Dave dodged, but not soon enough. The cudgel came down directly on top of his head. He saw stars, sank flat, and knew no more for fully five minutes.
Then, his lower limbs wound round and round with ropes, he struggled upon the floor of a hut.
At a table on which burned a candle sat Schmitt-Schmitt. He had just opened a bottle of lime juice and was about to pour some of its contents into a glass to refresh himself.
He suspended operations, however, as Dave struggled to an upright position, attracting his attention.
"Well," he spoke with a coarse chuckle, "how did that wallop suit you?"
Dave rubbed his sore head and made a wry grimace.
"You don't treat visitors very politely, do you?" he said.
"You're a spy, you are," spoke Gerstein sullenly, "and don't you deny it. I know you. Now then, what brought you here?"
"What brought you?" retorted Dave.
"Don't you get saucy," warned Schmitt-Schmitt. "All along you did the big things that were done in baffling the Hankers. I hear, too, you have been pretty smart with your tricks since you came to Minotaur Island."