'I told you so,' said Roy jubilantly. 'They've chucked it. If we don't whack into a beastly mine we shall get clear.'
Indeed, it almost seemed as though he was right. The firing slackened, then stopped completely, and the launch, still untouched, sped through the gloom. Her crew, almost unable to credit such amazing luck, stood about the decks staring out into the darkness, occasionally exchanging a word or two in low voices.
'We're in the Narrows,' said Ken. 'See that luminous patch over to the left. That's Chanak.'
'Almost the same spot where the trawlers were scuppered,' answered Roy.
'Just so. If Fort Hamidieh doesn't open out, we ought really to be all right. We shall be in broader waters.' He took out his watch and glanced at its luminous dial.
'In three minutes we shall know one way or the other,' he added.
For the next hundred and eighty seconds there was no sound but the steady swish of the bow wave and the beat of the powerful engines.
Ken shut his watch with a snap.
'All right. We're past.'
The words were not out of his mouth before there came a ringing report, and a shell, screaming through the air, smacked into the water about a length astern.