As she glided through the night, one question was uppermost in her mind. Why were those men with sub, motorboat, and plane there? The sub had come from the sea, the plane from the sub, and the motorboat from the land. One thing was plain. They had chosen this island as a place of meeting. But why? And how—how had they dared?
“They haven’t scouted the island recently,” was her conclusion. “They thought it was occupied only by old men and women. Well, they’ll soon know better. Just one more ridge and we are there!” Her pulse quickened.
Just as they left the grove of pines, the moon came out. A shadowy figure rose above the crest of the ridge. There was something vaguely familiar about that figure. One second it was there, the next it was gone, for rifles had cracked. The fight was on. There came shouts from beyond. They raced up the ridge. Their fire was returned, but feebly. There was the sound of scrambling feet. A motor roared, then another.
It was all over in a minute, and over forever for three huddled figures that would never move again.
“Enemies,” Betty thought. “Perhaps they helped machine-gun women and children.” Yet, in a way, she was sorry.
She flashed her light on the nearest figure. Then she gasped. It was Carl Langer. This time the spy had really been shot.
When the men reached the shore the moon was under a cloud again, the sub had vanished, the motorboat heading out to sea, and the airplane thundering somewhere in the sky.
Or was it the Seagull they heard out there over the black waters? One thing was sure—it was there. At the controls sat Rosa. Norma was casting her light about in search of the sub.
“We’ll find the sub if we can,” she had phoned to the major over at the fort. “When I hold the light on one spot, you’ll know we’ve found it.”
“We’ll be waiting and watching,” had been his answer. “Ready to blow them into Kingdom Come!”