Brave Old Salt by Oliver Optic

It was about sunset when the Ben Nevis put about and headed in shore. The first cutter was at least half a mile in advance of the second, and both, of them lying near the track of the blockade-runner. It was useless to pull towards the expected prize; on the contrary, it was better policy to keep still, so as not to attract the attention of her people.

The Ben Nevis, when she changed her course, might have been about five miles distant from the Chatauqua, and the longer the meeting between the steamer and the boats was deferred, the more would the darkness favor the latter. It was thought that the blockade-runner would approach at half speed, so as not to encounter the fleet off the river at too early an hour; but her commander did not appear to regard this delay as necessary, and came down at full speed. It was not dark, therefore, when the first cutter was within hail of her.