“That fellow was sneaking in too close,” Jack exclaimed. “Tell you what. We’ll take him on!” “Take him on!” “Sure. Let him try another sneak, then I’ll whirl on him with our left wing lowered.” “Say! You’re right! I’ll just swing this old twinflex gun around to the front and fire across our wing while—” “While I pepper him with my two guns in the nose. Watch now. On your toes!” Jack warned. He slackened his speed a little. The Jap pressed in. Suddenly Jack’s motor roared like an attacking lion. The left wing dipped. The plane cut a half circle. Its guns flashed in unison. The Zero faltered, fell away to the right, began to smoke, then went into a spin. Twenty seconds later, just as three Zeros dropped at them from above, the boys lost themselves in one more cloud. “Chalk up one Zero!” Stew exulted. “That’s one up for us!” “And say!” he added, “that reminds me. I’ve got to get a message off.” A few seconds later he was droning into his microphone: “Ann to Mary! Ann to Mary! Task force split. Two cargo vessels, three destroyers, going due east. Remainder of force same as before.” “We’d better stick to this cloud for a while,” was Jack’s decision. “It’s a good big one, and fairly thick. Those Zeros will be swarming round it like angry bees, but they’ll never find us in here.” “All the same, we’ve got to find out what that break in their task force means!” Stew insisted. Jack caught low words in his earphones: “Jack! Where are you?” Jack jumped. He knew that voice. It was Ted Armour speaking. “In a cloud over a Jap task force.” Jack asked very quietly, “Where are you, Ted?” “In a cloud over a Jap task force,” Ted laughed softly. “Picked up your message. I was quite a ways east, so I came on out. Thought you might need some help.” “That—ah—that’s swell!” Jack swallowed hard. “We’re coming out for a look.” “Good! I’m coming too. I’ll be seeing you.” That was all, but Jack felt a great uplift of spirits as he headed for the edge of his cloud. “It’s a strange world,” he thought. “Friendly enemies. War is terrible and wonderful!” CHAPTER IV A GLORIOUS FIGHT “Good old Ted!” Jack exclaimed without thinking as he headed for that dangerous fringe of mist. “He’s from my home town.” “What?” Stew exclaimed. “You never told me.” “I’ve told you now,” Jack snapped. “So keep it quiet. It’s our secret.” They slid out into the clear blue sky to discover that while the main Jap task force continued to glide serenely on its way, the two cargo ships and three destroyers had lost themselves in a rain squall that reached right down to the surface of the sea. “Tough luck!” Stew exclaimed. “We’ve just got to locate them and see where they’re going. They may be the grand prize. Very likely those cargo ships are loaded with ammunition, and one of them is a twenty-thousand tonner.”