“My friends and I—we can learn,” Tomaso said. “Tomorrow morning I will tell them, and each evening I can give you the information. But I do not tell even my friends where the radio is. They need not know, and if the Germans should try to torture the information out of them, they will not be able to weaken.”
They were led to the end of the wing where the old man pointed out a long ladder lying against the rear wall where there were no windows. Vince lifted it and placed it against the roof, which was only a few feet above them where they stood on the hill’s side.
Dick went up first and stepped carefully on the roof. He was pleased to see that it was almost flat so that it would be easy not only to walk on, but also to set a ladder on. There was just a slight slope toward the rear.
He turned and motioned for the next man to follow, and Tony came up with one case of radio material. Then came the old man himself, and Dick and Tony helped him off the ladder. Next Max handed up the home-made ladder that Vince had put together that day, and Dick and Tony pulled it up and laid it on the roof. Max himself came next, with another box of radio material and the coil of rope with its metal grappling hook.
And last of all came Vince, with the big box containing the hand-cranked generator to supply power for the radio transmitter. When they were all on the roof, they waited for a minute, listening to see if there were any unusual sounds about. They heard the chugging of engines from the railroad yards to the west, the noise of truck motors coming down the road from the northwest, and that was all.
Dick and Tomaso walked along the roof side by side, treading lightly, and the others followed, bringing all equipment and both ladders. Finally they stood in the deep shadow at the base of the old bell tower. Looking up, it seemed to Dick as if it rose an impossible distance into the sky. He felt sure their ladders would never reach it.
Vince set to work fixing his home-made ladder to the end of Tomaso’s ladder. It slid over the end all right, but was rather loose, so he took from his pocket a length of heavy cord and bound it round and round the shafts where both ladders were joined. The others waited silently, watching him work quickly and surely. In two minutes the ladders were as strong as one long one, and Max helped Vince lift it so that they could lean it against the bell tower.
Dick stood back a little way to see how close it came to the opening near the top of the tower. It was almost ten feet short! He stepped forward and whispered to Vince and Max:
“Lean it at a sharper angle. It’s short.”
He stepped back and saw that the new position gained only about three feet. The top rung was still about seven feet below the opening in the tower. And Tony could never stand on the top rung, hugging the wall. He’d have to stand on the third rung from the top, so he’d have some support for his hands and could lean his body in against the wall. Of course, there was the rope and grappling hook, but that was tricky business—uncertain and likely to make a good deal of noise.