"And we first met you as Steffins!" Freddy cried as he suddenly found his own tongue.
The German agent flecked a glance at the English youth and nodded faintly.
"Splendid!" he said with a chuckle. "You two children really aren't fools, are you? You have brains, and you use them. Yes, that is true. I met you as Steffins."
"Steffins, the yellow belly!" Dave blurted out before he could cut off the words.
A cold deadly look leaped into the Nazi's eyes, and his finger crooked about the Luger's trigger seemed to tighten a hair.
"You are asking for death sooner than I had planned it, little boy!" he spat out harshly. "No one who desires to live even for a minute should call me a coward. That little affair on the train was as I planned it."
"And the strafing plane was some kind of a signal for you, too, wasn't it?" Dave shot out the question.
"Donder and Blitzen!" the German exclaimed in a whisper. "It is too bad you do not belong to German Intelligence. Yes, we could make good use of you. It was a signal, yes. And you can probably guess why. That doddering fool, Manners, has probably told you the whole story."
"I know what you mean!" Freddy cried. "That rotten business you were doing in London. The diving plane was a signal that your hide-out in London had been found, and that they were after you!"
"My, my, never have I met such clever little boys!" von Khole said with a marked sneer. "However, that's just about correct. It was a warning. So that is why I did not report to Squadron Seventy-Four. But it wasn't necessary, anyway. Don't, my young Dawson! Don't be a foolish child and think you can move faster than I can shoot!"