“You’re not ahead of us,” Sally told them. “We saw rubbish washing up all along shore. A U-boat must have hit somebody out there.” “We don’t claim we’ve located the U-boat,” admitted Ned, “but we did find an old bateau hidden under some mangroves.” “At least five miles from any habitation,” added Jimmy. “Oh, I thought they had something,” said Vera with a laugh. “If you had lived in this part of the country as long as I have, you’d be used to bateaux and old boats in all sorts of nooks.” Kitty watched Brad’s face intently during this exchange, and finally their eyes met. His expression implied that he would tell her more later. There was no opportunity, however, in the next hour for them to talk privately. The boys were already preparing the shrimp for the pot, and Kitty quickly mixed the other ingredients. The shrimp creole was soon cooking. In the meantime they sat on the sands around the campfire. Its warm glow was more than welcome in the biting salt air. Jimmy Barnes amused them with a hair-raising tale while they waited. “The beach guard stopped to chat with us a few minutes ago,” Jimmy began. The Coast Guard Station was several miles down the coast from the Marine Base. Kitty had seen very little of those men since she came to Palmetto Island. “Jim asked the chap if he didn’t get lonesome down here,” put in Ned. “‘Lonesome,’ said the guard, ‘why man, I’ve got a box seat at the livest show in America.’ Then he told us something that’ll make your eyes pop,” explained Jimmy. “About a week ago he said a sub was hit right in sight of Palmetto Island, and you’d never guess what they found aboard.” “Cut out the suspense, Ned, and tell us what,” Vera ordered. “Fresh bread wrapped in Bayshore Bakery paper.” “No, not really!” exclaimed Kitty, recalling her interesting visit to the bakery, and the spicy little cakes each nutrition student had been given as a souvenir. “Of course nobody can blame the Bayshore Bakery,” Jimmy hastened to say. “But it only goes to show that the U-boats are getting all sorts of supplies from our own towns. They say that bread was fresh—couldn’t have been more than a day old.” “It’s hard to believe such things are going on,” said Lana Bright, her big brown eyes wide as she glanced anxiously toward the eastern horizon. In the good old days there had always been steamers or small craft on the horizon, but now every ship that passed must be convoyed for protection against subs. Sally and Lana had been brought up on the southern coast and found it hard to realize that a death-dealing enemy could encroach on their childhood playground, as they had always considered the beach. “And that’s still happening even after most people feel we’ve practically got the U-boat situation in hand,” commented Kitty. “Yes, and when we take the complacent attitude that we’ve got any of this war business under control and sit down on the job there’s bound to be trouble,” stated Brad.