"I guess you went wrong on this one, Dave," Freddy gasped. "This stuff
is heavier than water, and it will never rise."
"It's got to, it's got to, Freddy!" Dawson said grimly. "It's our only
hope of getting out of this place. And of maybe getting the rats here in
this nest caught."
"Small chance of that, I fancy," Freddy said with a groan. "But even if
the police and the fire department do come busting in here and free us,
then what? The way we've messed up this job, it will certainly take
something to face Vice-Admiral Stone and Commander Drake. They certainly
won't love us for this business, I can tell you!"
"Maybe not, but we'll just have to take our medicine, Freddy," Dawson
replied. "But the big idea right now is to get _out_ of here. You know
there's always a chance that we may be able to do something. After all,
the carrier force is only two days at sea. It's going to take longer
than two days for them to get within flight range of Truk. At least,
near enough for that Nazi rat to skip off and get going. I ... doggone,
I could cut my throat for the way things have turned out. After all the
tight places we've been in, and wiggled out of them, to be caught cold
like this. Boy, do I feel lower than a heel!"
Freddy Farmer didn't reply for a moment. He moved a bit closer to Dawson
on the floor, and then reached out a hand and touched his flying pal on
the arm.
"We'll get out, Dave," he said quietly. "We've got to, old chap. And you
and I aren't licked until we're dead and buried six feet under, as you
would say."
Dawson looked at him, and some of the telling strain went out of his
smoke-streaked face. He grinned and winked knowingly at Freddy.
"Now you're talking, kid," he said. "For a moment there I was afraid
that you had given up the ship for keeps. But you were just fooling me,
and I should have known better. Sure we'll get out, and we'll still win
somehow. You just wait and see."
As Dawson finished the last he got slowly up on his hands and knees, and
crawled over toward the wall on his right. He was playing a hunch, and
his hunch proved to be correct. There was a draft of air over on that
side that was lifting the yellow smoke upward. As a matter of fact the
smoke was beginning to pour out through the skylight.
"Give the gentleman a cigar; it's working, Freddy!" he cried out in a
low voice. "Crawl over here and see for yourself. It's working, Freddy."
A few seconds later young Farmer was by his side and peering upward out
of smoke-reddened eyes. He gasped happily, and instantly crossed all the
fingers of his two hands.
"For luck, Dave!" he breathed. "This and a prayer that they will see it
outside. I mean, that there aren't tall buildings around here that will
hide it off from those in the street. Gosh! Dave! Look at that stuff
pour out. I never knew that just a bundle of clothes and things could
throw off so much smoke!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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