“You’re not serious?” said Jack.
“Sure, I am. At least about that fellow falling out of the thing,” Ted grinned. “I got in a burst of fire back there in a cloud. Then when they came down to shoot me on the water, this Jerry tumbled out. I sort of figured he’d been hit and had gone crazy, or something.”
“That’s good news!” Stew exclaimed. “There were two Germans and three Japs. Now there’s only one German. We should be able to handle them. They—”
“Jap—Jappie!” a grizzled giant among the boatmen broke in excitedly. “You think Jappie on our island?”
“Sure, there are!” Stew insisted. “Three Japs.”
“What you think, Mary Brown?” The old man turned to the girl. “Jappie on our island? Maybe this boy he lie. What you think?”
“He isn’t lying,” Mary said in a steady voice. “Three Japs came on that plane last time.”
“Why you not tell me? I go kill them!” There was an angry and puzzled look on the aged native’s face.
“That’s just it.” Mary smiled soothingly at the old man. “You would have tried to kill them. They would have killed you. They have machine guns. You must not die, for you are my father.”
“By-um-by I kill ’em.” The old man settled back in his place. “They not kill me. You see.”