The boys cautioned Captain Eaton to be careful about going into the slippery room. The captain promised he would be careful and promptly fell down as soon as he walked through the door. Garry and Patch tried to help the captain to his feet, but only succeeded in falling again themselves. They scrambled around, slipping and sliding. Then slowly learning how to become expert at moving about in soapsuds, they finally managed to stand up and stay up.
Carefully, the three made their way toward the washing machine where Katrinka was still merrily flipping clothes through the air. But by now she was out of ammunition and was merely flailing her metal arms. The captain used the command, “Atten-tion!” several times, trying to stop Katrinka’s wild actions, but he had no better luck with this than Garry had had.
Captain Eaton moved forward over the slippery floor and groped for the control knob on the robot’s back. But then, losing his footing, he hung on to the robot to keep from falling again. This brought Katrinka crashing down onto the floor along with the captain himself.
Garry and Patch each offered the captain a hand and presently managed to get him upright again. Garry had a hard time keeping a straight face. Captain Eaton’s face was red, and his beard was straggly and sudsy. His soggy bathrobe stuck to his thin legs, giving him the appearance of a saddened, snow-covered elf.
In the meanwhile, Katrinka was still having her fun, swinging her arms gaily against the floor as she lay on her back.
“We’ve got to turn her over,” Captain Eaton said, crawling nearer the robot. “Be careful of her arms. She can knock you over with them.”
Garry thought he saw how the job could be done.
“Let’s both grab her right leg, Patch,” he said. “Then we’ll give a good heave-ho and flip her over on her stomach. Careful you don’t slip.”
They did as Garry had suggested, yanking fiercely on the robot’s leg and flipping the metal creature over, face down. But the motion also brought Garry and Patch down in the soap again, this time getting the suds all over their faces, causing them to make wry grimaces and blow away the froth from their lips even as they laughed.
But what was funniest of all to Garry was when he saw Captain Eaton suddenly see an opening and scramble furiously, on all fours, over to the flailing robot. He threw himself upon her back, fighting her as a cowboy would wrestle a steer. He finally subdued her with a turn of the switch on her back, which he was at last able to grab and twist.