"Will you risk it?" he asked.

"Yes!" they all replied.

"We're coming, Captain," Quest decided.

A rope ladder was let down. The steamer began to slow.

"Can you girls manage it?" Quest asked doubtfully.

Laura smiled.

"I should say so," she replied. "I can go up that with only one arm. You
watch me!"

They cheered her on board the steamer as she hobbled up. The others
followed. The tug, the crew of which had been already well paid, raced
along by the side. The Captain spoke once more to the pilot and came down
from the bridge.

"I'm forced to go full speed ahead to cross the bar," he told Quest. "I'm
sorry, but the tide's just on the turn."

They looked at one another a little blankly.

The Professor, however, beamed upon them all.

"I have always understood," he said, "that Port Said is a most interesting
place."