looking away at the blacker-than-black sea, and knowing that they were racing along at twenty knots an hour toward some sort of real trouble.

“Spooky,” he thought.

And indeed, it was just that, for they were definitely in Jap waters. Everyone expected a fight at dawn. If some Jap snooper plane or submarine sighted them now, there would be a mighty battle.

To the right and a little ahead he caught a white gleam on the water. “That’s the Black Knight,” he told himself. The Black Knight was a fast and powerful cruiser. Three other cruisers, always close to the carrier but not too close, sped along with them. Six destroyers lay farther out.

“What a lot of power, sir!” Jack said aloud as the Commander strode past him.

“What? Yes, a lot of striking power,” the Commander agreed. “We’re likely to need it, too. They say the Jap navy won’t come out and fight. You can’t count on that. They’re sly rascals, those Japs. They might pounce on us with double our striking power any time. They....”

“What’s that, sir?” Jack broke in.

“What’s what?” The Commander paused.

“Don’t you hear it, sir?” Jack asked. “It’s like the howl of a dog, or a train whistle far away.”

“All I hear is that banjo on the after deck,” the Commander laughed low.

“It’s not that, nor anything like it.” Jack was in dead earnest. “It’s nothing on this ship. It comes from far away, sir. Listen hard.”

“You have good ears,” said the Commander. “Radio ears, perhaps. They say there are people who can pick radio messages right out of the air with their unaided ears. I’ve never believed that, but—say!” His voice rose. “I think I do hear something out there!”

“Sure you do, sir!” Jack exclaimed. “It’s getting louder, closer!”

For a space of seconds the two of them, the aged Commander and the boy, stood there listening with breathless attention.

“This may be serious!” the Commander exclaimed at last, as he dashed for the intership telephone.

Jack heard him barking words into the phone. He at last exclaimed loud enough to be heard, “Good boy, Steve! Keep a sharp watch!”

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