The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1940-12-10
Before The Blitzkrieg
by Rupert GraySon
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

AA%AA a III WIN II v n
GUN TURNED mis- attention to
the rest Of the crowd. One. or two
were still running for the Factory,
but several were down.
Its got EN-" said Gun. IT'S a
light gas, and travels quickly"
There came a sharp gust Of
wind, and then another-and the
rest Of the men stumbled and fell
"All OUT" announced Gun, with
satisfaction.
Come on" cried Tommy, and
started to step over the sandbags.
But Gun caught him by the arm.
Don't be an ass-we must. wait
until the gas clears"
Wait 2" The gaze that Tommy
turned upon him was like that of
a cruelty treated spaniel. Gun
chuckled.
"He also serves. who only
stands and waitsr" he quoted.
And then, comfortingly: 1T won't
be long. The gas soon clears, from
what l have heard of it. It's spe-
cially designed for raiding dugouts
for prisoners, or for police work,
when they've got some dangerous
customers trapped in room, or
something like that. But the i'm
portant thing is how the effect
LASTS, and that I'm by no means
sure about. But | should think half
an hour, at least. Now, Just
minute--let's count heads while
the light lasts"
Stabbing the air with his finger
for each one, Gun enumerated the
bodies lying on the ground.
1T looks as though they're all
there" he announced. when he had
finished, Including Sambo2I saw
him running back just now, but we
can't be sure how many we did in
last night, or what wounded they
have back there in the Factory.
That's awkward. but wen have to
take a chance. Now. we must get
busy here for a bit There's a tin
OF coarse gunpowder, plenty of
cordlte, and a length or two of
fuse"
They worked rapldlyACoral be-
side the men. Soon they had all the
stuff arranged so that it would ex-
lplode properly. A train led from
the vital spot-first of cordite. then
of gunpowder. and finally a length
of fuse. They finished their Job by
the light of the two torches.
Then, each equipped with rife
and bandolier. and with a Mills
and G.12 bomb each, they were |
ready to start away.
THE air should be clear enough
now" Gun announced, when thew |
were ready. Now, you two start
q, and I'll catch you up. I calcu-
late. it'll be seven to ten minutes
before the bang comes-but can't
be sure of that"
After protest. the others went
taking one of the torches with
them. Gun gave them FIVE minutes
start, and then applied a match to
his length Of fuse. Having made
sure that it was burning satisfac-
torily, he turned and started to run
for the Factory, keeping the torch
shining on the ground in front of
him, and jumping an occasional
PROSTATE body as he went. He
heard a shout, and saw a light be-
ing waved, and shouted and waved
his own in answer He was anxious
to get under some sort Of cover. IL
possible before the arsenal went
would probably be frag-
ments flying around.
He was painting heavily when he
reached the others-his recent ex-
periences had weakened him. and
lowered his condition considerably.
They were waiting for him by the
gate in the fence.
All right?" Tommy asked.
Il hope so-go up any moment ,
how. Get inside. quick"
Just inside the gate there was a
'hed, the door Of which was open.
1t was used as a recep- ,
acle for lumber. from the look of
IS contents. But they all managed 5
% get inside, and had hardly done
10 when there came a crashing !
oar, with which was mingled the
latter Of broken glass from all I
Iround them. The very earth 7
eemed TO rock; they were thrown +
Igainst each other In the darkness.