CHAPTER XI.
Half-an-hour later they were out on the open sea beyond the harbour in a cockleshell even frailer than Quiller's little craft which they had not been able to secure.
The sea was very quiet, only broken by an occasional long swell that drove them southward like driftwood.

Merefleet, who had been persuaded to quit the harbour against his better judgment, was not greatly disturbed by this fact.

He did not anticipate any difficulty in returning.

A little extra labour was the worst he expected, for he knew that a southward course would bring him into no awkward currents.

Away to the eastward he was aware of treacherous streams and shoals.