"Now, talking as man to man, how much would it hurt you to take us up there?"
The captain's bleak face cracked in a slight smile of despair and hopelessness that left no need for words as an answer.
"Well, what is it?" blurted Higgins. "Can't you tell us what you're afraid of?"
"You look like a pretty stiff man, mister," said the scarred man after appraising Higgins, "but I'll bet if you was in our boots you wouldn't do different'n us."
"Can you beat it?" gasped Higgins. "They don't look like Sunday-school kids either."
Roger, running his eyes over the hard faces, smiled at the comparison.
"How far is it up to this terrible place from here, captain?"
"It's four miles from this point."
"By air line or river?"
"River."