“Has your guardian acquainted you with the details of your engagement?”
“He hasn’t told me exactly what I will have to do.”
“You will learn in good time,” said the professor, with a wave of his hand.
“Whatever the duties are I will try to give you satisfaction.”
“All right!”
“You can look about the vessel, Bernard,” said Mr. McCracken, “while the professor and I have a little conversation.”
“All right, sir. I shall be glad to do so.”
So Bernard walked about the ship and watched with interest the preparations for departure. It was all new to him, and he could not help feeling elated when he reflected that he was about to see something of foreign countries, while at the same time earning his living.
He was obliged to confess that Professor Puffer did not come up to his expectations. In fact, he looked like anything but a literary man or professor. Bernard had imagined a tall, slender man, with a high intellectual brow, a pale face, an air of refinement and cultivation, and a quiet manner. Professor Puffer was quite the reverse. He looked more like a sailor, and his red face seemed to indicate that he was not a member of a total abstinence society.
“I never in the world should think that he was a professor,” reflected Bernard. “However, appearances are not always to be trusted, and he may be very intellectual, though he certainly does not look so. I do hope we shall get along well together.”