rate of one every fifteen seconds, and then turned front
and settled himself comfortably in the seat. Minutes later the task
force was out of sight far behind and Freddy and he were alone in a
world of dawn light and limitless expanse of ocean below.

CHAPTER NINE

_Fate Is Fickle_

"How you doing, Freddy? Having fun, huh?"

As he asked the questions Dawson twisted around in the seat and grinned.
They were close to the end of their patrol "beat." Soon they would turn
around and retrace their air tracks to the carrier Carson.

"Me?" the English youth echoed with a forced smile supposed to indicate
mock happiness. "Why, I never had so much fun in my life. Such wonderful
sun-filled air. And isn't all that water down there just beautiful? I
could just sit here and look at it all day--I don't think! Man! I wish
we could get a look at something. Anything would be perfectly all right
with me."

"And how!" Dave breathed, and pushed up his goggles. "Boy! Am I sick of
looking at water. When we took off I was all hopped up and bubbling over
with expectations. But no more now. Nothing can take the starch out of
you like looking for something, and not finding it. So I guess this
isn't our day, pal. At least not this patrol. If there's any Jap force
around these parts, it's down there under water, and I can't see it."

"Quite!" Freddy grunted, and then gave a little harsh laugh. "But, after
all, why should we expect fate to play into our hands? We're just two of
many working on the job. It's quite possible that the blasted Jap force
has already been spotted by one of the other chaps, and our force isn't
going to further risk revealing its position by recalling us. Maybe--"

"Here, here, put on the brakes, pal!" Dawson laughed, and nodded his
head at the radio. "If and when that Jap force is sighted we'll all be
recalled and pronto. We'll be needed in the scrap, and how!"

"Yes, of course, you're right," Freddy said with a slightly sheepish
grin. "Still--"

The English youth cut himself off short, stiffened slightly, and blinked
toward the east.

"What's the matter, kid?" Dave asked, and turned his own head that way.
"Don't tell me you see something?"

"I'm not sure; I can't say," Freddy replied, and continued to stare
hard. "Thought I saw a flash of something out there a way. Like sun on
the wings of a plane. Or maybe it was just the sun on a wave."

"Probably," Dave grunted, and strained his own eyes. "But may