The question was unanswerable. It would take all their united strength to turn the dinghy over. And who was to hold Gill meantime?
No, the case was absolutely desperate. There was nothing for it but to hang on and continue hanging on until at last the deadly cold had done its work, and they dropped off and sank into the darksome depths beneath them. It was a miserable end, and Ken's whole soul rebelled against it.
The guns had ceased firing, there were no lights anywhere to be seen, the only sound was the monotonous slap of the ripples against the hull of the overturned boat and—far in the distance—the dull mutter of the guns down by Sedd-el-Bahr.
'"Hallo! Hallo! Who's that?"'
Ken felt a dull stupor creeping over him, a curious sense of unreality. His thoughts began to wander. So much so that at first he hardly noticed the curious sucking splash which came from the water some little distance to the left.
It was Roy who called his attention to it.
'Ken, there's a thundering great fish out there. Do they keep sharks in these waters?'
Before Ken could reply, the splash was followed by a slight grating sound, then a dull clank, like two metal plates being lightly struck together.
Hope dawned suddenly in Ken's heart, sending a tingling shock through the whole of his perishing body.