"Oh, no," said Mr. Winter; "do you see that small boat rowing towards us?"
"Yes, papa. Will he drop into that? He never can; he will surely fall into the water."
Mr. Winter smiled and told her to go and watch from the rail, which she did, and soon saw the pilot go down the side of the steamer by a rope and drop into the little row-boat, where two men were waiting to row him to the pretty pilot-boat No. 4, which was quite a distance away.
The steamer started immediately, and in five minutes the row-boat was only a speck on the water.
"There is another hotel, papa. What is it?" said Alice.
"That is the Long Beach Hotel, and you will not see another until you reach Liverpool," said her papa.
CHAPTER III.
LIFE ON A STEAMER.
"Come, Alice," said Mrs. Winter, "we will go down to our state-room and unpack our trunks while we are in smooth water, for to-morrow morning it may be so rough we cannot get out of our berths at all."
Alice went with her mamma and helped put everything in order, but there were so few hooks and no bureau she did not know at first where to put anything.
Mrs. Winter decided to sleep in the lower berth and have Alice on the sofa, which gave them the top berth for a bureau, and they found themselves very comfortable.