all but breaking it.

Between Him and the Jap Was a Trap-Door

Then they came to grips. It was muscle and brawn against ju-jitsu, and all manner of oriental tricks. Now an arm, like the tail of a boa-constrictor, was about Sparky’s neck, choking, choking him to death. And now Sparky’s steel-like fingers were gripping the Jap’s arm, twisting it until bones cracked.

It was a tooth-and-nail battle. Now the Jap was clawing at Sparky’s eyes. And now Sparky had those claws between his teeth.

It became a struggle for weapons. Once the Jap gripped the handle of his knife only to receive a blow in the face from Sparky’s fist that sent him reeling.

Regaining possession of his wrench, Sparky aimed a blow at the head of that serpent of the Rising Sun. Only a sudden upward thrust of a foot saved the Jap.

“I’ll kill you,” the Jap hissed in good English.

“Come on, then. Try it!” Sparky aimed one more blow at the Jap’s face.

The Jap dodged. Sparky lost his balance and fell flat. For a space of seconds he was at the enemy’s mercy. But to get the knife the Jap must crawl over Sparky’s body. He tried just that and this was his undoing for, with a mighty heave, Sparky pinned him flat and full-length against the hard slats above him.

Rising to hands and knees, Sparky put all the power of his splendid muscles into the task of crushing the last gasp from the now thoroughly beaten enemy.

When the last gasp came, he slid from beneath the Jap to let him down with a dull thud. “You wanted to go down,” Sparky panted. “Now’s your chance.” His hands were on the trap-door’s fastening. The Jap lay on that door.

Then he paused to reflect. It would be the end, he knew, well enough. The Jap was not dead, but helpless. His parachute had been torn from his back.

“You’ve got it coming,” Sparky grumbled. “You planned all this. It would have been our end, not yours, but now—”

His fingers trembled. He undid a catch, then he fastened it again. He was thinking of the empty desert and the jackals. “It’s too good for you,” he grumbled, “but I can’t do it.”

At that he bound the Jap, who by this time was stirring and breathing. Then, pushing him far back in the wing, he 

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