Read "The Hartley Brothers" by Charlotte Maria Tucker online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
ALEXANDRIA was soon reached. In those days there was no Suez Canal, so the passengers had to disembark, and bid farewell to the "Alligator" and its commander, ere pursuing their journey across the desert, to the port where another vessel awaited them.
Captain Gump stood on the deck of his ship, whilst heaps of luggage were disgorged from the hold, and piled up ready to be carried on shore. It was a scene of confusion and bustle, intermingled with good-byes and kindly words, interchanged between those who would now be separated, some passengers remaining in Egypt, some going on to India. The captain, of course, came in for his share of good-byes, which he received and returned in his own blunt way. But when Mrs. Evendale approached him, the captain walked a few steps aside from the throng, and said to the lady in a low tone, "I spoke of returning that book, but-if you don't mind-I'd rather keep it."