Captain Blaise hove her to until he should see a guiding rocket from the men-of-war which he knew were waiting.  And presently one came, a blue and gold from due west, and another red and gold from the west-nor’-west, then a red and blue from north-west by west.  Presently there was another, from abreast of and close in to the bar.  And we knew there were more in waiting than had signalled.  It was already a solid line across the mouth of the river.

If those ships guarding the river’s mouth were only anchored, our problem would have been simplified; but they were constantly shifting, and as they showed no sailing lights, no telling where, after a signal flashed, they would fetch next up; and always, showing no signal-light whatever, would be the others guarding what they would like to have us mistake for an open passage in the dark.

Their sending up so many signals indicated a bewilderment as to our whereabouts.  By this time they must have known ashore that we were not anchored inside the bar; and out to sea they must have known we had not foundered in the surf, and also by this time they had probably discovered that we were not in the lagoon.

“They will puzzle it out soon.  Get your floating mines ready,” ordered Captain Blaise.  That was my work, and in anticipation of it I had knocked together two small rafts loaded with explosives and a large one with explosives and combustible stuff to burn brightly for half an hour or so.

“What does this mean?” Miss Cunningham was at Captain Blaise’s elbow.  She could not have asked a question more pleasing to him.

“It means that we are like a rat in a hole with half a dozen big cats guarding the exit.  It is an acutely angled corner we are in, Miss Shiela, and a string of corvettes and sloops-of-war stretched, no knowing just where, across the narrow way out.  So far they do not know we are here, but before long it is bound to occur to some of them that this is the Dancing Bess and that she has made the Momba River passage—­and then they will crowd in and pounce on us.  That is, if we don’t get out before that.”

“I see.  I must go down and tell father.  He’s not worrying, but he wants to know what’s going on.”

He let the brigantine now run offshore, parallel with the southern bank, almost to the entrance.  Then we doubled back on our course.  As we came about he called, “Ready with your mines, Guy?”

“Ready, sir!”

“Let go!”

At the word over went the big raft.  We sailed on for a quarter mile or so.  “Let go!” Over went the second.  A quarter mile farther and the third one went.  Each mine had its time-fuse.  In a very few minutes—­the Bess was in by the corner of the delta again—­the inshore mine exploded.

Following the noise and flame there was a quiet and a great darkness, and then from the southerly guard-ship a rocket, while from the shore burst forth new lights.  If the surf had not been roaring, we knew that we could have heard those joyful yells from the watchers up that way.  Everybody on the coast knew that the Bess carried two long-toms and no lack of ammunition for them.  We could imagine their chuckling over our explosion.