heard a report that there is a huge Jap attack
force heading for this coast. Of course, it may be only a rumor, but--"

"Heading for _here_?" the Major gulped, and his face tightened. "Are you
sure?"

Dave shrugged and gestured with a hand.

"Well, I didn't actually see them, Major," he replied truthfully. "But
the Japs have pulled a lot of fast ones in this war. You never can tell,
you know."

"No, you never can, that's right," the other said, and glanced nervously
toward the west. "Well, your plane is waiting. I'll run you over, and
make the report _myself_ to the commanding officer. A huge Jap attack
force, eh?"

Dawson didn't say anything. He simply nudged Freddy Farmer's arm, and
the pair stepped into the jeep. The major stalled the engine twice
before he got the jeep going. And then he made a dash down along the
edge of the field as though Jap troops were actually rushing up from the
other side. He braked to a screaming halt in front of the field office,
waved a hand at a waiting plane some fifty yards farther on, and then
leaped out and dashed inside.

"Good grief, the blighter is in a hurry, isn't he?" Freddy Farmer
breathed as they walked over toward the plane, a Wright-powered Vultee
attack bomber. "But why did you fill him with all that junk about a huge
Jap attack force?"

"Well, you said you heard on good authority that there was one, didn't
you?" Dawson chuckled. "And, I just don't like efficient stuffed shirts
like him. I like to see them get their whiskers burned. Anyway, I'm
hoping that the C.O. of this field is the kind of a bird who'll do it.
We'll know when Major Importance comes out. Well, anyway, we've got a
nice job to fly. And we should see quite a bit of this down-under
continent by the time we hit Sydney."

"You take the scenery," Freddy Farmer grunted, and stowed his kit in the
Vultee's pit. "I'll take Sydney as fast as I can get it. Lord, Dave! Do
you suppose General MacArthur himself wants to see us?"

"Nope," Dawson replied instantly, and tossed his kit aboard. "If the
orders had read for me to report _alone_, I'd say probably. But we are
both to report, so meeting the general is definitely out, if you get
what I mean?"

Freddy Farmer glared and stuck out his tongue.

"Too bad you were wearing those wings at the wrong time!" he snapped.
"But pardon me, old thing, for stirring that brain of yours. You aren't
wondering about the future any more, are you? Well, let's get on with