There was something else Matt noticed as he peered out from behind his thicket, and that was that two rifles lay on the sand within easy reach of the Jap mechanics.
"Those guns are another danger point," he said to himself. "The _Pom_, however, will be between the _Grampus_ and the beach, and will act as a sort of barricade. Anyhow, nothing venture, nothing win."
For five minutes longer Matt waited, watching for the other two Japs to reappear through the _Pom's_ hatch. But they did not come, and he felt that he could wait no longer.
Arising from his crouching position, he turned to retrace his course down the hill. He had not taken a dozen steps, however, when, dodging around a clump of bushes, he came face to face with the two missing Japs!
From the actions of the two men, it was plain that they were as much surprised as was Motor Matt.
The cause of this unexpected meeting flashed through Matt's brain like lightning.
The rifle shot had been heard, and these two Japs had been told to cross the ridge and investigate. Matt had gained the shore before the Japs had cleared the bushes and were able to see him. As they descended the slope, he was going up, and fortune had decreed that they give each other a wide berth. But fortune had taken another tack, for she was now bringing Matt and the Japs altogether too close to each other for comfort.
These Japs, like the two at work on the torpedo, were stripped of all unnecessary clothing; and, fortunately for the young motorist, they carried no weapons.
For an instant Matt and the two yellow men stared at each other; then the Japs gave vent to a yell, and prepared to keep Matt from continuing on down the hill.
Matt, remembering the two rifles he had seen on the beach, had no intention of waiting for the other two Japs to reach the scene. He saw the men before him preparing to lay him by the heels in the most approved ju-jutsu style, but that did not keep him back.
He leaped forward, apparently aiming to pass directly between the two men. They jumped to get in his way, whereupon he dodged to the right.
But, if he was quick, so were the Japs. No sooner had he changed his course than they also had faced the new direction.
As Matt went flying down the hill, one of them made a dive for him. The king of the motor boys struck out with his right fist--and he had a "right" about which Carl Pretzel was wont to sing praises.