“Then you wouldn’t have to go through the power house itself?” Dick asked.
“No, I could get in the pipe, I’m sure, not far from the spot where it enters the dam,” Slade answered. “And I could place the dynamite right under the weak spot of the dam. But the water-gate would have to stay shut completely until after the charge was exploded.”
“I see,” Dick said. “Let me think that one over a bit. You go on getting the lay of the land completely in your mind.”
Slade and Vince continued their observations while Dick tried to figure out a way to get Slade and his dynamite into the pipe-line. Suddenly he remembered something that Tomaso had said to him on the first night they talked together.
“Boom-Boom,” Dick called to Slade, “tell me something. If for some reason the turbines or dynamos were damaged badly and the plant had to shut down for a few days, would they close the water-gate leading from the dam through the pipe-line?”
“Of course they would,” Slade replied. “That’s the first thing they’d do. And they wouldn’t open it again until all repairs were made.”
“There’s our answer,” Dick exclaimed. “Old Tomaso told me that the underground has several times performed a little neat sabotage at this power station, stopping it for several days until repairs were made. If they did it before, they ought to be able to do it again.”
“Swell,” Slade said. “Then I could really do the job—provided we can get through all those guards, place the ammunition, lead out my wires and hook them up to a detonator.”
“All right, I’ll have to figure that out, too,” Dick said. “But I can’t see how yet. We’ll just have to find some way, but for the life of me I don’t see what it can be. Anyway, we’ve solved part of our problem. We’ll get our dam blown up right and proper, boys, and don’t you ever forget it. But we can’t waste very much time. Tonight is already the third night. We have just three nights more in which to do our work!”