“There never was such a plane as that,” Ted mused desperately. “It’s supernatural, an inhuman thing, the work of no man, but of the devil himself. I’ll dive and keep right on going, level off at last, and land on the sea. It’s my only chance.” Going into a steep dive, he found himself almost at once in bright, tropical sunlight. The change was startling. Like going to a party with no clothes on, he thought. He went straight on down, and the shrieker followed him. For ten desperate seconds he skimmed over the sea. Then he hit it—_bump—bump—bump_. He taxied along at last. Having shut off his motor before his plane was at a standstill, he pushed back his hood and plunged into the sea. He was not an instant too soon, for again came the rattle of the machine-gun fire. The enemy was shooting up his plane on the sea, trying to kill him while he was down. Ted, for the moment, was safe enough. He had gone beneath the surface. When he came up blowing, he saw the screamer circle for another try. Then an amazing thing happened. Some heavy object came hurtling down from the enemy plane. “What is it?” he asked himself. Then, “Good grief! It’s a man!” The body hit the water with killing force, if indeed the man was not already dead. It sank from sight. “The dirty dogs!” Ted exclaimed, when his head had ceased whirling. “They tried to kill me after I’d made a crash landing! Looks like one of them got paid off, though.” CHAPTER XXI MARY BROWN FROM THE U. S. A. Jack and Stew had heard Ted’s battle with the jet plane without seeing it. They had become tremendously excited but were unable to do anything about it. Before Ted’s adventure began, Jack was just sitting up, rubbing his eyes sleepily after only three hours of rest. He said: “Life on this island has become impossible. There are five of those beasts against us. They have machine guns and plenty of ammunition. We have automatics with just the slugs that were in their chambers when we arrived.” “There are the natives,” Stew suggested. “Those Germans and Japs would mow them down like grass,” was the quick reply. “It will be better for the natives if they’re never discovered.” “They’ll be discovered all right,” Stew declared. “You can’t hide for long on this island. It’s too small. I’m surprised that those fellows haven’t hunted us down long before this,” he added. “Well, they won’t do that just yet.” Jack drew in a deep breath of relief. “There they go, or at least the Germans must be leaving. If they go we should be able to handle the Japs.” He had caught the low whistle rising into a scream that told of the jet plane’s departure. “If only I could get my hands on that baby!” Jack exclaimed, thinking of the jet plane. “I’d fly her right to the deck of the old _Black Bee_.” “And get yourself good and shot up by your own pals,” Stew laughed. “There’s no mark of identification on that jet plane.”