A great deal had been said by the ladies from Von Blonk Park in relation to this proposed excursion; but for some reason of his own the commander had not yet given a definite answer. They all attended the same church at home, and the captain and the two ladies were members of it. While the others of the party were deeply interested in the Biblical history, they were not so enthusiastic as the two ladies mentioned.
"Are we going to Mount Sinai?" replied the commander, repeating the question of the owner's mother, "No!"
It was a decided "no" this time, and the jaws of the two Von Blonk Parkites suddenly dropped. Everybody in the company knew that the commander would do anything, even to swimming across the gulf where the children of Israel had walked over, to oblige her, and they were very much surprised at the emphatic negative.
"I shall not finally decide this interesting question without giving my reasons," continued Captain Ringgold. "It would be an extremely interesting excursion to me, as well as to the others. Though I have been to Suez before, I have not made the trip, and I should be as glad to go as any person present. Many travellers go there, especially clergymen, to whom it is in a sense professional, aside from the interest their studies would naturally create in the subject, and the excursion finds a place in many excellent books of travel. I do not consult my own personal desires so much as the situation and circumstances in which we are placed.
"Although we call our voyage an All-Over-the-World affair, the title is considerably exaggerated in the truest and most literal sense; for if we devoted the rest of our natural lives to the work, we could not go everywhere. It is impossible to visit every country on the earth even, and we must use judgment and discretion in determining where we will go. We are travelling by sea, making only such excursions inland as the facilities of the country we visit will conveniently permit. Such trips as we make of this kind must be regulated or controlled by conditions over which we have no influence.
"Times and seasons form an important consideration. We are going to India, and the season is advancing. The southern end of the Red Sea is in latitude 12° north, where you are likely to see some hot weather; and the longer we delay, the hotter it will be. We shall sail from here Tuesday morning; and if we do not make a run up into the Persian Gulf, we shall probably be at Bombay by the first of next month. That city is in latitude 19°, or about that of the south side of Cuba, of which you know something. We shall see plenty of extremely hot weather, but we wish to avoid it as much as possible.
"There are several routes to Mount Sinai, three from Suez, and two from ports south of it. It will take from two weeks by the shortest route to four by the others. It is a very fatiguing journey if made with due diligence, and it would require a full month for us to see the country properly. My first objection is the time it would require.
"In the next place, the expense is from forty to fifty francs a day, eight to ten dollars, for each person, over a hundred dollars a day. If the result justified it, I should not object to the expense, and I don't think Uncle Moses would. There are no hotels in this region, and you would have to camp out, live in hovels, or at best in the monastery; and the trip would involve a great deal of discomfort to persons not accustomed to roughing it. The 'Big Four' might make a pleasant affair of it, but most of the others would not.
"All the preparations for the excursion have to be made at Cairo, where dragomans who contract to supply tents, camels, food, and everything required are to be found, and I was approached by three of them at Shepheard's Hotel."
"Then the trip seems to be impossible now, and it is useless to talk about it," suggested Mr. Woolridge; and the captain thought he could perceive an expression of relief on his face.