"If you will excuse me, Mr. Woolridge, I think it is a very bad habit," added the commander with a deprecatory smile. "A German is not a Dutchman, any more than a Dutchman is a German; and I should as soon think of calling a full-blooded American a Chinaman, as a German a Dutchman."
"Of course you are right, Captain, though I am not alone in the use of the word," replied the magnate.
"But it is more common among uneducated people than with people of even fair education. I do not accept Brugsch's explanation, but cling to the Bible story as I learned it in my childhood. I don't think Brugsch's explanation comes under the head of what is called the 'higher criticism,' or that it places him in the column of those who represent the 'advanced thought' of the present time; for he follows the Scripture record, and does not seek to invalidate it. But we are going to run into the basin, and it is time we were moving," added the commander, as he called the first officer, and ordered the anchor to be weighed.
"Do you have to pay to go through the canal, Captain Ringgold?" asked Mrs. Belgrave, after the commander had given his orders.
"Of course we do," replied the captain; and about all the party gathered around him to hear what he had to say. "As Mr. Woolridge said, the canal is good paying stock to the holders of the shares. It cost a vast sum of money, and it is worked and kept in running order at an immense expense."
"I asked a foolish question, and I might have known better," said the lady.
"Every vessel that goes through to Suez has to pay a round sum for the privilege."
"Do all ships have to pay the same amount?"
"Certainly not; for that would be very unfair. They pay by the ton; and every vessel carries a register, in which her tonnage is given. The Guardian-Mother's is 624 tons. About everything is French in this locality; and the rate charged is ten francs a ton, or a little less than two dollars. I shall have to pay a bill of $1,248 in our money."
"That looks like an enormous price," suggested Mrs. Woolridge.