t no sooner had they
started than Fred's animal, in spite of its rider's efforts to restrain
it, bolted after them, and, overtaking them, ran a dead heat with 'Lord
Roberts.' 'Krueger' was last.

When, after a little further exploration of the town, they went back to
the _Twilight_, they were thoroughly delighted to find that she had
finished coaling, and that nearly all traces of that unpleasant job had
been removed.

They went down to dinner at once, and when they came on deck again they
were in the Suez Canal. Fred and Charlie found plenty to interest them
in the Canal. They saw several thin brown pariah dogs wandering about
the desert in search of food, and once a dead camel came floating by
them. Towards evening the _Twilight_ had to anchor for a time, and the
three passengers, with the captain's permission, went ashore and
gathered flowers and shells to send home.

In the Red Sea there was still more to see. All day long the
seagulls--brown with white breasts--hovered around the _Twilight_. Many
other birds came and rested on the ship for hours, and, as the weather
was intensely hot, Charlie, Fred, and Ping Wang found it very
entertaining to sit quietly in their long chairs and watch their pretty
little feathered visitors.

CHAPTER XI.

Three days after leaving Suez they saw, for the first time, the Southern
Cross, and, on the following morning, they steamed into what, at first
sight, Fred and Charlie thought was land, but was simply a wide streak
of floating sand which had been blown out to sea during a sand-storm.

At night they were now permitted to sleep on deck--a boon which all
three appreciated highly. They took their blankets and pillows on to the
poop, and slept with greater comfort than they had experienced for many
days, though one night they were caught in a heavy thunder-shower.

One morning, when they went on deck, they found it literally strewn with
flying fish. The ship's rats had evidently had a good feed, for many of
the fish were gnawed and bitten.

'Would you like some flying fish for breakfast, gentlemen?' the cook
said to the three passengers as they stood looking at the stranded fish.

'Are they good?' Charlie inquired, suspiciously.

'First class,' the cook declared; so Charlie, Fred, and Ping Wang had
flying fish for breakfast.

'I can't say that I consider them "first class,"' Fred said when he had
eaten two of them, 'but I am glad that I shall be able to say that I
ha