"Sure, sure, I admit it." The burly one seemed unperturbed.
"Why, you--"
"Hold it!" There was a sharp note of command in the red-headed man"s voice this time. "Don"t come no closer, buddy. Not if you want to keep your health!" He held out one ham-like hand. It gripped a heavy, bottle-shaped package.
"I got a little private lab in my suitcase," the spy explained. "When I saw how simple that formula was, I just brewed me up a batch of your new powder. Now I got it right here"--he waved the package--"complete with detonator. If you guys try to jump me, all I do is let go and the whole works goes off." He chuckled unpleasantly. "I guess you know what happens when two pounds of that stuff lets go."
The three friends shrank back. Henry"s teeth already were chattering like the gourds in a rumba band.
"I guess you"ve got us," Major Coggleston said tautly. "However, you can"t go far. My men are surrounding this camp right now."
The red-headed man sneered.
"Why don"t you tell me something new?" he commented caustically. "Why"d you think I grabbed you?"
"What?"
"You didn"t think you guys surprised me, did you?" The burly one laughed. "h.e.l.l, I saw you the second you came in.
"The way I"d planned it, I was going to hide out in the camp, here, until the stink blew over. Then I figured on pulling a fast sneak out of the country.
"But someone caught wise. I guess it was you"--he nodded at the quaking Henry--"so I had to revise things a little. I knew you"d have support coming up--Army Intelligence officers don"t walk into trouble without backing except in the movies."
"So what do you plan to do with us?" demanded the major. "You can see you haven"t a chance to get away--"
"Haven"t I?"
"The camp is surrounded."
"Sure." Their captor was amused. "That"s why I grabbed you. The four of us are going to march out of here together. And you"--he jerked his head toward Major Coggleston--"are going to make your boys lay off. You"ll go with me "til I"m satisfied I"m in the clear. Then I"ll turn you loose."
"And if we refuse?" grated the major.
The other shrugged.
"O.K. by me," he said. "We all blow up together."
There was a long moment of silence, pregnant with panic.
"You must have a great deal of confidence in your ability as a chemist, to prepare this explosive on such short notice and with limited equipment," Professor Paulsen commented at last.
The red-headed man laughed.
"Why shouldn"t I have?" he demanded. "I may have been raised in Brooklyn, but I learned my business in Berlin, and they know how to teach there."
Another long silence.
"Well, make up your mind!" their captor grunted finally. "We ain"t got all night, you know. Do you come quiet, or do I have to blow us all to smithereens?" He waved the package in his hand menacingly.
Major Coggleston threw up his hands in a gesture of defeat.
"You win!" he snapped. "If I were alone, I"d say blow and be d.a.m.ned. But my friends deserve a better fate."
"You"re smart," the other reported approvingly. "Come on!"
Slowly, the trio moved forward.
"Hurry up!" grated the red-head. And then, to the professor: "You skinny, get a move on!"
For the gaunt savant was distinctly lagging. He had dropped back until he was a full yard behind Henry and the major, and only a step in front of the spy.
"Hurry up!" the n.a.z.i repeated, his eyes suddenly cold and menacing.
"Joseph! Come on!" urged Henry, his teeth chattering. "Don"t make him mad! Please, Joseph!"
"I"m coming," grunted the scientist. "I certainly can"t be blamed if the pebbles and twigs hurt my feet, can I?"
And with that, he sprang.
Like a human octopus, all long arms and legs, he launched himself at the spy. His hands clutched at the red-head"s throat. His legs wrapped around the man"s waist and dashed him backward to the ground.
"Help!" screamed the spy. With a wild motion he hurled the package from him in a long arch.
_Bang!_
But the explosion was the crack of a detonating cap, not the thunderous roar of a heavy charge of powder.
Major Coggleston lunged forward. His fists beat a meaty tattoo on the spy"s face.
The next instant the crackle of military commands and the thud of footsteps burst upon them. The four--Professor Paulsen, Major Coggleston and the spy, in a heap on the ground; and Henry Horn, wide-eyed and trembling, standing near at hand--were illumined in a powerful flashlight"s beam. Half a dozen soldiers rushed up.
"Major! We heard that shot! Are you all right?"
The officer struggled to his feet, trying hard to preserve the dignity of his rank despite his nudity. In the light of the flash he looked even more than before like an overgrown kewpie doll.
"Of course I"m all right!" he puffed. "What"s more, that red-headed rat on the ground is the spy and murderer we"ve been looking for. Take him away, men!"
He turned to Professor Paulsen.
"Joe, this is one time I don"t know what to say. If it hadn"t been for you that devil would have made a clean getaway."
"Forget it," retorted the gaunt scientist. "It"s little enough I can do for my country at my age."
"Honestly, Joseph, I can"t see how you got the nerve to do it!" marveled Henry, still wide-eyed. "Just think, we might all have been killed--"