"Seven miles of canal to be carried out into the sea, at a minimum
depth of twenty-three feet, and the stone to be fetched from Heaven
knows where! All the money in France wouldn't do it." This was
addressed by Mr. Damer to M. Delabordeau, whom he had caught after the
abrupt flight of Mr. Ingram.

"Den we will borrow a leetle from England," said M. Delabordeau.

"Precious little, I can tell you. Such stock would not hold its price
in our markets for twenty-four hours. If it were made, the freights
would be too heavy to allow of merchandise passing through. The heavy
goods would all go round; and as for passengers and mails, you don't
expect to get them, I suppose, while there is a railroad ready made to
their hand?"

"Ye vill carry all your ships through vidout any transportation. Think
of that, my friend."

"Pshaw! You are worse than Ingram. Of all the plans I ever heard of
it is the most monstrous, the most impracticable, the most--" But here
he was interrupted by the entreaties of his wife, who had, in absolute
deed and fact, slipped from her donkey, and was now calling lustily for
her husband's aid. Whereupon Miss Dawkins allied herself to the
Frenchman, and listened with an air of strong conviction to those
arguments which were so weak in the ears of Mr. Damer. M. Delabordeau
was about to ride across the Great Desert to Jerusalem, and it might
perhaps be quite as well to do that with him, as to go up the Nile as
far as the second cataract with the Damers.