. And the instant he had
it pinned in his sights he let go with his forward guns.

For one brief instant nothing seemed to happen. Then suddenly the huge
Kawanishi appeared to stand still in the air. Stand still and spew out
jetting ribbons of red flame from a dozen different points from the nose
of the hull clear back to the tail. The jetting ribbons of flame marked
the efforts of the Jap gunners aboard to get the diving Dauntless in
their sights. However, they might just as well have tried to pick off a
haywire comet rushing down at them.

And then, as the flying boat seemed to come to a dead halt in the air,
the efforts of the Jap gunners came to a swift and abrupt halt. A tiny
tongue of flame shot up from the forward end. Then as though by magic it
spread out fan-shaped and went sweeping backward to engulf everything in
a raging inferno of flame. Eyes popping, and heart practically standing
still, Dawson stared in awe at the horrible sight. And then in the nick
of time he snapped out of his trance, and hauled the plunging Dauntless
off to the side and into the clear.

"About time, little man!" he heard Freddy Farmer shout. "I thought you
were going to run into the beggar, and tell him you were sorry. But you
know you're very hoggish, don't you. A very greedy beggar, if there ever
was one."

Dawson didn't make any reply at once. He brought the Dauntless back onto
even keel, and then turned in the seat to look back at the Kawanishi.
That is, he turned in the seat to look back at what was _left_ of the
huge flying boat. And that was just a great ball of flame and smoke that
hovered in midair for a moment or two before it started dropping
earthward trailing behind a long column of fluffy black. Dave followed
it all the way down until it smacked into the Southwest Pacific with a
mighty splash.

"What was that you were babbling about, pal?" he then demanded of his
flying mate.

"I was remarking that you are a rotter!" Freddy Farmer snapped. "Very
definitely so. And twice as greedy, too. What do you think I'm back here
for, with guns of my own, eh?"

"I sure could answer that one, but skip it, pal!" Dave laughed at him.
"But it was just one of those things, Freddy, so help me. I must have
nailed the pilot and one of the tanks first burst. Boy! Did he burn up
and go down quick! Talk about shooting clay pigeons! That was certainly
the cinchiest thing I ever tackled. I--Holy smoke! Hold it a moment,
Freddy! I should