Clustered round the hatch were some twenty soldiers, also smoking.
One of the officers pointed to the ledge; he was excited and emphatic.
Philip could not imagine that they had detected him, but he feared lest Iris, in her agitation, might have moved.

In that clear, calm air, not even the growing dusk would hide the flutter of a skirt or the altered position of a white face.

A man in charge of the wheel replied to the officer with a laugh.

The first speaker turned, glanced at the Brothers reef, behind which the _Andromeda's_ boat had vanished that morning, and nodded dubiously.

The man at the wheel growled an order, and the engine started again.