The unanimous opinion of a council of the officers hastily summoned together by the Captain was to go to work and fish up the Projectile with the least possible delay.

But was such an operation possible?
asked a doubter.

Yes! was the overwhelming reply; difficult, no doubt, but still quite possible.

Certainly, however, such an attempt was not immediately possible as the _Susquehanna_ had no machinery strong enough or suitable enough for a piece of work involving such a nicety of detailed operations, not to speak of its exceeding difficulty.

The next unanimous decision, therefore, was to start the vessel at once for the nearest port, whence they could instantly telegraph the Projectile's arrival to the Baltimore Gun Club.
But what _was_ the nearest port?
A serious question, to answer which in a satisfactory manner the Captain had to carefully examine his sailing charts.