Tensely, the trio waited and watched. At any moment they feared that the men from the submarine might seek the cache of explosives hidden not far away. Soberly Jerry and Mr. Parker considered trying to reach the box in the sand. To do so they must cross an open, unprotected span of beach with every likelihood of being seen.
“Let’s wait and see what happens,” Mr. Parker advised. “We shouldn’t risk calling attention to ourselves.”
George Emory and his two companions obviously were awaiting someone. Nervously they paced the beach. Several times Mr. Emory looked at his watch. Then from far down the road came the sound of a car traveling at high speed. Tires screamed in protest as the auto came to a sudden halt on the paved road back from the beach.
“That’s why they’ve waited!” Jerry whispered.
Barely a minute elapsed before two figures were seen coming swiftly from the direction of the road. A man and a woman crawled through the bushes, under the fence, and walked hurriedly across deep sand to the beach.
“Mrs. Deline!” Penny identified the woman. “The man with her is the same fellow who stole food from our camp!”
“I’d know his face from photographs I’ve seen,” contributed Jerry. “He’s Oscar Kleinbrock, escaped German prisoner. The man I was sent here to trace!”
Mrs. Deline and her companion reached the group of men who awaited them.
“You are five minutes late,” George Emory reproved.
“Can we help it?” Mrs. Deline snapped. “We’re lucky to be here at all. Do you know that the road is being watched?”