"Unless," said Gell, "we think it wiser to make a bolt up stream."
"They would soon overhaul us," replied Dana. "They are light river boats, and no ironclads can match them in speed."
"True, but if we could keep clear of them for a couple of hours it would get dark, and we might let them pass us in the night."
"But can you undertake that they shall not overtake us in less than two hours? And if they come up higher and line the river where it is narrower our chance of getting through them unobserved will be less."
"Well but if we run through them by daylight we must fight. Now I don't know about your men, but ours are in such an abject state of funk that I don't believe they would have the pluck to fire a shot."
"Gentlemen," said I, "one thing is clear, that we must make up our minds at once. It is a choice of dangers, and on the whole I think the less is to run through the lines. Our ironclads can destroy any number of such flimsy craft. I think we can depend upon the sailors. As for our own folks we will clap
