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Minutes later, Fang returned. This time, he had the torch. Again, Max wiggled as much of himself as possible into the locker. Then, a soft blue flame appeared inside the locker.
“Max… are you all right?” 99 asked worriedly.
“Never been better,” Max replied. “It’s quite cozy in here.”
A few minutes later, Max withdrew. “Done and done,” he announced happily.
“Max, your eyebrows are singed.”
“A small price to pay for entrance into that next locker,” Max said.
“Did you cut the hole, Max?”
“A perfect round circle.”
“Could you see into the next locker, Max?”
“Very clearly.”
“Max… what did you see?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Max replied. “Proof positive, I believe, that we’re on the right track.”
“What now, Max?”
Max put the torch into the breast pocket of his jacket. “Now,” he said, “I will reach through that hole and squeeze. And if we hear a squeal we will know that we have found six invisible guinea pigs.”
“Be careful, Max.”
“Caveat emptor, 99.”
“What does that mean?”
“That’s Latin, 99. It means, ‘Let the guinea pigs beware, I can take care of myself.’ ”
Carefully, Max reached into the locker, then, cautiously, he reached through the hole in the partition.
“Yiiiiiiiii!”
Max yanked his hand out.
“Was that a squeal, Max?” 99 said excitedly.
“No, 99-that was a shriek of pain,” Max said. “One of the little beggars bit me!”
“Wonderful, Max!”
“Yes, I suppose it is-depending, of course, on how you mean that.”
“I mean that’s all the evidence we need. Now we know that Wai is X.”
“99, couldn’t you put that another way?”
“All right. It means that Herbert Wai is really the diabolical Dr. X.”
“That’s better. The other way, it was a bit too much for even me to believe.” He closed the locker door, removed the key, and put it in his pocket. “Now,” he said, “we’ll confront the diabolical Dr. X with our knowledge of his true identity, and-”
“And what, Max?”
“-and see how the ball bounces,” Max replied. “Frankly, I’m not sure what we’ll do. Legally, Dr. X has every right to sell his formula to the highest bidder-even if that bidder is KAOS. We’ll just have to play it by ear.”
“You’ll think of something, Max,” 99 said. “I know you will.”
“I’m sure I will,” Max said. “The question is-will it work?” He shrugged. “Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let’s go.”
Max led the way, and 99 and Fang followed close behind. They left the lounge, hurried down a stairway, and emerged on deck. Max increased the pace, and 99 and Fang trotted to keep up. A moment later, they entered the ballroom, and edged their way across the dance floor, dodging in and out between the couples. When they reached the other side of the ballroom, they stepped out on deck again. Once more, Max increased the pace. 99 and Fang ran to stay near him. They climbed a stairway, then entered a corridor. At the end of the corridor, they came upon another stairway, and headed downward.
“Are we getting close, Max?” 99 panted.
“I haven’t the faintest idea, 99,” Max replied. “Don’t you remember? We don’t know where Wai’s stateroom is.”
“Max… then… why are we running?”
“We haven’t got all night, 99. We have to find Wai-or X, as the case may be-get that formula from him, and get back to our cell before that waiter comes to.”
“Max… wouldn’t it be easier… if we found out where Wai’s stateroom is?”
Max halted. “Sorry,” he said. “Sometimes I get carried away.”
“Max, as the tour director, he wouldn’t be on the passenger list, but there must be a staff list,” 99 said. “If we could get hold of it, we could find out which stateroom Wai is occupying.”
“Wait a minute, 99-I have an idea. There must be a staff list. If we could just get hold of it, we could find out which stateroom Dr. X is occupying.”
“Max… that’s what I just said.”
“No, you said ‘Wai’. I said ‘Dr. X’. There’s a difference, 99.”
“Rorff!”
“It’s a subtle difference. I wouldn’t expect you to be able to see it. But,” he said graciously, “I won’t argue the point. We’ll just say that we both got the same idea at the same time.”
“All right, Max, I’ll accept that,” 99 said. “Now, what shall we do about it?”
“We’ll get the staff list,” Max replied. “Let’s see, who would have a copy of it? The Captain, I suppose. Yes-that’s what we’ll do. We’ll go to the Captain’s cabin, and Fang will go in and ask him for a copy of the staff list.”
“Won’t he think that’s a little odd, Max?”
“Of course not. He won’t recognize Fang. He’ll remember him as a sheepdog. And Fang is now a Mexican Hairless.”
“Then it may work,” 99 agreed.
“It’s a cinch-the flawless plan,” Max said. “Let’s go.”
They turned around and walked back up the stairway, then entered the corridor and hurried toward the end. But, when they were halfway along the way, a party of ship’s officers suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor.
“There they are-Stop!” the leader shouted.
“Max! They mean us!” 99 cried.
“Yes-look! That waiter we left in our cell! He’s with them!”
“They know we escaped!” 99 said.
“About face! Run for it!” Max shouted.
The three whipped around and raced back along the corridor.
Behind them, the posse took up pursuit.
“Stop! Halt!”
Max, Fang and 99 reached the end of the corridor, turned, and plunged down the stairway.
99 looked back. “Max! They’re gaining!”
“Faster!” Max urged.
“Max, we’re right behind you. Hurry!”
“I’m going as fast as I can. You try leading an escape sometime with a telephone in your shoe!”
“Sorry, Max. I know you’re doing your best.”
The trio, Max still in the lead, raced out onto the deck.
“This way!” Max cried, charging forward.
Behind them, the posse appeared on deck.
“Stop! Halt!”
“I wish they’d find something different to shout,” Max complained. “Stop! Halt! Always the same old thing!”
From behind came the cry, “De-accelerate!”
“Thanks!” Max called back.
“Max-there’s the ballroom!” 99 said. “Maybe we could hide in there.”
“Quick! There’s the ballroom!” Max said. “We’ll try to lose ourselves among the dancers!”
They plunged into the ballroom.
“Grab a partner!” Max commanded.
99 threw herself into the arms of a middle-aged man who, alone, was shaking and shivering from head to toe, wholly absorbed in his own personal version of the watusi.
“Go away!” he grumbled. “I’m dancing!”
“I’m your partner,” 99 said.
“What do I want with a partner-I’m dancing!”
99 joined him, nevertheless, a few feet away.
Meanwhile, Max glided into a waltz with the nearest available soloist. “Haven’t we met before?” he said, peering closely at his partner.
“Rorff!”
“Fang! I didn’t recognize you on your hind legs!”
“Rorff!”
“Sorry about that,” Max said, looking down. “Which toe was it?”
At that moment, the posse charged into the ballroom. It stopped, and the officers began inspecting the dancers, looking for Max, 99 and Fang.
“Cheek-to-cheek, Fang,” Max ordered. “That way, we’ll hide our faces.”
“Rorff!”
“My excuse is that I haven’t had a chance to shave. What’s your excuse?”
“Max!” 99 whispered, watusi-ing up. “They’re coming this way!”
“Drat! I was sure we’d blend in with the other dancers.”
“They’re closing-in, Max!”
“All right-we’ll show them a fancy step I learned from Rex Astaire.”
“Fred Astaire, Max.”
“Rex Astaire. He won the hundred-yard-dash at Muskogee, Oklahoma, High School in 1932.”
“What’s the step, Max?”
“About face! Run for it!”
Max, 99 and Fang took off across the dance floor.
“Halt! Stop!”
“Back in the old rut again,” Max complained.
They dashed from the ballroom, emerged on deck, and raced away. A few seconds later, they made a left turn, entered a stairway, and plunged downward.
“Where to, Max?”
“Down. It’s easier than up.”
Down, down, down, they fled. Past B Deck and all its sub-decks. Past C Deck and all its sub-decks. And still, down, down, down.
“Max-I hear a ringing!”
“My shoe!” Max replied. “It’s the Chief calling!”
“Hadn’t you better answer it, Max?”
“Yes-it might be important.”
Hopping down the steps on one foot, Max removed his shoe.
Max: Agent 86, here. Could you make it short, Chief?
Chief: Max? Is that you, Max? We must have a bad connection. You sound very strange-and far away.
Max: Strange how, Chief?
Chief: As if you were hopping down a flight of stairs.
Max: Actually, Chief, that isn’t so strange. I am hopping.
Chief: Shopping for what, Max? And why are you shopping? You’re supposed to be on a case.
Max: Not shopping, hopping, Chief. You see, a bunch of bad guys are chasing us. Well not bad guys, really. Actually, they’re just a little confused. You see, they think we’re the bad guys. Anyway, they’re chasing us down a flight of stairs. And, in the meantime, we got a call from you.
Chief: Max, this connection is terrible. What did you say? You took a fall on who?
Max: No, Chief-call from you. My shoe rang.
Chief: What orangutang? Stop monkeying around, Max.
Max: No, no, Chief. Shoe. Shoe. Shoe.
Chief: Max, what are you doing on a train? You’re supposed to be on a ship.
Max: Chief, I believe there’s a simple explanation for this. What I feared would happen, has happened. The further out in the ocean we get, the weaker my signal becomes. Do you understand?
Chief: That part is clear, Max. What puzzles me is how you got to Hindustan in the first place. And, now that you’re there, why you’re wasting your time buying lotion.
Max: I don’t think it came in quite as clear as it could have, Chief. Let me try again, (he shouts) We’re too far away!
Chief: Fire away at who, Max? Are you in trouble?
Max: Yes! We’re being chased! And I’m hopping down the steps on one shoe!
Chief: A pair of whose?
Max: Shoe! Shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe!
Chief: Is that the same train, Max?
Max: Chief, this is getting us nowhere. I’ll call you back later.
Chief: Max, this is getting us nowhere. Why don’t you call me back later?
Max: I will, Chief.
Chief: It’s been a thrill for me, too, Max. So long.
“Max! They’re gaining!” 99 cried, looking back and seeing the posse closing in.
“Just let me… get my shoe… back on,” Max said. “Ah… there now! All right-full speed ahead!”
Max, 99 and Fang plunged on at full speed for another three steps-then came to a dead end at the bottom of the stairs.
“What now, Max?”
“That way!” Max said, pointing down a short corridor. “Through that door!”
“Max, that says ‘Engine Room.’ ”
“99, this is no time to be squeamish. If it’s good enough for the Injuns, it’s good enough for us. Come on!”
They raced down the corridor, then into the Engine Room. Max closed the door behind them.
“Look, Max-engines!” 99 exclaimed.
“I’m not greatly surprised,” Max replied, surveying the huge machines. “Somehow, more or less, a fella sort of expects to find engines in an engine room.”
“Max-that man!”
“Oh, yes-the fellow at that control panel. That must be the Chief Engineer.”
“All is lost, Max!”
“No, he looks like a friendly Injun to me. Let’s find out.”
They approached the man at the control panel. “How!” Max said, raising a hand.
The man glanced back over his shoulder. “Very simple,” he said. “You just punch a button and it operates itself.”
“You Chief?” Max asked.
“Ugh.”
“Me friendly paleface,” Max said. “Gotum heap big trouble. Being chased by bad guy palefaces. Chased for many moons. Upstairs, downstairs, all around the reservation. You hide-um. Me be heap grateful.”
“Paleface brother soundum like some kindum nut,” the man replied.
“Be thatum as it may, Chief,” Max said, “the problemum still remains. Needum place to hide.”
“Costum plenty wampum,” the man said.
“How muchum?”
The man eyed the ballpoint pen in Max’s breast pocket. “Me hide-um paleface brother-including paleface sister and paleface pooch-and paleface brother slip me magic stick that write-um under Father of Waters.”
“It’s a deal-um,” Max said, handing over the ballpoint pen. “Just one thing-I wouldn’t write any big checks with that pen. It has a tendency to heat up.”
“Are you kidding? You think me ignorant savage? Chief know acetylene torch when he see-um one.”
“Where do we hide?” Max asked.
“Getum behind big machine,” the man said. “When bad guy palefaces come in, me say, ‘No spikka da Angleesh.’ ”
Max, 99 and Fang darted behind the largest of the big machines. A moment later, they heard the posse shouting ‘Halt! Stop!’ as the officers entered the engine room.
“Hey, you seen two culprits and a dog?” they heard a voice ask.
“No spikka da Angleesh,” the Chief replied.
“There is no truer friend-um than the noble savage,” Max whispered to 99.
“They must be in here,” the leader of the posse said. “This is the only place they could have gone.”
“No spikka da you-know-what,” the Chief insisted.
“True to the very end,” Max whispered.
“If you’re hiding them, you can kiss your job goodbye,” the leader of the posse said.
“Me? Hide-um? Me be crazy to hide-um one paleface brother, one paleface sister and one paleface pooch over there behind big machine.”
“I think that was the very end,” Max said.
“What now, Max?” 99 whispered.
“Rorff!”
“Right! About face! Run for it!”
Max, 99 and Fang leaped up from behind the machine, plunged through the surprised posse, and charged out the door. They raced down the short corridor, then headed pell-mell up the stairs.
Behind them, they heard, “Halt! Stop!”
“They’re playing our song,” Max commented.
Several minutes later, the trio emerged on deck. The cries of ‘Halt!’ and ‘Stop!’ were right behind them.
They ducked through a doorway, entering a long corridor.
“Max! Look! Ahead! Another dead-end!” 99 cried.
“We have only one choice, 99. They must never take us alive!”
“You mean?”
“Yes.”
“No, Max-I’m too young to die!”
“Die? Who said anything about dying?”
“You said they must never take us alive.”
“Yes. But what I meant was, we’ll have to duck into one of these staterooms.”
“Oh.” She looked down the long corridor of doors. “Which one, Max?”
“A vacant one.”
“But, Max, how do you know which one is vacant?”
“I have a little system for determining that, 99. It goes: Eeny, meeny, miney, Moe-”
Using the system, Max picked a stateroom. He grasped the door knob and slowly turned it. “It’s open!” he crowed. “The system never fails!”
Max, 99 and Fang hurried into the stateroom, then Max quickly closed the door. Pressing against it, they listened. They heard the sounds of the posse. There were shouts and calls and much shuffling up and down the corridor. Then the sounds disappeared.
“Safe!” Max breathed. “Saved by a vacant stateroom.”
“Not entirely vacant,” a voice behind them said. “As a matter of fact, it’s rather crowded right now.”
Startled, they turned-and found themselves faces to face with Herbert Wai.