any of you into trouble.”

While Tonio sang the prologue, Dick wondered what the men at the cave would be thinking. They expected him back there by this time. And what about Tony, still maintaining his lonely vigil in that old bell tower? He would have seen the Germansencircling the town, going through every house. It would be some little time before the searching parties would reach the opera house. It would be best if they came in while the performance was going on, and while Dick was on the stage.

Then someone called him, and he stood in the wings waiting for his cue. He looked about. The sets were old and dirty, as Tomaso had said. The stage was not very large. And the orchestra in the pit was about half as large as it used to be, Dick knew. But the men played as if they loved it, and the singers sang with fire and sincerity, even if their voices did not have the best quality in the world. He felt a thrill—a thrill he had not known for a long time—go through him as he heard the music and got himself ready to step on a stage once more and sing.

When he finally was there, singing, he knew that his voice was rusty, not up to its best by any means. But perhaps it was just as well. If he were in good voice, the Germans might make inquiries about him.

At the end of the first act there was a burst of applause that shook the old opera house, even though it was less than half filled. Between the acts, after taking his many bows, Dick was nervous. The audience obviously knew that he was not Enrico, the regular tenor. It was a big crowd to be in on something that was supposed to be so secret, but it was a chance he had had to take in view of developments. He kept listening for the approach of the searching German troops, hoping they would not come until the performance started again.

Finally there came the bell for the second act, and Dick as Canio went on the stage for his great aria,Vesti la giubba. It was in the midst of that sobbing, heartbroken song of the clown that Dick saw the Germans. They came in the front entrance of the opera house, about fifteen of them, led by the elegant but worried Gestapo colonel, who did not yet know, Dick concluded, that one of his uniforms had been stolen. Then Dick saw more soldiers in the wings, on both sides of the stage. But he kept on singing, as if nothing had happened. The Germans just stood and listened and, when he finished the aria, joined in the applause.

Dick bowed, and bowed again as the applause continued. But then the other singers started to go on with the performance. At that the colonel, with some of his men, strode down the hall holding up his hand for silence.

The singers stopped, and the orchestra drifted quickly into silence. The colonel then mounted the steps leading to the stage, strutting like a peacock. An aide followed him. When he was sure he had the attention of everyone, he uttered a few words in German to the aide, who thereupon spoke in Italian to the assemblage.

“His excellency begs your forgiveness for interrupting this beautiful performance,” the man said in a toneless voice, “but he is compelled to do so because of spies in our fair city.”

The aide paused while the colonel spoke more words to him in German. Then he continued to tell the audience that American spies were known to be somewhere in the town and a thorough, house-to-house search had to be made for them. The colonel was sure, the aide said, that only a few of the Italian population would think of harboring such criminals, and that most of them would aid in running down their common enemy. He then asked if anyone knew of the whereabouts of any American spy.

No one raised a hand. The colonel then said it would be necessary for his men to go through the entire theater carefully looking for the Americans. As soon as the search was ended, the performance could continue. At that, German soldiers moved down the aisles, asking everyone for papers, for some means of identification if they had lost their papers. Others went through the orchestra pit, the dressing rooms, the basement, and the catwalk above the stage where sets were pulled up out of sight.

The colonel waited on the stage while all this was going on. Dick and the others stood on the stage not far from him, waiting until everything was over. No one thought of asking the singers for identification papers. No one paid any attention to them except the colonel, who rather self-consciously smiled at them a couple of times.

In half an hour the search was ended, and the colonel looked a little worried as he told his aide to say that anyone knowing of the presence of an American should report it to headquarters at once.

As the Germans moved toward the exits, Dick motioned to the orchestra leader, who raised his baton, and took up where he had left off. In a few minutes there were no more soldiers, and the ring closing in on the American spies had passed beyond them. Dick sang the rest of his role with a happiness and a fervor such as he had never felt. His singing inspired the other performers and the orchestra to new heights of beauty.

Shortly before the end he had an idea.

He knew all these people in the opera house could be trusted now. So he would take this opportunity to tell them of the impending destruction of the dam. Following the music of the orchestra but making up new words as he went along, he thanked them all for their help, assured them they would soon be liberated by the American Army. He told them when the dam would be blown up, told them to leave the town before that time, filtering out into the hills as unobtrusively as possible.

At the end of the passage in which he told them these things, one of the other singers sang his part and also invented words for the music. He said that the Americans could count on full cooperation of the people of Maletta, who would return from the hills to welcome the conquering American Army.

Soon the opera ended, and the applause was deafening. After many bows, Dick left the stage and hurried to his dressing room. There he found Enrico, and soon Tomaso came. He hardly listened to their praise of his voice, of his cleverness in using the opera to tell the townspeople of the plans ahead. But, when he had removed the make-up and costume, he shook Enrico by the hand heartily.

“You have been a tremendous help,” he said, “in more ways than one. First the dam, then this. The whole American Army will thank you, Enrico, believe me!”

Then he and Tomaso were gone. They left the side door of the opera house, cut back of the villa, and then Dick went up on the roof and into the tower with Tony. There he told the whole story to the young radioman, who had been fearful that something must have gone wrong.

“Why couldn’t I have heard you?” he asked. “I’m missing everything imprisoned up in this tower—most of the war, and now your singing!”

“Well, I’m going to sit down for a few minutes,” Dick said. “We can’t carry through our plan to go to the dam tonight. It’s too late for me to get back to the cave, get Max into his uniform, carry the dynamite to the dam and place it. It will just have to be done tomorrow night. So I’ll stay here until our one o’clock broadcast to headquarters and help you with it.”

“No you won’t,” Tony said. “You’ve had one narrow escape tonight. After this broadcast, they’ll have their mobile units out trying to find us. They may throw another dragnet around the city, because that Colonel Klage will be just about crazy. I’ll handle this one alone. You get on back to the cave and let those boys up there stop biting their nails for fear something’s gone wrong. I don’t care if you are my sergeant and I’m only a corporal. You get out of here—right now!”

Dick grinned and shook his head. “All right, all right,” he said. “I guess you’re right at that. You know what to tell them in your report. Good luck! I’ll see you sometime tomorrow night.”

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