From somewhere to the left came a murmur of voices, and the breeze brought to his nostrils a faint odour of tobacco smoke.
Seconds dragged like minutes as they lay waiting. The suspense was very hard to bear.
Roy put his mouth close to Ken's ear.
'Afraid your contraption's gone wrong, old son. Don't seem to hear that bust up you promised.'
'Unless the powder was damp—' began Ken. His sentence was cut short by a thunderous boom. The earth quivered beneath them, and sky, sea, even the tall cliffs opposite flared crimson.
The great glow passed as swiftly as it had come, there followed a rattle of falling rubbish, then silence dropped. Silence, however, which lasted no longer than the flash. Almost instantly burst out a hubbub of excited voices, there was a rattle of sandalled feet on shingle and a sound of men running hard.
Roy sprang to his feet, but Ken caught him by the arm.
'Steady! Don't hurry, or you'll give the show away. It's not likely they're all gone.'
'Every man Jack of 'em,' Roy answered, as he walked boldly out on to the beach.
Ken glanced round sharply. It seemed as though Roy were right. So far as he could see, the whole population of the beach had departed for the scene of the explosion.