He was disposed to decide against them, if he could get them out of the way by doing so.

They were willing to leave the matter to him, and he began at last to see his way through it.
"The captain of a ship is the authority to be respected, Lonley," said he, when he had made up his mind what to do.
"We might as well bury ourselves in the sands as try to go through there," replied the leader of the mutiny, who seemed to be a very intelligent man, and Christy concluded from his language and manner that he was not a common sailor.
"That may be; but the captain is supreme on the deck of his own ship," argued Christy.
"We are not on the high seas, and the Teaser has not yet gone into commission.

It was only this afternoon in Pensacola that Captain Folkner told his ship's company that he was going to burrow through the sand in Santa Rosa Sound.

We all said we would not go with him; but a dozen of us came down with him when he told us that he had a way to float the steamer through, and he was sure it would work.

We did not understand that we were to become mud-diggers.