wearing fewer decorations than any of the others,
made movements with his head, as though somebody were working it with
strings from behind, and then made some reply in a soft sing-song note.

As the echo of the sounds he made died away, he looked at Dawson and
Farmer. And to their dumbfounded belief he smiled broadly, and executed
a slight bow.

"Welcome, Honorable Enemy Gentlemen," he said in fairly good English.
"It is a pleasure to have you aboard my ship. Be seated, please. I am
about to dismiss my officers. Then we will discuss your little problem."

The Jap Admiral bowed slightly again, then half turned and looked at the
officers on one side. He said a few words, bobbed his head, and then
turned to the officers on his other side and spoke to them. All of them
bowed way over, murmured something, and went single file outside. And
soon the cabin was empty save for the two boys, the Admiral, and the big
Jap officer.

With an effort Dawson tried to shake the cobwebs out of his brain, and
get himself on the alert. But it was like trying to wake himself up out
of the middle of a crazy, cockeyed dream. In fact, that's just exactly
what all this business seemed like. Like part of some dizzy dream in
which nobody acts his correct part. "Then we will discuss your little
problem." What was going on here, anyway? And, "Welcome, Honorable Enemy
Gentlemen!" Where did the guy get that welcome stuff? For fair, somebody
was just plain nuts. And Dawson was worried not a little that maybe he
was the one.

"Be seated, Honorable Enemy Gentlemen, please. We have plenty of time.
And in war it is a good thing to relax and be comfortable whenever one
gets the chance. Yes, in those chairs behind you, please."

If Dawson and Farmer had been under a complete hypnotic spell they
couldn't have obeyed more mechanically as they backed up until the chair
edge hit them behind the knees, and then sat down. And like a couple of
dazed puppets waiting to be moved around, they just sat there with eyes
fixed on the Jap Admiral. He seated himself, and stared at them for a
long time before he spoke.

"So you have very interesting news for me?" he suddenly said with a
rising inflection of voice. "Well, I am interested. So tell me all about
it, please?"

Dawson gulped slightly and tried desperately to bat his brains off the
merry-go-round on which they were riding, and get them to function
properly. If he ever was to play a game of wits, this was