This was our chance.

I crouched in the bottom of our boat and to all appearances my boatman was engaged merely in fishing.

After I had lain there over an hour with my heart beating like a drum and with small hopes for the success of my undertaking, I heard at last the whistle of the approaching cruiser followed by a Babel of mad shouting and cursing among the boatmen.

In the confusion I felt it safe to sit up.

No one paid the slightest attention to me.