so proudly as this one. For a second he wondered if the Nazis had
been forced to "doll up" their U-boats to get commanders and crews to
take them out on their hazardous voyages. On second thought, though, he
decided that all this was simply a Nazi touch to impress their comrades
in cold murder, the Japanese.

Just the same, the cabin was certainly well appointed, and Dave secretly
hoped the Nazi would question them for quite some time so that he would
have a good chance to relax and get a lot of the salt water and sun
stiffness out of his joints. But he experienced a very rude awakening
even as he was expressing that hope to himself and starting to sit down
in one of the fancy chairs. The Jap's gun came out fast and cracked him
hard on the side of the head.

"Dog!" the slant-eyed one screamed. "How dare you seat yourself in the
presence of an officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy! Stand on your
feet. Over there, by the door. Move a muscle and I will take greatest
pleasure in shooting you."

With a tremendous effort Dawson forced back the surging, blazing anger
that rose up in his throat to choke him. Then he joined Freddy by the
door and stood there with his gaze fixed hard and unwinking on the Jap.
The little brown rat sneered and leered, and tried to stare Dawson down.
He didn't even get to first base, though. And presently it was he who
lowered his eyes. And so that was the picture as there came clanking
sounds and roared out orders from various directions inside the U-boat.
A moment later the craft trembled and shook from end to end. And Dave
felt the deck under his feet slant as the craft dived and went under
water.

Three, four, five minutes ticked by, and then the Nazi commander pushed
through the door inside. He seemed surprised to see Dawson and Farmer
standing stiff as a couple of wooden Indians by the door. He glanced
sharply at the Jap, and made sounds under his breath. Then he went over
and dropped his big frame into a chair, and sat regarding the two youths
out of wide set eyes that held nothing but the look of death in them.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

_Give and Take_

"Well, my little fool friends! You don't seem to realize that I have
saved your useless lives, do you? Well, I have, and you should be very
grateful and thankful. None of your swine comrades would have come into
these waters to pick you up."

The Nazi had stared so long, and been silent for so long, that the
sudden explosion of his v