ging 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 canal; and nothing more was seen of
Captain Mazagan.

CHAPTER XXI

THE CONFERENCE ON THE SUEZ CANAL

The Grand Basin Ismail, at Port Said, is only an extension in breadth of
the canal, 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 canal axiom to the passengers assembled
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 canal were a dead level, paved
like Broadway, and the depth of the canal 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.
But the bottom is not paved, and there are no walls at the sides to
secure a uniform depth."

"Then