The Zero kept poking its nose in and out of the rain squall that was moving slowly toward them.
“Scouting for their lost cargo ships,” said Jack.
The three destroyers, now robbed of their charges, were beginning to slip from sight. “Going to that other fight,” Jack thought. He and Stew were leaving the fight behind, and under the circumstances he was not sorry. It seemed less violent now. Had their comrades won or lost? Had the Jap carrier been put out of action? He did not know the answer.
His motor coughed hoarsely, then was silent. They lost altitude rapidly.
“Get ready to bail out!” he snapped.
The motor coughed, rumbled, then thundered afresh.
They climbed once more, then slowly sank.
The islands were much closer now. “We’d better head for the middle one,” Jack said. “It’s the largest. Got quite a peak in the middle of it.”
“Must be several hundred feet high,” Stew said. “There’s sure to be good, fresh water there. Natives too. There’s an island around here somewhere, they say, where the natives eat shipwrecked Chinamen, or used to.”
“Well, we’re not Chinamen!” Jack’s laugh was a bit doubtful.