chair.
“My dear, clues to anything you might choose,” he beamed. “Nothing is impossible in this place. First vacation I’ve enjoyed in years. I’m thinking of moving my office out here.”
“Business and pleasure don’t mix,” 99 reminded him.
“I’ve always enjoyed working,” the man said. “And now I enjoy vacationing. So, it’ll be mixing pleasure with pleasure.”
“But won’t it get boring, enjoying yourself all the time?” 99 asked.
“No, no, no. There’s always something new and interesting going on here at the Leg Up. Why, only this morning, several gentlemen jumped into the pool fully clothed, turned the rim on that drain at the bottom, then disappeared through a secret opening in the side of the pool. You don’t see much of that back home in Milford, Connecticut.”
“Oh?”
“No. You have to drive all the way to Bridgeport. It gets pretty wild in Bridgeport sometimes.”
99 leaned a little forward, lowering her voice. “These men who jumped into the pool-were they clean- shaven?” she asked.
“All but two of them,” the man replied.
“Could you describe them?”
“Had handlebar mustaches.”
“Was there anything else about them that you noticed?” 99 asked.
“Well. . one of them wasn’t as dumb-looking as the other.”
99 smiled. “Thank you.”
She got up, dived into the pool fully clothed, turned the rim on the drain, then disappeared through a secret opening.
“Same old stuff,” the man grumbled. “Who was it said there’s always something new and interesting going on here?”
Finding herself in a corridor, 99 sized up the situation, then proceeded toward the closed door at the far end of the corridor. Approaching a nozzle that was protruding from the wall, she identified it as a mind-destroying laser beam, and ducked under it. A moment later, she came to a second nozzle. Chalked over it, she saw the words: Out of Order. Recognizing the nozzle as a napalm spray, 99 knew that there would be no point to putting an Out of Order sign on it if it were really out of order, so the sign was probably a trick. She ducked under the spray and proceeded. The sign over the trapdoor did not fool her either. She soon reached the closed door at the end of the corridor.
Opening the door, 99 spotted Ways and Means, with their backs to her, feeding information into a machine that looked a great deal like a refrigerator that had broken out in a rash of gauges, buttons, dials and levers, and which, consequently, she assumed must be Number One. Ways and Means appeared to be quite perturbed. As a result, they did not see her as she slipped quietly across the laboratory toward one of the side doors. Nor did they notice when she passed through the doorway and entered the smaller corridor that led to the cells.
A few seconds later, 99 came upon the guard who was doing sentry duty near the cell which held Max and Hymie. She immediately dropped the man with one quick, sharp karate blow, then, as he fell, hurried to the bars of the cell.
“Max! Hymie! Are you all right?” 99 called.
“We’re fine, 99.”
“What are you doing under that bunk?”
“It’s sort of a game,” Max replied, as he and Hymie crawled out. “It’s called ‘When you see a good friend creep up on a guard and drop him with a karate blow and let him fall and he’s just swallowed an explosive that could blow up a body of water the size of Lake Ontario, duck under anything, even a bunk or a small metal spoon.’ ”
“Gee. . I like the title,” 99 said. “But, how is it played?”
“Very carefully, without disturbing the body,” Max replied.
“99,” Hymie said, “get the keys from the guard and let us out.”
“But, 99-” Max warned, “-don’t disturb the body!”
99 returned to where the guard had fallen, rolled his body over-very carefully-then unhooked the ring of keys from his belt.
“I wonder which is which?” 99 said, returning to the cell and examining the keys.
“The key for the cell will fit the lock in the cell door,” Max explained. “That’s the way you tell.”
“I know, Max. I- Here it is!”
99 turned the key in the lock, then opened the cell door. Max and Hymie slipped out, then the three moved toward the doorway that led to the laboratory. But suddenly Max halted them.
“Somebody’s coming!”
“I heard it, too, Max,” 99 said.
“Anybody have a weapon?” Max asked.
There was no reply.
“Then we’ll have to hide,” Max decided. “That’s probably Means and Ways and the whole army of guards coming this way. If they catch us, they’ll toss us all into that cell. And then 99 won’t be free to rescue us again.”
“Max! Where can we hide?”
“Follow me!”
Max turned and retreated along the corridor, and 99 and Hymie followed close behind. Max suddenly made a sharp right turn-and Hymie and 99 tagged after him.
“They’ll never find us in here,” Max crowed.
“Max, we’re-”
There was a clanging sound.
“That was probably the guard shutting that cell door we left open,” Max gloated.
“It was, Max,” Hymie assured him. He pointed. “If you’ll look, you can see him.”
Max looked, then broke into a broad grin. “Talk about stupid,” he said. “Look-that guard has locked himself into his own cell.”
“Max-”
“Of all the dumb tricks!” Max went on. “I knew he couldn’t be very bright when he swallowed that explosive, thinking it was an aspirin. But this takes the prize.”
“Max,” 99 said, “it isn’t the guard who’s locked in the cell.”
“What do you mean, 99? I can see it for myself. There he is, standing there with his hands gripping the bars. Look at that happy look on his face. That’s the look of a man who- Oh. Yes, I see what you mean, 99.”
“This wasn’t the best place to hide, Max,” Hymie said. “We’re right back in the cell where we started.”
“Matters aren’t quite as bad as they were,” Max insisted. “99 is with us now. It’s always better to have feminine company. I don’t know why. But things seem to work out that way.”
“Hey, wait a minute!” the guard said. “I had two prisoners before. Now there’re three. Who doesn’t belong?” He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t remember having a girl in there before.”
“Okay-we admit it-we sneaked her in,” Max said. “And we’re willing to take our punishment. If it’s against the rules to have girls in the cells, then kick us all out. We deserve it.”
“It’s not against the rules,” the guard replied. “You can have all the girls in here you want to for all I care.”
“Now. . just-a-minute!” Max said indignantly. “If that’s the kind of jail this is, I want no part of it! I have a reputation to consider. I want out! And, furthermore, I want my money back!”
Cowed, the guard put the key in the lock. “I don’t know about getting your money back,” he said. “You’ll have to talk to the management. All I-”
At that moment, Ways and Means came stomping into the room.
“What’re you doing?” Means asked the guard.
“He wanted out,” the guard explained, indicating Max. “He’s worried about his reputation, what with us allowing girls in the cells and all.”
