Page:H. D. Traill - From Cairo to the Soudan Frontier.djvu/42

24 which not even the experienced and obliging commander of the P. and O. steamship Sumatra can give us any precise information as to when we shall find ourselves at the goal of our voyage. It will not be before the small hours of the morning, of that we may assure ourselves; but exactly how small they will be he cannot say. A new day will have come to the birth before we arrive, so much is certain; but the age which the new-born babe will have attained on our arrival cannot be precisely fixed. It may be a miserable, purblind, chilly infant of two or three, or a stouter, healthier brat of five, or, best of all, a rosy, sun-warmed child of eight. All depends on our luck, and our orders from the stations on the bank.

"Do you see that coloured light?" said the captain, pointing to a signal some way ahead of us. "That means that ships from the North are to hold on their course, and ships from the South to 'tie up.' We shall