"Two little boys!" he boomed out in his native tongue. "Himmel! Just two little boys. I thought England had men in her army!"
"She has!" Dave shot back at him. "Try to invade England any time, and you'll find out!"
Thunder heads showed in the German's face for a moment. Then he laughed harshly and jabbed a big finger at Dave.
"American, eh?" he roared. "Ah, yes! You must be this Dawson swine I've heard tell about. Am I right?"
"Take five points for it," Dave said. "Who cares?"
"What?" the Luftwaffe morale3 builder bellowed5. "What kind of talk is that?"
"I give up," Dave said. "What kind?"
The Nazi6 looked both puzzled and angry. The look he gave Dave made the young Yank regret just a little that he had spoken in that manner.
"So, you would make a joke of it, eh?" the Nazi suddenly roared. "I advise you not to. I can crush an infant like you with one hand. What were you three doing over here?"
"Three?" Freddy spoke7 up before Dave could open his mouth. "What three? There's only the two of us."
"I can see that!" the Gestapo Colonel snarled8. "I have eyes, you little fool. There was a third plane. The one that tried to get away. What were you doing over here, eh?"
Dave's heart skipped a beat. The one that tried to get away? Did that mean Barker had been caught and shot down?
"Oh, him?" Dave echoed and forced a grin to his lips. "He not only tried to get away, he did get away. Too bad for you. He was the important man in the patrol."
"So?" the German said with a slow smile. "The important man of your little patrol, eh? Then it is too bad for the ones who sent you out here. He will never return to England. He is dead, the swine!"
"You're a cockeyed liar9!" Dave shouted at him with more conviction than he felt. "He left you birds fanning thin air, and he's well over England by now."
The German regarded Dave as though he were some strange species of something or other. Then his big body shook with silent laughter.
"You Americans are a stupid people," he finally said. "You have no sense. You do not realize that you are asking for punishment every time you open your dirty mouths. You have to be taught a lesson, always!"
As the man shouted the last his big hand flashed out with the speed of a striking cobra. Dave didn't even see it coming. He only felt the stunning10 blow on the side of his head. And the next thing he knew he was flat on his back on the ground, blinking goggle11 eyed up at the sky. The toe of a boot dug into his ribs12.
"Get up, infant swine!" he heard the voice of Colonel Comstadt. "I hardly touched you. So you are the American, Dawson, I have heard about? Bah! You haven't the strength of a chicken. Get up!"
Dave got shakily up onto his feet. Red fire was sweeping13 through his brain, and white fury was boiling up in his chest. He had just enough sense left, though, to refrain from hurling14 himself at the big hulk of a Nazi. You can't chop down an oak tree with a straw, and Dave had enough sense to realize it. However, as he met the Nazi's leering gaze he made a silent promise to himself that if the chance ever came...!
"Now, let that teach you to behave, and answer my questions!" Colonel Comstadt growled15. "So! What were you three pilots doing over here?"
Dave didn't attempt to answer. A hunch16 he had had for some time was growing stronger and stronger. Was the reason the Nazis17 didn't shoot, when they had the chance, because they wondered what Freddy, Barker, and he were doing over the area? They really didn't know, or even suspect?
If that were true then there was even greater hope that he and Freddy might get out of this jam. As long as they kept the Germans wondering and guessing the longer the Germans would keep them alive. There was one thing the war had proved about the Nazi breed. They never threw away a man's life until they had drained the last drop of usefulness from his body. And that went double for espionage18 agents they caught in their traps.
"We were on patrol," Dave answered the question aloud. "We were on our way to contact some of our bombers19."
"That's perfectly20 true," Freddy spoke up, instantly catching21 onto Dave's line of thought. "What other reason, for heaven's sake? And why such a lot of you chaps? You certainly do believe in superior numbers, don't you? But, then, you must have learned many startling things about the Royal Air Force, eh?"
The Nazi acted as though he had not heard. He ignored the English youth, and kept his gaze fixed22 on Dave. When he spoke his voice was surprisingly soft. Yet there was a deadly undertone to it.
"You have perhaps heard of Colonel Comstadt?" he asked. "You have perhaps heard of him?"
Dave plucked at his lower lip and screwed up his face in a gesture of deep thought.
"Comstadt?" he mumbled23. "Comstadt? No. I can't say that I've heard of him. Who is he? Hitler's valet, or something?"
The German turned purple with rage, and for a second or two Dave feared that the man was actually going to explode in a shower of small pieces. It was a full minute before the Nazi seemed able to find his tongue. He jerked up a clenched24 fist, and Dave instantly set himself to duck. No blow was struck at him, however. Instead, Colonel Comstadt beat his fist against his own chest.
"I am Colonel Comstadt!" he thundered. "I am second in command of the Gestapo. In the hollow of my hand I hold the lives of thousands. I have but to close my hand, and they are no more. So, you have never heard of Colonel Comstadt, eh?"
"No, never," Dave lied with a straight face.
The German looked even more disappointed. He actually looked as if he were going to break down and cry. The expression on the man's face, however, struck no funny note in either Dave or Freddy. On the contrary it struck a very chilling note. It was like a file being drawn25 across their taut26 nerves. One thing was now definitely sure in their minds. Colonel Comstadt was a madman! He was absolutely insane. Clever, cunning, a great credit to Adolf Hitler, but definitely a crazy man.
"Well, then I will tell you about Colonel Comstadt," the Nazi suddenly said in a friendly and engaging voice. "He has done many great things for Der Fuehrer, and he will do many more. That is as sure as the stars that shine by night, and the sun that shines by day. How, you ask? How has Colonel Comstadt been able to do so much? It is simple. Very simple. I know many ways to make men talk. And when you make a man talk, you learn many things. You understand me, eh? I ask you a question, and you give me a foolish answer. Very well, then. There are many ways to make you talk. And not one of them will be pleasant for you!"
The Nazi finished talking with a curt27 nod of his head, and then smiled in cunning triumph.
"You see?" he murmured. "You understand perhaps now, eh? You are not men. You are mere28 babies. I could break you both with the fingers of one hand. Well?"
Dave looked at those big hands and gulped29 inwardly. He imagined them at his throat, or breaking off an arm, and gulped again.
"But what can we tell you?" he cried, stalling for time. "What do you want to know? The location of the bombers? Heck! I haven't the faintest idea where they are now."
"I either!" Freddy snapped at him. "Why don't you go up and hunt for them? We've got other things to do. Something very important."
Dave shot a quick side glance at Freddy, and wondered if he, too, had gone nuts. The English youth was practically begging the Nazi to jump on them and beat out truthful30 answers. Freddy was just plain baiting the madman into action. Yet, looking at Freddy's face, Dave saw only a look of restrained impatience31. Colonel Comstadt saw the look, too, and it puzzled him more than added to his rage.
"What do you say?" he demanded. "You have something very important to do?"
"Oh, quite," Freddy murmured, and calmly brushed some dirt off his flying suit.
Colonel Comstadt choked on something unintelligible32, then thrust out a hand and took a bear's paw grip on the English youth's shoulder.
"Speak up, swine!" he roared. "What is this important thing you have to do? Speak, at once!"
Pain showed in Freddy's face, but he squared his jaw33 and looked the Nazi straight in the eye.
"I'll answer that question to your superior," he said with an effort. "To the man who gave you your orders. And, now, let go of my shoulder, please!"
The Nazi was so jolted34 that he actually did release his grip on Freddy's shoulder, and dropped his hand to his side. For a full ten seconds he gaped35 wide eyed at the English youth as though he were somebody from another world. Then suddenly he shook himself and thrust his big flat face close to Freddy's.
"My superior?" he bellowed. "What do you mean?"
"You know as well as I do!" the English youth shouted back at him. "Your superior! General von Peiplow, of course. And, you great big over stuffed ox, you'd better take us to him at once. He may tell Hitler on you, and then where'll you be?"
The Nazi choked, sputtered36, and tried furiously to get words out of his mouth. When they did come, they came like flood waters pouring over a broken dam.
"You insolent37 swine!" he raged. "You English dog. I'll teach you to hold your tongue!"
"Freddy, look out!" Dave screamed.
It was too late. The Nazi hit Freddy on the side of the head and sent him spinning across the ground. White fire exploded in Dave's brain and blew common sense to the four winds. He dived forward and swung his fist for the German's jaw with every bit of his strength behind the blow. He felt his hand connect, and it felt like crashing his fist against the side of a brick building. And then the whole world exploded in shattering sounds about his ears. He heard the bellow4 that came from the Nazi's lips, and then he had the flashing impression that an express train had hit him in the face and not even stopped. After that there weren't any more impressions. That is none, save one. The impression that he was sailing away into eternity38 on a great big black cloud.
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1
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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2
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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3
morale
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| n.道德准则，士气，斗志 | |
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4
bellow
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| v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道 | |
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5
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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6
Nazi
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| n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的 | |
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7
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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8
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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9
liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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10
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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11
goggle
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| n.瞪眼，转动眼珠，护目镜；v.瞪眼看，转眼珠 | |
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12
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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13
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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14
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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15
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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16
hunch
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| n.预感，直觉 | |
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17
Nazis
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| n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义 | |
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18
espionage
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| n.间谍行为，谍报活动 | |
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19
bombers
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| n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟 | |
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20
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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21
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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22
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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23
mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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26
taut
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| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
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27
curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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28
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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29
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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30
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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31
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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32
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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33
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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34
jolted
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| （使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
gaped
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| v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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36
sputtered
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| v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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37
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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38
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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