With some difficulty, for Liverpool is not a rectangular town, I found the counting room of the consul, into which I boldly entered, confidently anticipating not only relief but sympathy for my misfortune. My appearance was not prepossessing, as my garments, although of the true nautical cut, were neither new nor genteel; and although I was in perfect health, my complexion was sallow from long confinement. But these drawbacks on my respectability, I thought, under the circumstances, might be excused. I found myself in a comfortable apartment in which two or three young men were writing at desks, one of whom, a dapper little fellow, dressed with as much precision and neatness as if he had just escaped from a bandbox, came towards me with a stern, forbidding look, and asked me what I wanted. "I want to see the American consul." "The consul is not in." "When do you expect him?" I inquired, in a tone of disappointment. "'Tis uncertain. He may not be here today." "I am sorry, as I have some important business with him." "What is your important business?" demanded the clerk, in an authoritative manner. "Perhaps I can attend to it." "I am the young American sailor, who met with an accident on board the ship Packet, and was sent to the Infirmary. I have recently been discharged, and am in want of some articles of clothing, and particularly a pair of shoes. I also want to know if the consul has taken steps towards procuring me a passage to Boston" "Very IMPORTANT business, truly!" replied the Englishman, with a sneer. "How does it happen that you are so poorly off for clothing?" I explained the circumstances connected with the robbery of my chest by my shipmates. "A likely story!" he exclaimed. "As to giving you a pair of shoes, my fine fellow, that is out of the question. When any step is taken towards sending you to the United States, you, or the man you board with, will hear of it." Saying this, the worthy representative of our government, after pointing significantly to the door, turned away and resumed his occupation at the desk. Disappointed and shocked at such a reception, I ventured to inquire if I should be able to see the consul on the following day. "No," replied the clerk, abruptly, without raising his eyes from the desk; "neither tomorrow nor the day after." I left the counting room, hobbled down the steps, and returned to my temporary home, feeling like "the Ancient Mariner," "a sadder and a wiser man!" Chapter XVI. UNITED STATES CONSULS