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—"
The professor glared.
"What do you mean, we might all have been killed?"
"Why, the explosive in that package, and the detonator—really, Joseph, it was terribly dangerous—"
"Dangerous!" snorted the savant. "The only dangerous part was that he might have hit me over the head with it."