that's all there is to that. We can't let them trim us
this time. By God, no, sir!"

Colonel Welsh smiled, nodded, and lifted his coffee cup and held it
poised in midair.

"To whatever happens, sir," he toasted. "And may we have all the best of
it!"

The task force commander lifted his own coffee cup, and nodded, too.

"And we will, by God, sir!" he said through clenched teeth. "Just as
long as we've got a ship floating or a plane flying! Amen!"

And the two high ranking officers drank silently.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

_Luck of the Doomed_

"And now, the sixty-four dollar question," Dave Dawson got out in a
bitter, puzzled voice. "What in thunder is the big idea? Go ahead and
answer, Freddy."

"I can't even make a guess," the English youth groaned, and turned from
staring out the empty cabin port. "All I can say is that I am absolutely
and completely baffled. I don't understand it at all. What the deuce
suddenly caused that Sasebo to have us herded back to this empty cabin
again? After the way you raved at him, if he had drawn his samurai sword
and chopped off your thick head, I could have understood. But to not so
much as bat an eye, and then obviously order that big chap to bring us
back here...? Well, it's quite beyond me. Quite!"

"You can say that again for me!" Dawson grunted. "But where do you get
that chopped off your thick head stuff, huh?"

"Definitely!" Freddy snapped, and gave him a withering glare. "In future
kindly remember that though you may wish to get killed on the spot,
because you rile up some blasted cut-throat, _I_ haven't the same desire
to die!"

Dawson grinned and let it grow into a chuckle.

"Boy!" he breathed. "I kind of told him a thing or six, didn't I, huh?
Oh, heck, Freddy, I'll admit it was taking a chance. But between you,
me, and the flight deck of this tub, I've got a hunch I put a little bee
in that guy's bonnet."

"I hope so, but I sincerely doubt it," Freddy Farmer said. "That bloke
is nobody's fool, even though he may look like one. However, I sincerely
hope you are right, Dave. You mean, about trying to make him believe
that Admiral Jackson's force is up north off the Japanese coast?"

"Yes, that's what I meant," Dave nodded. "And I think he swallowed the
bait, too. I'm almost willing to bet that before long he'll swing this
task force about and start high-balling back up north. And send out some
of his long range scout-bombers, too."

"But maybe he won't,"