THE DREAM SHIP 



15 



I communicated this information to 

 the pilot, and then and there the man's 

 more human side came to the surface. 

 It was raining as it knows how to rain 

 on the Isthmus, and he was soaked to 

 the hide ; his natty uniform resembled 

 nothing more closely than a dish rag; 

 yet he smiled and proceeded to remove 

 his jacket. 



"Guess we'd better sail," he said. 



Behold once more the Dream Ship 

 sailing through the Panama Canal — alter- 

 nately scudding before rain squalls, lying 

 becalmed, and making tacks of fifty 

 yards and less — a passage surely unique 

 in the annals of "the zone." 



The pilot said he enjoyed it. and by 

 the way he swigged on halyards and gave 

 us an old-time chanty to work by. I am 

 inclined to believe him. ,We were lucky 

 in our pilot. 



Toward evening, and during a stark 

 calm, Steve dived overboard and made 

 us fast to a light-buoy, his jaw dropping 

 perhaps half an inch and a thoughtful 

 expression coming into his eyes when a 

 little later a log on the muddy shore was 

 suddenly imbued with life and slipped 

 into the water with a whisk of a horny 

 tail. 



So it was that we had afternoon tea in 

 comfort, some alleged music on piano 

 and clarinet, and a pleasant chat with 

 the pilot concerning the older and better 

 days of the wind-jammer, while an un- 

 gainly pelican swooped and dived and 

 somewhere ten-thousand-ton steamers 

 were being hustled through the Panama 

 Canal. 



taken IX TOW 



We had no wireless ; that was why it 

 was impossible to summon a tug to take 

 us on our way. Finally a monster 

 >teamer passed so close that it was possi- 

 ble to hail her, and a few hours later we 

 were taken in tow by an apparition of 

 noiseless engines, shining varnish, and 

 gleaming brass. 



It would cost us $6 an hour, the pilot 

 told us. and I sat back to hgure out just 

 how long S78 would last under such an 

 onslaught. 



The result was alarming. We held a 

 committee meeting about it in the bows 

 and decided that there was nothing for 

 it but to go on. and keep going on until 



we stopped. We had hoped to reach 

 lands where money was of secondary im- 

 portance, but Ave were not there yet ; that 

 was evident. 



So we continued to race through the 

 canal at the rate of $6 an hour until we 

 reached the approaches to Pedro Miguel 

 lock, where the apparition tied us up 

 and steamed off, still at $6 an hour. 



Something happened to us that night 

 at Pedro Miguel. Looking back on it 

 all, I can hardly persuade myself that it 

 is not a dream. We met some canal 

 officials — tall, sun-burned youths, with 

 the mark of efficiency upon them, yet 

 with a merry twinkle in the eye. We 

 asked them aboard, and they came and 

 marveled at what they saw. Their ver- 

 dict was, as far as I can remember: 

 "Some novelty !" 



ENTERTAINMENT ON THE ISTHMUS 



Then they asked us ashore, and it was 

 our turn to marvel. One of our hosts 

 was the chief operator of a lock, and we 

 saw the miracle of the Isthmus of 

 Panama from behind. 



Futility overwhelms me at thought of 

 trying to describe what we saw that night, 

 over the lock, under the lock, at the 

 sides of the lock ; besides, you will find 

 it all reduced to cold figures in technical 

 journals if you are that way inclined. 



It was the spirit of the thing that took 

 hold of me — a pigmy man sitting at a 

 lever! What was not possible after this? 



We returned to the ship almost stupe- 

 fied. One feels much the same if he at- 

 tempts to think in Westminster Abbey. 

 We were in the process of turning in 

 when a cheerful head appeared through 

 the skylight. 



"We await your pleasure," quoth a 

 voice. 



I explained that the owner of the head 

 was no doubt unconsciously violating, but 

 still violating, the sanctity oi my sister's 

 bedroom. It made no difference. 



T protested that at that moment my 

 sister's costume consisted of a pair of ill- 

 fitting pajamas and a kimona, and that 

 Steve and I had nothing to our backs hut 

 what we had worn all day — an under- 

 shirt and a pair of football shorts; that 

 we were all tired to death and literally 

 ached for our pillows ; that his kindness 



