"Fools!" the colonel grated. "You will all be shot as soon as the alarm is sounded."
Stan was moving backward. He grinned at the colonel and made a good bluff. His free hand slid into the pocket of his coat. "Perhaps," he said loudly. "But I have a grenade here, an American-made grenade. You know how much damage they do. I'm going to toss it right where you are standing just as soon as I get to the corner."
He knew at once that he had scored a hit. The Germans knew that tossing a grenade in just that manner was the way Rangers and Commandos worked. Three of the men, those in the doorway, dived out into the night where they began shouting. The colonel and one other officer edged toward the door. Stan reached the corner and made a motion to jerk his hand out of his pocket. The two Germans dived for the door.
"Whirling, Stan raced down the hall. He was passing a door when a hand reached out and jerked him into a dark room or hall, he could not tell which. Allison's voice hissed:
"Inside, we're going up on the roof." Stan heard the door slam and all was dark. "Tony knows how to go through a French window in this room out to a trellis. We climb the vines."
"But the general, he's pretty heavy," Stan said.
"The boys are boosting him up right now." Allison was dragging Stan across the room.
They went through the window and saw the stars above. Dark shapes loomed against the wall of the house where vines climbed up to the eaves. Stan and Allison started up the trellis. They could hear General Bolero puffing and grunting as Tony and Arno helped him climb upward.
Stan looked down and saw the top of the garden wall. "I'm going down after some grenades and a submachine gun," he hissed. Before Allison could stop him he had swung over the wall and was dangling in space. The vines ended at the wall and Stan could not see what was below. He took a chance and cut loose.
Stan was lucky. He landed on top of a canvas-covered van. The padding dulled the thud of his landing. He sat up and listened. The yard below was filled with shouting and yelling. Boots pounded as men ran across the hard ground. Doors slammed and someone fired a pistol. Stan whistled but got no answer. Then he spotted his gang. They were crouching on the roof above. Stan whistled louder and saw a shape detach itself and slide down toward the edge of the roof. He was sure it was Allison. When the dark shape loomed directly above him he called up cautiously.