But Elaine remained to see him lower it down on the broken rocks, where the cave had formerly existed. She waited, indeed, till he lighted the fuse and drew her away towards the shelter.
His eyes were on the distant yacht, fast fading once more from their vision. The bomb must have failed. The fuse was deficient, he was sure. He started back to recover the thing and make it certain of explosion.
Then it burst, and flung shattered fragments along all the face of the wall.
Grenville was watching the distant yacht with fixed, almost frenzied, expression.
"They haven't heard!" he groaned, despairingly. "They're going faster than before!"
It certainly seemed as if the hurried stranger would no more halt than would a fiery meteor overdue at some cosmic appointment.
Then of a sudden, from its bow, broke a pure-white cloud of smoke. She had answered with the small brass piece employed to fire a salute. Her prow was turned before the sound came dully across the waters. Sobbing and laughing together, in sudden relief, Elaine sank down on her knees, among the bowlders, to watch this deliverance come.