Asiatic Breezes Part 24

"Heave it up," replied the captain, and went to the pilot-house.

The "Big Four" had gone on board of the Maud, and she got under way at the same time. The pilot was on board of the ship, and none was taken for the little steamer, which was regarded as the tender. Captain Scott had his plan of the harbor before him, and he could have taken his craft into the basin without any a.s.sistance; but he was required to follow the ship.

Port Said owes its existence to the ca.n.a.l, and without that it would amount to nothing. It is located on the eastern end of an island which is a part of the narrow neck of land which divides Lake Menzaleh from the Mediterranean. It was thought when it was laid out that it would become a considerable city; but it has not yet realized this expectation, though it has now a population of over seventeen thousand.

Six thousand of this number are Europeans, the French predominating. The making of the harbor, or "Grand Basin Ismail" as it is called, was another difficult task for the ca.n.a.l company; for it has an area of 570 acres, which had to be excavated to the depth of twenty-six feet by dredging.

The Guardian-Mother, followed by the Maud, pa.s.sed through the channel, which is marked by red and green lights, to the basin, where the former was moored at one of the walls. The town could not be seen by the tourists till the ship entered the basin, and then it was found to be a place of no small importance. It contains two good hotels, where one may board at one for three dollars a day, and at the other for two and a half.

It was necessary for the steamers to coal at this point, and the party went on sh.o.r.e. From the deck they could see up the princ.i.p.al street. The French post-office, for there is also an Egyptian, was close to the wharf; and they hastened to that, for most of them had written letters to their friends at home. It was still Egypt, and the place was true to its national character; for the travellers were immediately beset by a horde of beggars, and bakshish was still a popular clamor. The shops were like those of other regions, though they did not seem to be doing a very thriving trade; for the entire surrounding country was either a desert or a mora.s.s, and there were few to go shopping.

There was really nothing to be seen there, and the pa.s.sengers soon returned to the ship, impatient to proceed on the pa.s.sage through the ca.n.a.l; but the night was coming on, and the commander decided to make an early start the next morning, for he wished his charge to see the country as they pa.s.sed through it, and especially the steamers on their way to India and China. After dinner the company gathered in the music-room; but it was observed that the commander and Dr. Hawkes were absent. They had remained in the cabin, and were in conversation.

"What is the present condition of your patient, Doctor?" asked the captain as soon as they were alone.

"He is doing very well, and is in a fair way to recover in a short time," replied the surgeon.

"After we get through the Red Sea, we strike out on a voyage of ten days or more, and I am not anxious to retain this villain on board,"

continued the captain. "I owe him nothing, though I shall treat him with common humanity. In a word, I wish to get rid of him as soon as possible."

"There is nothing in his present condition to prevent you from putting him on sh.o.r.e at any time,--to-night, if you are so disposed," replied Dr. Hawkes in decided terms.

"You would oblige me very much, Doctor, by broaching this subject to him. I suppose he has money, though I know nothing about it, and he can pay his way at one of the hotels here," suggested the captain.

"We had the United States Consul with us at dinner, as you are aware, and he can inform you whether or not there is a hospital here. I will see Mazagan at once, and do as you desire. I will see you in your cabin in half an hour," said the surgeon, as he went forward to the hospital.

Captain Ringgold went to the music-room, where the consul was enjoying himself in listening to Miss Blanche, who was giving him some account of the voyage; and she had just mentioned "The Battle of Khrysoko," of which the consul wished to know more. The captain called him aside, and proceeded to question him in regard to the care of the patient in the town.

"I have a wounded man on board, and I wish to get rid of him," he began.

"Wounded in the battle of which Miss Woolridge was telling me?" asked the official.

"Precisely so; but he is not of my party, and is the biggest scoundrel that ever went unhung;" and the commander gave a brief account of his relations to Mazagan. "Is there a hospital in Port Said?"

"None, except for _fellahs_ and other laborers. If he is a respectable man, perhaps I can find accommodations for him at the Hotel de France,"

answered the consul. "I will go and see the landlord at once, and report to you in half an hour."

"Come to my cabin on the upper deck."

In less than the time he had stated he came back, and reported that the hotel would take him at sixty francs a week. While he was in the cabin the doctor presented himself.

"Does this patient require a nurse?" asked the consul.

"He does not. In the last two days he has greatly improved," replied the doctor, "though we keep a man near him to prevent him from doing any mischief."

It was settled that the patient should be sent on sh.o.r.e that night to the hotel, and the consul returned to the music-room.

"Mazagan protests against being sent ash.o.r.e here; and I have no doubt he would do the same at Ismalia or Suez," said Dr. Hawkes. "He insists upon seeing you, and declares that he has important business with you.

If you do not seriously object, perhaps that would be the easiest way to quiet him."

"Can he walk?" asked the commander.

"As well as you can, Captain. He has a lame shoulder; but he can help himself with his left hand, and I have put his right arm in a sling, to prevent him from using it," answered Dr. Hawkes.

Captain Ringgold struck his bell, and sent for Knott to conduct the patient to his cabin. In a few minutes Mazagan was seated in the chair he had occupied once before as a prisoner.

"You wish to see me?" the commander began rather curtly.

"I do, Captain Ringgold. You talk of sending me ash.o.r.e at this place. I protest against it," said the prisoner; for such he was really.

"Do you intend to remain on board of my ship for an indefinite period?"

"Until you settle my account with you," answered the pirate, as self-possessed as though he had been the victor dealing with the vanquished.

"Don't say anything more to me about your account!" added the commander, fiercely for him. "Your protest is of no consequence to me, and I shall put you ash.o.r.e to-night!"

"You don't know what you are doing, Captain Ringgold," said the wounded man, with a savage scowl on his face. "The Fatime was old and worn out, or your tender could not have crushed in her side. Let me tell you that my n.o.ble master, the Pacha, ordered a new steam-yacht of a thousand tons a year ago; and if you treat me with this inhumanity, he will follow you all over the world till he obtains his revenge."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "KNOTT, TAKE THIS VILLAIN AWAY." Page 201.]

"That is enough of this nonsense!" said the captain, springing from his chair, and calling for Knott, who was at the door.

"If you pay me the two hundred thousand francs, that will be the end of the affair," added the prisoner.

"I will never pay you a centime! Knott, take this villain away, and have him conveyed to the Hotel de France at once!" said the commander.

Knott obeyed the order, taking the pirate by the left arm. Mr. Boulong was instructed to carry out the order given. In five minutes more the Moor was marched up the quay between two seamen, and handed over to the landlord. At daylight the next morning the Guardian-Mother and the Maud sailed on their way through the ca.n.a.l; and nothing more was seen of Captain Mazagan.

CHAPTER XXI

THE CONFERENCE ON THE SUEZ Ca.n.a.l

The Grand Basin Ismail, at Port Said, is only an extension in breadth of the ca.n.a.l, and the Guardian-Mother had only to proceed on her course by the narrow water-way through the desert. The Maud followed her closely, having nothing to fear on account of the depth of the water; and even the ship had plenty under her keel. But it is said that, by what appears to be a curious reversal of the ordinary rule, the very large steamers are in less danger of running aground than those of smaller dimensions.

When the commander stated this ca.n.a.l axiom to the pa.s.sengers a.s.sembled before the starting on the promenade, Uncle Moses objected strenuously to its truth, and Dr. Hawkes warmly supported him. The statement did not look reasonable to them.

"Is it claimed that a vessel drawing twenty-five feet of water is in less peril than one needing only eighteen feet of water to float her?"

asked the lawyer.

"The facts seem to prove this; but you will say that it is so much the worse for the facts," replied the captain, laughing at the earnestness of the non-nautical gentlemen; and even the ladies understood the matter well enough to be interested in the dispute.

"The affirmative side of the question must prove its position,"

suggested the doctor.

"Which the affirmative will be very happy to do," replied the commander very cheerfully. "If the bottom of the ca.n.a.l were a dead level, paved like Broadway, and the depth of the ca.n.a.l were just twenty-six feet in every place, with a perpendicular wall on each side, your theory would be entirely correct, and the affirmative would have nothing more to say.