“That’s the way you must eat,” commented Nancy, taking his emptied mess kit. “You’ll get well now.”
“I believe I will, Miss Nancy. I may yet be able to point out that island where we left Tom.”
“Oh, if you only could, Vernon!”
“I believe I could. Though a gunner doesn’t bother his head with where he’s going—got enough to think about to hit the targets, but I do remember something about how that island looked from the air, and I sure had to pay attention to directions when we were leaving in that rubber boat.”
“Is it due north from here?” she asked.
“No, I’d say to the northeast.”
“Entirely surrounded by coral reefs?”
“As much as we saw. Passages here and there, large enough for small boats.”
Though Vernon’s voice was still cracked and weak Nancy could see he was able to coordinate his thoughts more easily than during their earlier conversations.
“Major Reed said a searching plane would be sent,” Nancy told him. “But of course we could do nothing while you were so ill.”