The two men who were at work were clad only in their trousers, and had clearly reached the shore as Matt had done, by swimming. They went about their work steadily and with an application which indicated that they had little attention for anything else.
From their manner, it seemed a fair inference that the rifle shot, or Dick's yell, from the other side of the point, had failed to reach them.
But where were the other two Japs? Had they returned to the Pom?
It might be that the two on the beach were in need of more tools and had sent the others out to the boat after them.
Matt, thinking of his plans, measured the distance from the end of the point to the Pom.
"The Grampus can do it!" he muttered, with an undernote of exultation throbbing in his voice. "A quick dash, and then a hustle seaward—and the trick is done. But those other two Japs—I wish they would leave the boat and come ashore. They form the danger point in the carrying out of the scheme."
There was something else Matt noticed as he peered out from behind his thicket, and that was that two rifles lay on the sand within easy reach of the Jap mechanics.
"Those guns are another danger point," he said to himself. "The Pom, however, will be between the Grampus and the beach, and will act as a sort of barricade. Anyhow, nothing venture, nothing win."
For five minutes longer Matt waited, watching for the other two Japs to reappear through the Pom's hatch. But they did not come, and he felt that he could wait no longer.
Arising from his crouching position, he turned to retrace his course down the hill. He had not taken a dozen steps, however, when, dodging around a clump of bushes, he came face to face with the two missing Japs!