“Billy was with me. You forget I was practically brought up in a boat, Brad. I’m never afraid on the water.”
“But it’s dangerous now. Promise me, Kit, you won’t ever go off like that alone again.”
She laughed at his fears, but her pulse beat a little faster because of his solicitude.
“I may have to sometime, Brad. But I’ll promise to be more careful.”
“Why, anything could have happened to you. That man could have fired from the mangroves, and nobody would ever have known what had become of you two.”
“But I had to know where that barge took the stuff, what the general situation was. I didn’t even think about being nervous—that is, not till Billy told me about seeing the man through our glasses.”
They were silent while they finished their supper, then Kitty said, “Brad, I’ve always heard—that spies come ashore from the subs in rubber boats.”
“But didn’t Jimmy say the one they saw was an old bateau?”
“So it was. Maybe that’s the boat that comes out to meet the enemy boats. We’ve already caught several of the native fishermen round here in the pay of enemy spies. No doubt there’re still plenty of others free and active.”
“It seems incredible that anyone could be so unpatriotic and low.”
“You don’t know people like I do, Kit. Plenty of people will sell their very souls for a little money.”
“But the risks they take! How do they get away with it?”
“You’d be surprised if you knew. Why, when we first went to war fishing boats all along the coast were supplying German subs with gasoline right under the nose of the authorities.”
“Then the government took over most of the fishing boats, and conditions improved.”
Kitty leaned closer and said with determination, “And Brad, we’re going to put a stop to the dirty work going on at our hospital! If I can’t give all my time to my country maybe I can help in this way.”
“I’m afraid we’ve got a big job, Kit. But every day I become more certain that there’s something going on round there that is really bad.”
She glanced at him sharply. “Anything new turned up?”
He nodded. “It may or may not be important. I talked to Ivy, the man who looks after the incinerator.”
“Oh! Do you think he’s working with Punaro and maybe Lieutenant Cary?”
“No, I don’t. I believe Ivy’s on the level if ever a man was. He’s terribly upset over not being able to get the incinerator fixed. He says repair parts have come twice, and both times they didn’t fit.”