CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE FOURTH NIGHT
Halfway back to the cave, Dick suddenly felt exhausted. He realizedthat 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 withTony? He’ll be on the lookout for someone before long and will let therope down to you. Tomaso will come with the latest reports just beforedawn, and you can crank the generator for Tony while he gives his radioreport to our headquarters. Tony has the code book. Tell him to add, inaddition to Tomaso’s details on troop movements, that we’ve figured howto 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 thegeneral, then I’ll make myself come through somehow. Okay, Vince, onyour 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 andDick circled around the hill toward their cave.
“How much dynamite will you have left over after placing the charge inthe dam?” Dick asked.
“About half of it,” Slade replied.
“Good. Then tomorrow you can teach me the ropes on how to place acharge, attach fuses, wires and detonators. You’ve got two sets ofeverything, haven’t you?”
“Sure I have,” the demolition man replied. “What else are you planningon blowing up?”
“Not sure yet,” Dick said. “I’ll tell you after I take a little triptonight. Right now I’m too tired to do anything.”
When they returned to the cave, Dick found that Scotti was sleepingsoundly, so he did not report to him then about their observations atthe dam. Instead, he stretched out and fell into a deep sleep almost atonce. Despite all the difficulties confronting him, he could sleep. Heknew 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 Vincereturn from town, nor the others eating their breakfast. But he feltcompletely refreshed and ready to tackle anything. After washing hisface and hands, he went in to Scotti and told him all the news,including that brought by Vince about the latest radio report toheadquarters, which had gone smoothly. Scotti was better, finding itpossible to talk more easily and without the great effort of the daybefore. He was now propped up against the wall of the cave, with nylonparachutes 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, andthe two big men carried their lieutenant gently outside and placed himnear the entrance to the cave. Then he joined Dick in a bite to eat andlistened to their plans.
Dick told about the dam, and explained that he had to find some way todraw 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 beincreased 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 wecan’t take that chance. We’ve got to be _sure_! That means we ought toget in there and get our dynamite placed the night before theexplosion.”
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 inhis mind how he would crawl up that pipe and place his dynamitecharges. It was Max who finally made a very timid suggestion.
“Dick,” he said, “this may sound like a fairy-tale idea, but maybe itwould work. Remember we were kidding about wearing Italian peasants’clothes when we first got here and we said something about swiping aGerman uniform for me? Well, if your Uncle Tomaso could get a reallygood officer’s uniform, I might be able to march right up and givethose 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 doeswork, we’ll get our dynamite in place. We can figure out exactly whatto 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 saidhaltingly. “Also on rank of uniform Max would wear. He must be able toawe 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,” Dicksaid. “Tomaso will be able to tell us the details about the guard therethe next day. And he’ll be the one to get us the uniform. We can tellhim to try to get a good one.”
“Suggest you ask him to do that,” Scotti said. “Then Max will haveuniform if we can think of no other solution.”
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_“If I Could Only Get a German’s Uniform!”_]
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“Right, Scotti,” Dick answered. “I’ll do that when I see Tomasotonight. Meanwhile, we’ll all be thinking of some other plan that mightwork.”
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 realrest. You’ve got to take it easy. But I feel a lot better being able togo over these things with you.”
After Jerry was settled comfortably in the cave again, Dick wentoutside with Boom-Boom Slade, who proceeded to give him a lesson indemolition, explaining just how to place the charge and attach thedetonator. Dick spent the afternoon going over the lessons he hadlearned.
After dark, Dick, Max, and Slade set out for the town, while Vincestayed behind with Lieutenant Scotti. As they approached the villa,they saw that there were many cars parked in front and there seemed tobe 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 goup to Tony so early?”
“Sure,” Dick said. “They’re too noisy and too busy to look on their ownrear roof. But you and Slade stay back here in the trees and wait forme. Tomaso will be coming back after a while, too, and I must talk tohim.”
Dick went forward alone, got on the low roof and went forward quicklyto the bell tower. Tony had apparently been on the lookout, for therope was waiting for Dick when he got there. In another two minutes hewas inside the tower with Tony.
“They’ve been tearing this town to pieces today,” Tony said. “Lookingfor our transmitter, of course. They’ve even sent some details downinto the sewers around here. They haven’t even bothered around thevilla itself, though, except once when that Gestapo colonel asked aboutthis 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 flashlightshooting around. Of course they couldn’t see anything, and the colonelwas 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 herepermanently. I’ve kept my eyes open, and they haven’t come in with aradio locator on a truck. When they do that, we’ll have to watch ourstep, maybe cut down our reports to once a day and vary the times alittle bit.”
“We’ll see,” Dick replied. “Now I want to write a note to Tomaso beforehe comes, telling him to meet us in the trees behind the villa in alittle while.”
He scribbled the note on a piece of paper and tied it to the end of therope just in time, as he saw the figure of the old man creeping forwardalong the roof. Looking down as he tossed the r
ope down, Dick sawTomaso take the note from the rope, then attach his own paper to it andgive three jerks.
After studying Tomaso’s details on the day’s movements of German troopsand equipment, Dick and Tony made their report to Americanheadquarters. And at the last moment, Dick decided to tell them thebroadcast schedule would be changed for safety’s sake. The next reportwould 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’llbe listening especially after dusk and just before dawn, when we’vebroadcast before. If we go on the air at one in the morning for onlyabout 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 heprepared to leave. “But it’s the only thing to do.”
He gave the radioman the latest news of the dam, of Scotti, and theirplans.
“They’re actually giving an opera here in town tomorrow night,” Tonysaid. “Wish I could hear it. I think it’s wonderful the way they won’tlet anything stop their opera!”
“Opera seems a million miles away from me right now,” Dick said. “It’shard to remember that I ever sang in opera. Well—maybe I’ll sneak infor a look tomorrow night if I haven’t anything else to do.”
He laughed, and then crawled over the ledge and let himself down therope to the roof below. Crouching low, he made his way back to the endof the wing, dropped off, and scurried up the hill to the clump oftrees. There he found old Tomaso waiting with Max and Slade.
“Tomaso,” Dick said, “you are doing a wonderful job. Your reports areperfect—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 theinformation 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,” Dicksaid. “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 ofGerman soldiers, hundreds of trucks, tanks, guns, and many supplies.The German Army will be trapped and defeated. When the flood watersrecede you will have your town again, and there will be no more Germanshere. Won’t it be worth it?”
The old man thought a moment. “Yes,” he finally said. “It will be worthit. Of course. If the town were to be wiped off the map forever, itwould be all right if it meant we got rid of the Germans. But whatabout 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 someword leak out. Tonight you can tell those closest to you, those who cansurely be trusted completely. Then, on the night before the wrecking ofthe dam, these can pass the word to all others. They must filter outinto the hills, trying their best to cause no wonderment among theGermans.”
“I understand,” the old man said. “We shall do as you wish. But yousaid there were two other things to do.”
“Yes, to help us blow up the dam,” Dick said. He explained that Slademust be able to get into the pipe-line from the dam and for that thepower plant must be damaged so the water-gates would be shut off for afew days.
“You said that your people had damaged the power plant before,” Dickwent on. “Can they do it again, tomorrow?”
The old man thought for a few minutes. “Yes,” he said, “I believe theycan. 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 ofour men there has been experimenting. He told me that he had discoveredthat a wrench set on a certain ledge near the big dynamo wouldgradually move, from the vibration, and fall into the mechanism inabout fifteen minutes. His idea was to place some tools on that spotjust before he left work. Then, if none of the night men saw themwithin fifteen minutes, they would topple into the dynamo. And theywould surely damage it badly. You see, they could not blame it on theItalians, because no Italians would be around at the time it happened.He wanted to find some way to wreck the machinery without having a fewhostages 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 nowthe tenor in our little opera company and he will do anything forRicardo Donnelli. And after doing that he will sing even better in theperformance tomorrow night.”
Dick smiled.
“What are they performing tomorrow night?” he asked.
“_Pagliacci_,” Tomaso replied. “Nowadays we can give only shortperformances.”
“Now for the second request,” Dick said. “We must find some way to getour men to the pipe-line at the dam, which is well guarded. It may beguarded even more completely after the sabotage tomorrow. So—you knowthat this man, Max Burckhardt, speaks German. If he could appear at thedam in the uniform of a high German officer, he might be able in someway to order the sentries to allow our other men with dynamite to getin.”
Tomaso looked puzzled for a moment, and then he understood. “You wouldlike me to take a uniform for this man, so that he could wear it?” heasked.
“Yes, if you wouldn’t endanger yourself in doing it,” Dick said.
“Oh, even if there were danger,” Tomaso said, “that would not bother meif it helped you. But there will not be any danger at all. I clean allthe rooms. I am even alone in them sometimes. And they pay no attentionto me, just an old man puttering around. They think I am not quitebright, 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 towin 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 ofthe new Gestapo colonel who has set up headquarters here to search forthat illegal radio everyone is talking about. He has many beautifuluniforms. He is a very vain man. And he is a very high official. Eventhe 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 shallalso 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 Americansstruck off for the northwestern road, which Dick was eager to lookover. They kept to the side of the hill above the town so they wouldnot be seen. In half an hour they came to the road where it cut intothe hill above the gorge. They were able to get close to it, as thetrees covered their approach.
“This road has been cut out of the hillside,” Slade said. “It would bevery easy to blow up. All you’d need would be a fair-sized chargebehind some big rocks up here, and the side of the hill would justslide down on to the road. Of course, a good engineers’ company couldhave it clear again in about four hours, with the properequipment—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 needanyway. If they can’t escape up this road, they’ll be caught by theflood waters from the dam. The only way anyone could get away would beon 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 thedam, then I’ll forget this, but if our plans there look good, I’ll comeover here with the leftover dynamite.”
They spent another half-hour on the hillside, looking over t
he land.Slade finally pointed out to Dick the best spot for placing hisdynamite charge, and where he should stand with his detonator. Then thethree men headed back behind the town and up to their cave on theopposite hill. It had been a busy night.
Dick Donnelly of the Paratroops Page 13