five o'clock before
Tired young mothers stood about everywhere , with children ranging from a few months to three or four years , all weary by this time , and most of them cross . Harassed young husbands , unused to travelling with children -- unused , indeed , to anything but War -- went hither and thither trying to hasten the business of getting on board -- coming back , after each useless journey , to try and soothe a screaming baby or restrain a tiny boy anxious to look over the edge of the pier . It was only a few minutes before Cecilia had found a mother exhausted enough to yield up her baby without much protest ; and Jim and Wally Meadows and Bob `` adopted '' some of the older children , and took them off to see the band ; which diversions helped to pass the time . But it was after five o'clock before a stir went round the pier , and a rush of officers towards a little wooden room at the foot of the gangway told that the long-waited-for official had arrived . `` Well , we wo n't hurry , '' said Mr. Linton . `` Let the married men get on first . '' There were not many who did not hurry .