  Ted’s plane was heavy, a dead weight in the water. Progress toward the island was slow, but the protecting screen of mist held on. Noon came, and Mary produced cold meat sandwiches and bananas for their lunch. As Jack watched her give a banana to the monkey perched on her shoulder, he caught the gleam of the chain and the tag the monkey wore about his neck. “Oh!” he exclaimed. “That’s your dog tag the monk is wearing!” “Sure,” she flashed him a smile. “What did you think?” “Almost anything before I knew you were a white girl,” he admitted. “I’ll bet you thought the natives had eaten me,” she laughed, “and that all that was left of me was the dog tag.” “That, and your white uniform,” he supplemented. “Oh! So you saw me dig it out from its hiding place!” she accused him. “Aren’t you ashamed, spying on a lady while she tries on a new dress?” “It wasn’t too shocking. Besides, you were just one more dusky maiden, and still are.” He touched her dark cheek. “All that will change,” she replied soberly. Then recited: Turn, turn my wheel. All things must change. The blue eggs in the robin’s nest Will soon have wings and beak and breast and flutter and fly away. “Robins and appleblossoms and home,” Jack murmured huskily. “Glorious thought! But I say! You’d better get that dog tag back on your neck, for we are once more on our way to war, and unless I miss my guess our next stop will be the Philippines.” “Oh! The Philippines! Lead me to them!” she exclaimed, unsnapping the dog-tag chain from the monkey’s neck. It was midafternoon by the time the natives had dragged Ted’s plane between towering rocks to a small, well-hidden cove where they might make needed repairs unmolested. “We’ve got to get out of here just as soon as we can.” Ted’s brow wrinkled. “Look! I’ve got a chart that shows the course our task force is taking.” “Wouldn’t the Japs like to get their hands on that!” Mary whispered when he had the chart spread out on a rock. “Well, they won’t. I’ll eat it first.” Ted was deeply in earnest. “Look. This is the way they are going.” “Straight away from here,” said Jack. “And straight for Mindanao.” Mary danced a jig. “Please! Oh, please take me along!” “We’ll all go—or none,” Jack said seriously. “But we’d better get busy or we’ll never catch up with our task force.” All three boys pitched into the task of examining and overhauling Ted’s plane. At length Jack came up with a very long face. “You must have hit the water mighty hard, Ted,” he said soberly. “Well, yes, I suppose I did,” Ted replied. “I don’t remember that part of the adventure very well. When you’ve been chased all over the sky by a plane that’s a freak and faster than anything you’ve ever seen on land or in the air, you’re not likely to notice a tough landing. Why? What’s the matter?” “Matter enough!” said Jack. “Your right wing is half torn away. Some of the rivets are actually gone. Many more are loose. You’ll never get me up in this kite, not until a lot of work has been done on it.” “Great guns!” Stew exploded. “We’ll never catch up with the Black Bee now! And that means we miss the big show!” “There’s that jet plane,” Jack suggested. “Yes, sure!” Stew scoffed. “And who’s got it? Two Germans, three Japs, and two machine guns!” “One German, I think,” said Ted. “I’m positive that one of them fell or jumped from the plane. I saw him hit the water. Still,” he added slowly, “there are four of them, and with machine guns—that’s a lot.” “What do you need for fixing the plane?” Mary asked. “Rivets,” said Jack. “Hot rivets. Got any in your outfit?” “We might have.” The girl did not smile. “I’ll ask my dusky godfather.” She hurried down to the canoes, where the natives were having a sun bath. The boys could see her talking to the men. They found it interesting and amusing. She would ask a question of the Chief. At once they would all explode into wild talk. This would die down abruptly. Then the Chief would say a few words to Mary. This was repeated a dozen times. Then she came rushing back. “Yes,” she said, “we have hot rivets, copper ones, this big.” She held up an inch-long section of wood. “Will they do?” “Nothing better,” said Ted. “But, I say—” He did not say it, for she was away like a flash and ten seconds later the natives in their canoes were making the foam fly. “Can you beat that!” Stew exclaimed. “Hot copper rivets in a cannibal village!” “I can’t,” said Ted. “But I believe we’ll get them all the same.” And they did. Not half an hour had passed when the girl and her dusky crew once more entered the harbor. “Great Scott!” Stew exclaimed at sight of their heavily laden canoes. “Where’d you get all that equipment?” “I think we have all it takes,” Mary said, smiling. “You certainly have!” Jack exclaimed. “A portable forge with coal to fire it, a vise, an anvil, and all sorts of tools. Where did they come from?” “Let’s not go into that now,” Mary replied in a most professional manner. “It was my understanding that you were in a great rush.” “Sure! Of course, we are!” the boys agreed. “Well, then, let’s get busy.” She motioned her men to unload. “We don’t have rivets,” she went on, “but we do have several sizes of copper pipes and these boys will make you the finest rivets you ever saw—any size—any length.” That this was no idle boast the boys soon discovered, for in an incredibly short time the forge was glowing and the anvil ringing. “I only hope those Japs don’t hear that noise.” Jack’s brow wrinkled. “They won’t,” was Mary’s reply, “for there’s a high stone wall between them and us. But if they did, and came over here without their machine guns, we would be a match for them. My natives took their rifles from hiding. There are six of them with good rifles. And believe me, they can shoot!” With the natives to forge out hot copper rivets of just the right size and the young airmen to hammer them into place, the work progressed rapidly. So busy were the boys that they failed to miss Mary Brown, who had slipped away almost at once. They failed, too, to note that night was falling. “Three more rivets,” Ted breathed, “and we’re through. What luck!” At that instant Mary appeared at the crest of a huge rock. Without speaking, she beckoned to Jack. When he reached her side he realized that she was greatly excited. “Tell them you’re going with me,” she whispered. “Say you’ll be right back.” Jack told them. They assured him that they could finish the job by themselves in jigtime. Then they’d have a bite to eat. As Mary and Jack vanished over a low ridge she said in a low, tense voice: “You said you’d like to fly the jet plane away.” “Would I!” She gripped his arm to silence him. “There is just a chance that you might if only—” “If only what?” “If only you could beat that Nazi to the controls.” “But the Japs?” “That’s all right,” she whispered. “The natives were roasting pork. The Japs smelled it. They like pork. So they came over with their rifles and took over the village. The men were with you. If they hadn’t been, there might have been trouble. I told the women to feed them and give them coffee. They put a powder in the coffee. The Japs will fall asleep.” “Great! But the German?” Jack asked. “That’s what you’ve got to find out right now. It’s not far. We’ll be there in ten minutes—I mean to the ridge—looking down on the plane.” “And then?” Jack caught his breath. “Then we can decide what is to be done.” After that they walked on in silence. Only once Jack whispered, “Listen!” They stood still listening. “What was it?” she whispered. “I thought I heard a motor, not like a plane motor, but one on a boat. Guess I was mistaken.” Once again they moved forward in the growing dusk. |
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