Unless the snuff-box fell on the deck of one of these vessels there was every chance of its going to the bottom of the sea, and Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans were obliged to wait for a better opportunity.

And, as we shall immediately see, an excellent chance was soon to be offered them.
At ten o'clock that evening the "Albatross" reached the French coast near Dunkirk.

The night was rather dark.

For a moment they could see the lighthouse at Grisnez cross its electric beam with the lights from Dover on the other side of the strait.

Then the "Albatross" flew over the French territory at a mean height of three thousand feet.
There was no diminution in her speed.