[3] The scene shifts to Gibraltar, where Sutton has been granted the right to enjoy a short vacation, courtesy of the British armed forces, as a reward for his bravery.

One of the first things that the garrison shows to Sutton are some of the Gibraltar apes, feral primates that have become the totemic animals of the armed forces base.

The deaths of the monkeys are meant to serve as a feint to distract the Royal Navy from the imminent reality that the capital ships stationed at the base will be damaged or sunk by limpet mines that will be attached by skilled frogmen.

Conversations with obtuse adults retard the pace here and there, but the children are soon off again, clattering down hair-raising gradients, acting as decoy, drifting across the bay in a lifeboat.

The puny crook, with his local confederate, may seem inadequate to his ambitious devilry, while the virtuous adults – Officers of the Fleet – are stiff, indistinguishable bores; but such minor flaws are heavily outweighed by the general high standard of the direction and the vivacity and intelligent performances of the children.