I've heard a tale of some church members that wanted to build a bridge over a dangerous river.

Brother Jones suggested one Myers, and Myers answered that, if necessary, he could build one to hell.

This alarmed the church members, and Jones, to quiet them, said he believed his friend Myers was so good an architect that he could do it if he said he could, though he felt bound himself to express some doubt about the abutment on the infernal side." A queer quizzical smile had relieved the gravity of the President's face.

But Seward was in no mood for tales.
"Is there no other way ?" he moaned, and his suave voice sounded cracked and harsh.
"There is no other way but to go forward.

I've never been a man for cutting across lots when I could go round by the road, but if the roads are all shut we must take to open country.