Drake shook his head decidedly, and she appealed to Captain Armstrong.
“Don’t you think it would be better to go?”
“It is not a matter of opinion. Before we came here we laid down a line of action which we shall faithfully carry out. It might be worse, for we are not responsible for any loss of life, save on our own side.”
“Poor Captain Drake,” she said sadly, and tears came to her eyes.
There was a cry from the bridge.
“The first flies the White Ensign.”
“I am glad it is our own people, and no beastly foreigners,” the captain said grimly.
CHAPTER XLII
The flag-ship of the admiral of the Atlantic cruiser squadron was the Invincible and she led as the fleet swept towards the mouth of the river.
Admiral Stretton was on the quarter-deck, and there was a grim smile on his face as he looked at the disabled steamers.