“Oh! Oh! Yes! I see him!” Jan replied, breathlessly.
Just then, as if he was conscious of being watched and felt the need of putting on a show, which of course he did not, Jimmie seemed to leap straight at the nearest enemy bomber. With his guns spouting fire, he flew squarely under the enemy plane’s motors. At once the enemy bomber’s right motor began to smoke.
Ten seconds later Jimmie was back. Now it was the right motor that received his hail of bullets. Turning slowly, like a leaf in the wind, the bomber rolled over on its side, then went into a spin. A moment later it struck a ledge and exploded with a terrific roar.
“Golly!” Jan exclaimed. “Suppose that one had fallen on our little coop!”
“If you’re afraid,” Gale suggested, “Why don’t you go into our shelter?”
“Oh! I wouldn’t! Not for worlds!” Jan exclaimed.
But now it seemed that Jimmie was in trouble. In revenge for their lost bomber, three enemy fighters had gone after him. Lightly armed, speedy planes, these Jap Zeroes were dangerous enemies.
“Oh! Jimmie! Watch out!” Gale exclaimed, unconscious of what she was saying in her excitement.
With the three Zeroes hot on his tail, Jimmie went into a power-dive that was like nothing Gale had ever seen before. By the time she had caught her breath, she saw his plane sweep into a steep spiral curve to come up behind one of the Zeroes and send it down in flames.
Before Jimmie could swing into a safe position, a Zero got in a burst of fire that made his plane stagger, but he was up and at them with such speed that a second plane was sent spinning earthward.