planes that formed
the two sides of the take-off lane were little more than blurred streaks
rushing past either wingtip.

No wild cries from the Japs, and no bursts of machine gun or pistol
fire? Dawson was surprised by the absence of fire from the Japs for
maybe a whole split second. And then he forgot all about it. The MK-11
had cleared the flight deck of the Jap carrier and was prop clawing
upward. However, Dawson checked the climb instantly. In fact, he
actually nosed the aircraft downward until the belly of the plane was
practically kissing the tops of the long blue-green rollers of the
Southwest Pacific. To climb for altitude would make him an even better
target for the shipboard anti-aircraft guns that were bound to go into
action in another second or two. Also, to climb would mean to sacrifice
speed, and speed with which to get away from the whole darn task force
in a hurry was what he wanted most. And so he hugged the wave tops,
headed straight for an escorting cruiser, and went past it with his
wingtips almost kissing the cruiser's mast top.

"Hey, not so close!" Freddy Farmer shouted in a moment of wild alarm.
"Don't spoil our luck by ramming into one of these cursed things!"

"Just hold onto your hat, pal, and don't worry!" Dawson shouted back
happily. "Pretty good we are, huh, kid? Guess those slant-eyes are
still wondering what the heck happened. They haven't fired a single shot
at us. Boy, we _are_ good, I guess!"

"Well, don't make too much of it, old thing!" the English youth shouted
with a new note of alarm in his voice. "Three of the blighters are
taking off from the very same carrier we did. Fancy they think they can
get us in the air, and save gun shells. So keep right on going, old
thing!"

Dawson gulped at that announcement and took a second or two off from his
flying to sneak a quick glance back over his shoulder. And, sure enough,
Freddy Farmer hadn't been kidding him! Three Jap planes were taking off
from the same carrier. And his heart leaped up into his throat when he
saw that they were Jap carrier Zeros. And the reason his heart leaped
into his throat was because he knew that a Zero can catch up with an
MK-11 any day in the week.

"Hang on, Freddy, hang on!" he thundered, and turned front again. "We've
just got to get away from those Zeros. If not, then you've got to keep
them at a safe distance with your rear guns. So I'll fly for us, and you
fight for us. That's the way it has got