dren along, the
throng before and behind them being so dense that they could not see at
all where they were going. When they reached the top of the stairway,
they descended by a few steps, and so came on board. The children then
found themselves moving along what seemed a narrow passage way, amid
crowds of people, until at length they came to a short and steep flight
of steps, which led up to what seemed to Jane a sort of a roof. The
balustrade, or what served as balustrade for these steps, was made of
rope, and painted green. By help of this rope, and by some lifting on
the part of Mr. George, Rollo and Jane succeeded in getting up, and, at
length, found themselves in a place where they could see.

They were on what was called the promenade deck. There were masts, and a
great smoke-pipe, and a great amount of ropes and rigging rising up
above them, and there were many other curious objects around. The
children had, however, no time to attend to these things, for Mr. George
led them rapidly along to that part of the promenade deck which was
opposite to the long plank, where the people were coming up from the
pier. Mr. George left the children here for a minute or two, while he
went and brought two camp stools for them to sit upon. He placed these
stools near the edge of the deck. There was a railing to keep them from
falling off.

"There, children," said he. "Now you can sit here and see the people
come on board. It is a very funny thing to see. I am going after the
trunk. You must not mind if I don't come back for a long time. The ship
will not sail yet for two hours. You must stay here, however, all the
time. You must not go away from this place on any consideration."

So saying, Mr. George went away. A moment afterward the children saw him
going down the plank to the pier. As soon as he reached the pier he
forced his way through the crowd to the other side of it, where the
carriage was standing. The children watched him all the time. When he
reached the carriage, they saw that he stopped a moment to say a few
words to the driver, and then hastily got into the carriage. The driver
shut the door, mounted upon the box, and then drove out through the
great gate and disappeared.

What Mr. George said to the driver was this.

"Now, driver, we have got just two hours to find that trunk. I pay you
full fare for the carriage for the two hours at any rate, and if we find
the trunk and get it on board that ship before she