“Here’s the line.” Jack held it out to him. “Try your luck. I’m going up higher to find the spring.” A few yards farther up, the stream forked, and at the head of the first fork he sought and found a cool, bubbling spring. And beside that spring was the telltale mark of a human foot. “Must be a big village of natives,” he told himself. “Sooner or later, we’ll have to cast our lot with them, but I’m bound I’ll have a look at them first.” Jack filled his canteen and stood for a time staring off at the sea. Once he imagined that he caught the scream of that mysterious, propellerless plane, but in the end he decided that it was a wild parrot’s call. At last his gaze was fixed on one spot. Raising his binoculars he took a good look. Something out there on the sea, all right! he assured himself. Pretty far out. Looks like a raft or a partially submerged plane. It’s sure to drift this way. Current and wind are both right. If it were only a plane we could put in working order. When he returned to the small lake, he found Stew the proud possessor of a fine string of fish. “Grubs,” he explained. “I got grubs out of a rotten log and used them for bait.” “Come on,” said Jack. “We have enough fish for this time. In this climate they won’t keep.” “Just one more,” Stew begged as he cast in his line. He had the fish at once, so with a sigh he gathered up his catch, strung on a crotched stick. Then they were off. “The thing that burns me up,” said Jack, as they made their way down the slope, “is that the old _Black Bee_ may at this very moment be ganging up with a lot of other fighting ships for a whack at Mindanao.” “And if she is,” Stew groaned, “we’ll miss the biggest show of the whole war.” “That’s right,” Jack agreed. “Biggest and best.” “‘Remember Pearl Harbor,’” Stew quoted. “How can we forget? We’ve just _got_ to get off this island—even if we have to borrow that propellerless plane or walk right in on the natives and say, ‘Here! Give us a lift in your canoes.’” “We’ll have to make haste slowly,” Jack replied thoughtfully. “We probably couldn’t fly that plane if those fellows gave it to us as a present. Imagine a plane that flies without a propeller!” “I can’t,” said Stew. “But you saw it, didn’t you?” “I sure did, on the outside. Sometime I’ll see the inside of it, too. You watch my smoke!” “I’ll watch.” Jack laughed. “But they may not come back.” “Something tells me they will. There’s still enough kerosene hidden away in that giant crevasse to take them round the world. Looks like their base.” After that the boys tramped on in silence. The fish, broiled over a fire of coals, were delicious. When they had devoured the whole string, Stew thought of dessert. “How about a banana?” he suggested. “They haven’t had time to ripen yet,” replied Jack. Stew sprang to his feet, took one look at the tree from which the bananas hung, then exclaimed in a whisper: “Jeepers! Look who’s here!”