WORRALS OF THE ISLANDS

by Captain W. E. Johns

XII. PAM TELLS HER TALE (Pages 144 – 158)

Worrals takes off and has to avoid Japanese Zero fighters in the area. Frecks says “By insulting their beastly General I should say we’ve got the Japs in this particular area of the Pacific fairly foaming at the mouth”. In due course a Zero aircraft sees them and attacks them. “Tell Harry to get ready to do his stuff. If he prangs that Zero I’ll recommend him for the D.F.M.” says Worrals. Worrals is worried by the lack of petrol and the fact that she doesn’t want to lead the Zero back to Ingles Island. She decides to just land in the sea. The Zero dives and shoots up their plane but Harry gets it and petrol vapour can be seen coming from the Zero which promptly explodes. They fly back to Ingles Island but are disappointed to find that the petrol has not yet arrived. They get some quinine for Mr. Uleef (getting the name right now!) and listen to Pam’s story. Pam can’t say exactly where the island is, that the girls are on, but she says she would know it if she saw it. Pam explains how they have been on an island for months “living on fish, coconuts, and anything else that came along”. A native came along and they persuaded him to try and take a message to Australia. Then, the other day a canoe was washed up and they chose Pam as the strongest swimmer to try to get to another island and find natives to help them. She was picked up by the Japanese boat. Pam said she put her hat overboard along with various other items in the hope they would wash up at the girl’s island to let them know that she hadn’t made it. Worrals wonders if they have enough petrol to collect the girls before the monsoon starts. There are seven of them in Worrals’ party (Worrals, Frecks, Harry, Rama, Vandergroot, Uleeft and Pam) and six girls to collect. The party rest and Worrals is awoken when a plane comes, an old Walrus, but they see it shot down by a Japanese Zero fighter. “There goes our petrol,” said Harry, in a hard voice. “And what is even more important, there goes one of our boys, I’m afraid,” said Worrals heavily. They see a parachute flutter down. When the Zero flies away, Worrals flies out to rescue the pilot, a sergeant pilot of the Australian Air Force called Jimmy Crane. Worrals decides to go and get the girls with the petrol they have, taking Frecks, Pam and Harry with her. Harry will have to signal Darwin for more petrol when they get in the air.