He dodged. But Jack, not realizing the import of Frank's words, remained still. He felt something hot sear the lobe of his ear. Wheeling abruptly, the lad saw the German whom he had first knocked unconscious facing him with levelled revolver—the weapon was Jack's own, which he had left behind when he swam to the enemy's aeroplane.
The German faced him with a smile.
"Hands up!" he commanded.
But Jack, with a few drops of blood trickling from his ear, suddenly became very angry. He objected to being shot at from behind.
"Put down that gun!" he commanded in a cold voice. "Put it down before
I kill you!"
The German was struck by the menace in the lad's tones, and for a moment he hesitated and the revolver wavered. Then he braced and brought the weapon up again.
But that moment of hesitation decided the issue. In spite of the fact that the revolver was pointed right at him, and that only a few feet away, Jack took a quick step forward.
The German fired. Jack swerved a trifle. The bullet plowed through the sleeve of his shirt and touched the skin; but that was all.
Again the man's hand tightened on the trigger, but he never fired again. Jack's powerful left hand seized his wrist and twisted the revolver from it Then, still grasping the wrist, the lad wheeled on his heel. The German left the spot where he had been standing as though pulled by a locomotive. He was lifted high in the air and, as Jack gave a jerk and then released his hold, the man went sailing through the air and dropped into the sea with a loud splash.
And at the same moment the intense darkness was shattered. The first faint streak of dawn showed in the east.