'm just
selecting which part of it to smack first. Come snooping down here on
us, huh? Not today, my little Jap rats. At least, not any more. Just
another couple of shakes, now, and you're going to only have eyes that
are blind! And how!"

CHAPTER SEVEN

_Discovered?_

As Dawson grated out the words he automatically checked to make sure
that his guns were ready for action. They were, but in the next split
second the fear was his that he might not be able to use them. Those
aboard the Kawanishi flying boat had obviously spotted his approach,
because the huge craft had suddenly changed course and was racing upward
and eastward toward the safety of a towering bank of clouds. Dave
instantly nosed the Dauntless up for altitude, and shook his head
savagely.

"No, not even that way!" he shouted aloud into the thunder of his own
engine. "We'll smoke you out of there even if it takes all night. Nope!
You rats are all washed up, and I don't mean maybe!"

With a vigorous nod for emphasis, Dawson hunched forward even more on
the seat and let fly with a short burst from his guns to warm them up.
Perhaps the Japs heard his firing and accepted it as a challenge. Or
maybe the slant-eyed killer at the controls saw that he wouldn't be able
to make the safety of the clouds in time, and was veering around to
present less of a target to the oncoming Dauntless.

At any rate, the huge craft came curving around in the air, and its
blunt nose started spewing out a jetting ribbon of red flame. Dave
grinned and inched his plane up a little more.

"Thanks for saving me the trouble of hunting you out!" he shouted. "But
you'd be a flock of dead ducks, no matter what you tried. Me and Freddy
have been around, slobs, see? We sort of know most of the answers, now,
when it comes to you baby killers. Okay! Try this one on your rice
bowl!"

As the last left Dave's lips he pulled the nose of the Douglass
Dauntless straight up toward Heaven. He let the plane prop claw upward
until it was just this side of the stalling point. Then, with a kick on
the rudder pedal and a swift pass at the controls, he whipped the
scout-bomber over and down at practically the vertical. As he had been
going straight up, the Kawanishi had been rushing straight forward, and
so as a result the big craft was almost directly below when Dawson came
rushing down again. He had only to ease just a little out of his dive to
catch the top of the flying boat in his sights