“Good idea,” Tagish Charley grunted. “But I got better one.” He picked up the ax he had carried with him from the cable car and began to attack the surplus snowshoes furiously. When he had demolished them, he straightened up and, to everyone’s amazement, grinned broadly. “They no go very far now.”
They were halfway to the plane when a distant gunshot came to them faintly through the thin, dry air. Turning, Sandy could make out three ant-like specks on the mountainside near the tunnel where they had been held prisoner.
“They’ve discovered we’re gone,” he said.
“And they’re shooting at us,” Jerry commented nervously.
“We’re not in much danger at this range,” Professor Crowell assured them. “Without telescopic sights, it would take a mighty lucky shot to hit anyone.”
Nevertheless, they were all greatly relieved when they were seated snugly in the cabin of the plane and Professor Crowell had the motors gunning smoothly. “Those fellows did a mighty fine job on this runway,” the professor said charitably. He advanced the throttle and the ship glided ahead smoothly. They cleared the trees at the far end of the clearing with plenty of room to spare and climbed in a sweeping curve that took them over the mountain. Far below on the snowy slope they could see the frustrated agents hopping about and shaking their fists in the air.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Final Victory
“They’ve caught the entire gang!” Dr. Steele reported excitedly as he burst into the boys’ hotel room at Cordova a little after eight the next morning.
Sandy sat up and massaged the sleep from his eyes. “No kidding, Dad. When?”
“Army Intelligence moved in on Strak, Parker and the other two at dawn. They gave up without a fight. Seems they put in a pretty rough night. Strak was in bad shape, thanks to Charley, but he’ll live to stand trial for espionage.”