It did not take Lawless very long to realise the full gravity of his position. He calculated that at least six hours must elapse before it became light enough for him to see, or be seen by, passing ships, and by that time he would probably be dead. As for making signals in the darkness, that was impossible, for he had nothing to make them with--not even a revolver. There was, of course, a faint chance that the _Knat_ might make a search for him and perhaps discover him before it was too late, but it was far more likely that, assuming he had been drowned, Trent would proceed southwards. Still, although he felt almost hopeless, the Lieutenant clung with grim tenacity to the iron standard, but for which he would have been washed off the slippery platform in a few moments, while across the wild waste of black waters came the dismal knell of the bell-buoy. The sound did not cheer him--in fact, it struck him as being unpleasantly prophetic. "I wish," he murmured, "I could silence that damned thing." Then he had an inspiration. If he could manage to swim to the bell-buoy and muffle the clapper some of the patrol boats in the neighbourhood would be bound to notice its silence and proceed to investigate the cause. The sound of the bell was of such importance to navigation in these waters that it would be missed almost immediately. "Blowed if I don't try it," thought Lawless. The chances of rescue by such a device might not be very brilliant, but it seemed the only thing left for him to do unless he were content to remain passively on the cage-buoy till he had to release his hold through sheer exhaustion.