He hears a faint noise, turns, and sees a shadow behind the window blind. He creeps over, pulls it up suddenly, and finds himself pointing his gun at a lovely, young Frenchwoman (Leslie Caron)--who is pointing a gun right back at him. He asks her about Perry, and she answers if that's the man who lived here, she found him dead and buried him. A Japanese patrol boat passes...they duck...the light sweeps over them, but they are not seen. Walter tells her they should get out of there, and she motions to someone out of sight, and whispers, 'Come on, we're leaving.' Walter watches dumbfounded as seven little schoolgirls, each in a neat uniform and hat, and carrying a suitcase, file past the window and follow the woman down to the jetty. Walter protests that his little dinghy won't hold all of them. 'All right,' says the woman, 'Tell me which of them you want to leave behind?' Realizing he's beaten, he helps them all into the dinghy. But he throws away all their luggage, growling 'This isn't the Queen Mary,' when they protest.
The trip back is harrowing...the dinghy rides very low in the water. At one point, two Japanese destroyers pass on either side of them in the dark, and the little craft is almost swamped in their wake: all must bail to keep it afloat. When they arrive at Matalava, Walter angrily jumps off the boat and storms up to the hut, leaving the girls to make their own way. He calls Frank on the radio and accuses him of tricking him into picking up the girls. But Frank is as puzzled by their presence as Walter, and the woman takes the radio mike to explain. She is Catherine Freneau, daughter of the French Consul at Rabaul...the girls are the daughters of other diplomats. They were being evacuated to Australia when their pilot got a distress call from a downed bomber. He dropped them off at Bundy, promising to return for them...but then the Japanese landed on the island.
Frank asks them to stand by while they figure something out. Walter opens a bottle of whiskey, and drinks...opens a can of food, and begins to eat out of the can as the girls look on. Catherine points out that they could all do with some food. He tosses a can to her, and goes on eating. She sighs, and begins to order the girls to straighten up the hut, clean off the table, open some tins...she asks Walter where he keeps his tea things. 'Tea things,' he mutters, derisively. He watches warily, but only intervenes when one of the girls starts to move his hard-won whiskey.
Frank comes back on the radio to inform them that he can't take the girls off Matalava...they may have to stay there for several weeks. He will arrange a parachute drop in a couple of days, to deliver additional supplies. Walter is outraged. He wants them off his island, immediately...especially Catherine, whom he calls 'Miss Goody Two-Shoes.' For her part, Catherine tells Frank that Walter is 'a rude, foul-mouthed, filthy beast.' But there's nothing to be done, they're all stuck with each other.
