ndon, for his instruction.
These letters and papers are called the government despatches. They are
not sent with the mails, but are intrusted usually to some one of the
passengers--a gentleman known to the government as faithful and
trustworthy. This passenger is called the bearer of despatches.

Now, the steamers, when they arrive at Liverpool, cannot usually go
directly up to the pier, because the water is not deep enough there,
except at particular states of the tide. They accordingly have to anchor
in the stream, at some distance from the shore. As soon as they anchor,
whether it is by day or by night, a small steamer comes alongside to get
the mails and the despatches; for they must be landed immediately, so as
to proceed directly to London by the first train. The bearer of
despatches, together with his family, or those whom he has directly
under his charge, are, of course, allowed to go on shore in the small
steamer with the despatch bag, but the rest of the passengers have to
wait to have their trunks and baggage examined by the custom-house
officers. If the vessel gets to Liverpool in the night, they have to
wait until the next morning. This was what the captain meant by saying,
that, if the children went on shore with Mr. Chauncy, they would go in
the night; for he then expected to get to his anchoring ground so that
the boat for the mails would come off to the ship at about half past
twelve.

Accordingly, that evening, when bedtime came, Maria and the children did
not go to bed, but they lay down upon the couches and in their berths,
in their dayclothes, awaiting the summons which they expected to receive
when the small steamer should come. In the mean time, the ship went on,
sometimes going very slowly, and sometimes stopping altogether, in order
to avoid a collision with some other vessel which was coming in her way.
The night was foggy and dark, so that her progress, to be safe, was
necessarily slow. At length, Maria and the children, tired of waiting
and watching, all three fell asleep. They were, however, suddenly
aroused from their slumbers about midnight by the chambermaid, who came
into their state room and told them that Mr. Chauncy was ready.

They rose and hurried up on deck. Their trunks had been taken up before
them. When they reached the deck, they found Mr. Chauncy there and the
captain, and with them two or three rather rough-looking men, in shaggy
coats, examining their trunks by the light o