If this scheme could not be carried out, he intended to blow her up with a torpedo as she lay at the dock.
The launch crept along the river bank as silently as an Indian canoe stealing into a hostile camp.

The distance to be passed was fully eight miles, and the peril began almost from the moment of starting.

The necessary commands were spoken in whispers, and the waiting men scarcely moved as they peered into the deep gloom and listened to the almost inaudible rippling of the water from the bow.

Speed was reduced as they drew near Plymouth, in order to lessen the soft clanking of the engine or the motion of the screw.
They were still a mile below Plymouth when the shadowy outlines of the wrecked _Southfield_ loomed dimly to view.

The Confederates had raised her so that her hurricane deck was above the surface.