“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 be guarded 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.