He broke off as a series of sharp flashes danced out in the distance, followed by the rattle of musketry and a dull, confused shouting.
"You perceive," Captain Salt remarked, "that the squadron is not the safest means of reaching Harwich."
"What are they doing out there?"
"They are killing each other."
"That sounds very unpleasant."
"And as the night is too dark to distinguish faces with any certainty, I thought you would prefer to go home by another way."
"A longer way?"
"It is certainly a trifle longer; but then, as it won't expose you to the risk of being killed—"
"That's true. I won't grudge the time."
The explosions of musketry, meanwhile, had been following each other faster and faster, and at length became incessant.