“What can you do, Uncle?” Tony asked.
“Oh, there are a few things an old man can do,” Tomaso smiled. “When that big Gestapo chief came here on inspection, it was I who got word to the others who he was. Perhaps you have not heard about the bomb that blew up his car as it drove away—killing him. No? Well, we did that.”
Tony and Dick looked at the old man in admiration. Then he went on.
The Old Man Told of the Underground’s Activities
“The power plant at the dam has been damaged half a dozen times. Of course, they could always fix it again, but it delayed them for several days, sometimes a week. And they’ve had to post a guard at the switches in the railroad yards because of what we did there. Little things—all little things we did—but they have helped, I know.”
“Now you can help us do big things,” Dick said, “you and your friends in town. But there must be enemies, too—do you know them?”
“Oh, yes, I know them,” the old man said grimly. “We have a list of them. Many have run away, to the north, afraid of the advancing Americans and afraid of their own townspeople, too. But there are a few left. There is Garone the banker and Balardi who was Mayor under Mussolini. He is still here. And they have a few sniveling underlings. But there are not many. Some there are who fear for their own necks. They will not actively fight the enemy, but they would never betray us, either.”