d the tip of one pink ear fondly. "I
suppose there is no use trying to make any of you serious at such a
time," he said, with the resigned air of one giving up all hope; "but
there is one little phrase that it will be well for you to remember, and
that is, 'Safety first.'"

And with that fatherly admonition he left them, bidding them wait where
they were until he could rejoin them. In a few minutes he returned,
bringing his wife and Phil, declaring that nothing now remained to be
done but walk off the ship when the time came.

The great "Mauretania" was very near her destination now, and was nosing
her way carefully through the traffic, convoyed by two snorting and
puffing tugs. The raucous shouts and cries of sailors and watermen came
to their ears, with now and then a snatch of song from the decks of some
tall, four-masted freighter. There were shouts of "aye, aye, sir" and
"ship, ahoy," mingled with the rasping of cables and the clatter of cargo
cranes--and behind all this noise and confusion lay the quaint, historic
streets of Liverpool, and later, London, filled with the glory of ancient
times.

The girls' eyes were large and dark with wonder and excitement as they
lowered their glasses and looked at each other.

"Yes, you are awake," said Mrs. Payton, with a laugh, interpreting the
look.

"Jessie looks as though she had just seen a ghost," said Phil.

A few minutes later the great liner was warped securely alongside the
great landing stage, while the whistle shrieked a noisy greeting.
Passengers hurried from one group to another, shaking hands in a final
farewell with shipboard acquaintances whom they had come to know so well
in so short a time. Porters hurried past, laden with luggage, and groups
of eager passengers formed about the entrance to the gangways.

"I feel as though my hand had been shaken off," said Evelyn, regarding
that very necessary appendage ruefully.

"Oh, there's Mrs. Applegate and Puss," said Lucile, and darted off
through the crowd so suddenly that the girls could only follow her with
their eyes.

"Lucile," cried Mrs. Payton, and then, as her voice would not carry above
all the noise, "Go after her, Phil," she said. "If she gets separated
from us now, we will have a hard time finding her."

Phil hurried off and was soon lost to sight in the swaying crowd.

"Oh, what did she do that for?" wailed Jessie. "If Lucy goes and gets
lost now in all this crowd----"

"Don't worry; Phil w