“Dad! Look out!”

CHAPTER III The Hidden Boathouse

CHAPTER III

Mr. Brewster swung about at Biff’s warning, an instant too late. The hand had already clutched the map and was snatching it from his grasp. The map tore apart, leaving only a corner in Mr. Brewster’s hand.

Quickly, Biff’s father dove for the closet door, intending to slam it and trap the occupant, map and all. But the man in the closet moved swiftly, too. He flung the door wide, and its edge swept past Mr. Brewster’s fingers as the man dived under his arm. Biff, crouched low, was about to stop the intruder with a football tackle when Mr. Brewster overtook the fugitive, applied a powerful arm-hold, and brought him full about.

Biff saw that the struggling man’s face was masked behind a large, knotted bandanna handkerchief, and that his rough, baggy clothes disguised his height and weight. As he twisted in Mr. Brewster’s grasp, the man managed to thrust his hand into the folds of his jacket and whip out a revolver. Coming about, he aimed point-blank at Mr. Brewster.

Biff’s father dropped away a split second before the revolver barked, its muzzle tonguing flame inches above his head. Then, before the masked man could fire again, Mr. Brewster wheeled about, grabbed a small table with both hands, and flung it bodily at his masked foe.

The man darted out of the way, only to find Biff blocking his escape. Biff heard a snarl from behind the bandanna, and saw the glint of the gun barrel as the man swung the weapon with a savage, downward stroke. Instinctively, Biff shot his own hand upward, using the trick that Serbot had shown him on the plane that very day.

The heel of Biff’s hand caught the man’s wrist, driving it outward. The impact jolted the gun from his hand, but the weapon scaled toward the side of the room and clattered near the bottom of the wall, where Mr. Brewster sprang across and scooped it from the floor, practically on the rebound.

The masked man hadn’t tried to retrieve the gun. Instead, he dashed through the doorway to the hall, still clutching the stolen map. Biff raced after him, with Mr. Brewster close behind. They might have overtaken the fugitive if he had gone down the stairway to the lobby, but instead he chose a shorter route to a large open window at the other end of the hall. There, he leaped a low railing, carrying a loose screen with him. When Biff 

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