things. Maybe
Colonel Welsh won't like it, but what the heck? He said, _if necessary_,
and the funny feeling I've got right now, and have had ever since we got
his message, makes me think it _is_ necessary! What do you think? Or am
I going off half-cocked?"

Freddy Farmer didn't reply for a moment. He sat staring out over the
Gulf of Paria that was now changing from blood red to midnight blue
since the sun had gone down behind the headlands of Venezuela. Finally
he reached a hand up inside his tunic and nodded abruptly.

"If you're going off half-cocked, then we both are, Dave," he said
quietly. "I'm all for getting rid of them. If you alone had the funny
feeling, I'd say no. But I've got a queer feeling, too. So--well, here
go my two, anyway."

As young Farmer spoke, he took out his two sealed envelopes and dropped
them on the ground. Then, moving back a bit, he unscrewed the cap of his
little vial and poured the brownish-colored contents over the envelopes.
There was a small flash of flame as the stuff came in contact with the
envelopes which seemed to melt away into the ground, leaving nothing but
a black smudge where they had been.

"Boy, does that do the trick!" Dawson breathed, and dropped his two
sealed envelopes on the spot where Freddy's two had been. "Drop that
vial, Freddy, and kick dirt over it. Just a smell of that stuff would
most likely take the soles off your shoes. Okay, here go mine, too."

A few seconds later there was another dark smudge on the ground, and not
so much as a shred of any of the sealed envelopes, or their contents.
Both Dawson and Freddy dropped their empty vials, kicked dirt over them,
and stamped the little mounds flat. Then, as if by mutual agreement,
they relaxed and heaved deep sighs of relief.

"Maybe I was wrong," Dawson said thoughtfully. "Maybe Colonel Welsh will
hit the roof when we tell him. Just the same, though, I feel a hundred
per cent better."

"Quite!" Freddy Farmer murmured, but with emphasis. "I feel as though a
terrific weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I swear, Dave, I
haven't got a strong enough heart to stand much of this sort of thing.
Frankly, this is the first contented breath I've taken since we left
Washington."

"Yeah, I know," Dawson agreed. "The colonel certainly did pour on the
old caution stuff this time. So I guess it was--or still is--something
pretty doggone important. But there I go again, wondering what it's all
about. I sure wish