"There's another cove around the point, a good deal like this one. The Pom is there, close inshore, and——"
"Der Chaps!" breathed Carl, thunderstruck.
"The Pom!" exclaimed Glennie.
"Here's a piece of luck!" ground out Gaines. "Who'd have thought we'd moor ship alongside the same island picked out by the Japs! There seems to be a fatality about our dealings with these Sons of the Rising Sun. Even after we dodge them we have the knack of dropping right into their hands again."
"Mebby," suggested Speake, "they saw us and followed us to the island."
"Hardly that, mate," spoke up Dick. "They've beached that torpedo, and all four of the Japs are ashore, tinkering with it."
Matt was puzzled to know what to do. If the Japs had not heard the rifle shot, it would be possible for the Grampus to haul in her anchor and slip away, unnoticed, providing the tank valves were repaired and she could leave the bay under water. But this manœuvre would leave a threatening danger behind, and Matt and his friend would never feel safe from an unexpected attack.
In that critical moment, Motor Matt would have given a deal if he could have known all about the Pom and her capabilities. For a few moments he stood on the deck, turning the situation over and over in his mind, his eyes on the point around which lay the hostile submarine.
"How far is the Pom anchored off the shore, Dick?" he asked.
"Not more than half a cable's length."