"Give me the rifle, Dick," went on Matt, "and you lay hold of the end of the rope Carl has secured to the ring. As soon as you get on the other boat, make the rope fast."
"Ay, ay, matey!" cried Dick, elation ringing in his voice and his eyes glimmering with excitement. "We'll make a go of this, now that you have planned the scheme and done the heft of the work in getting it started."
"There may still be a whole lot of trouble and hard work between us and success. Let's not be too confident. Ah," and Matt pointed toward the side of the ridge, "there come the Japs. They're running even faster than they did when they were after me. We're going to have a tight squeak of it, Glennie, to double the stern of the Pom, get Dick aboard and pull away with our tow before the Japs get into the water."
"It's their guns I'm thinking of," said Glennie. "If they happen to pick me out of the conning tower, or to knock Dick off the deck of the Pom, the fat would all be in the fire."
"They'll not do either of those things, matey," averred Dick confidently. "It's our innings, now, and we're bound to score."
The Grampus raced on, and down the slope rushed the Japs in a frantic endeavor to reach the water and gain the Pom before the venturesome motor boys could carry out their plans.
No shots were fired by the Japs. This seemed strange, since a well-placed bullet would have meant so much to them.
"What's the reason they're not tuning up, matey?" asked Dick.
"Dey hafen't got der time for dot," chuckled Carl. "Dey're in too mooch oof of a hurry, py shinks."