on the
promenade, which had come to be about as well defined as their seats at
the table. The air was soft and agreeable; and after their refreshing
sleep the tourists were in excellent condition to enjoy the continued
passage through the canal, of which, however, there were only about
forty-one miles left, and the commander expected to be at Suez by noon.

Captain Ringgold had not said anything to any person except Scott about
the mysterious stranger with a veil over his face; but the ship and her
consort had been well guarded over night, and a search for stowaways was
made when the morning watch came on duty. Not even an Arab tramp could
be found, and the commander was confident the tall Mussulman had not
again found a hiding-place on board of either vessel.

"We shall soon have a change of scene," said Captain Ringgold, as he
joined the party on the promenade. "We are still in the desert, though
the fresh-water canal makes a streak of green along its banks, for it
extends to Suez, and even across the bay to the entrance of the canal."

"The prospect is not very exciting just now," added Mr. Woolridge, as
the screw began to turn, and the ship moved away from her moorings.

"We shall come to the larger of the Bitter Lakes in less than an hour,"
replied the captain. "There is nothing very exciting about them; but
Brugsch identifies these lakes with the Marah of the Bible, though
others do not agree with him. In Exodus xv. 23 we read," and the speaker
took a paper from his pocket: "'And when they came to Marah, they could
not drink of the waters ... for they were bitter: therefore the name of
it was called Marah.' But the bitter spring which Moses sweetened by
casting into it a tree is in the peninsula of Sinai."

"Shall we go there?" asked Mrs. Blossom, beginning to be excited, as she
always was when scriptural subjects came up in connection with the
journey; and she had studied the Bible more than any other book, and
probably more than all others combined.

"At the proper time I shall have something to say about Mount Sinai, and
I hope to place you in a position to see it in the distance; but at
present we are not prepared to consider the matter. You can now see
through the cutting an expanse of water, which is the great basin, as
the larger lake is called.

"As stated before, the Red Sea formerly extended to Lake Timsah, over
forty miles farther than now, and the lakes before us were then a part
of the sea. The