“That’s so, Jack,” admitted Amos, immediately convinced. “When warships are in a dangerous locality, and there’s danger all the time of torpedoes, as well as floating mines, I reckon they do keep their searchlights busy all the night in order to discover any creeping enemy.”
“They know these Turks to be clever schemers,” added Jack, “and bold in the bargain, so they keep on the lookout all the time.”
“Then, if we’re discovered, what’s our program going to be, Jack?”
“We want to get busy right away and run up a white flag, to show that we mean to make no resistance. Then they’ll likely send a boat, and board as we lie to. We can surrender the cargo to the officer in charge, first of all asking him to make good our word to Captain Zenos and his crew.”
“Perhaps, to make doubly sure, we might let them take to the small boat and skip out before we surrender the vessel,” suggested Amos.
“Now that isn’t a bad scheme, if it can be worked,” admitted Jack. “The Allies might want to hold these men and I’d hate to have my promise broken.”
They sat there for a long time, now and then exchanging a few sentences or going about to make sure there was no danger of the hatch being pried up, thus allowing the prisoners of the hold to escape and make trouble.
Then what Jack had long been expecting came about. A white shaft of light suddenly shot out of the darkness and began to move along, swiftly covering considerable space, and revealing the choppy waves as though in broad daylight. It was the powerful searchlight on board some war-vessel, possibly a battleship of the Allied fleet.