"Yes, to-day; and I'll be ready as soon as I can go to Appletop and back."
"You have plenty of time for that, or if not, we will wait for you. Now be off and get some dry clothing. We will furnish your uniform, and glad of the chance."
"Thank you, sir; I'll be back in half an hour," I answered, taking Constance's hand.
"Good by, little lady, and don't worry. I will take good care of him, and send him back to you as full of wisdom as a turtle," the captain called as we hurried away.
CHAPTER XLIII
ON BOARD THE WAR EAGLE
Accompanying Constance to her home, I returned with all haste, to find the War Eagle ready to cast off; and the captain seeing me come aboard, gave the word, whereupon the boat backed into the stream. No sooner had I set foot on deck, however, than the roustabouts and emigrants flocked about me as if I were a lord, determined to make a great deal out of what I had done. This is always the way, though, and grows out of the natural amiability of men and the desire they have to be agreeable. Among the foremost to welcome me were the child's father and mother, the latter holding the little thing high above her head. Upon perceiving me, it reached out its hands, and seeing this I took it in my arms, but more to please its father and mother than anything else. For, like most men, I have never had any great fancy for strange children. The father and mother I could hardly shake off, and throughout their lives, all too short, they loved me and never tired of going out of their way to do me some office of kindness. Telling them, and truly enough, that if I had not done what I did, others would, I finally got off, and so made my way to the captain on the upper deck. He received me kindly, and upon my answering that I was ready to go to work, sent for Mr. Devlin, the third steward, and put me in his charge. This gentleman, when stripped of all superfluity of title, I found to be the head waiter, and nothing more. Taking me to his room, he offered me the half of it, which kindness I gladly accepted. Here I was fitted out with my uniform of light shoes, duck trousers, and jacket to match, a military cap completing the outfit. Thus arrayed I looked far more like a dapper young cadet, I thought, than the country-bred lad I was.
As the day was partly spent, Mr. Devlin told me I need not go on duty till the next morning, and in the mean time might look about and acquaint myself with the boat and the duties I was to perform. Thanking him, I first of all sought out those who were to be my companions, and these I found to be agreeable young fellows, mostly the sons of farmers and small traders living about the river towns. They one and all received me kindly, as did the lower officers, so that I was at once put at my ease among them. After that I made a tour of the War Eagle, and a fine vessel she was, with side-wheels, and a sharp prow that stuck out like the nose of a fox, and in a way that seemed to invite other boats to follow. A band of gold encircled her side, and at the summit of her flagstaff an eagle perched as if about to fly. Another like it, but of burnished gold, hung suspended between the smokestacks, and this with outstretched wings and eager neck, as if all its strength were put forth to keep up with the noble vessel.
Going through the boat, and critically, as one having some knowledge of these things, I found it far beyond what I had thought, and such as to fulfill in everyway the captain's pride of ownership. The management and practices on board, too, were also in keeping and orderly, as I soon came to know. For the captain was a fine business man, and neither drank nor gambled, nor encouraged such things in others. This, every one agreed, was greatly to his honor, considering that the receipts of the tap-room were wholly dependent upon such lines of custom, and by his giving way ever so little its earnings might have been greatly increased. Being a firm man, however, he was never led astray by prospect of gain once he had made up his mind in regard to a thing of this nature. He was also strenuous in respect to matters of conduct in others. Thus, he would have it that all gaming should cease promptly at break of day, and this so that the business of the boat and the comfort of other passengers might not be interfered with unduly. If there were exceptions to the rule, they were infrequent and such as could not properly be criticised, being called forth by the prominence of the guests, or for some other equally good reason. Another thing he did that was commendable was this: Whenever guests became incompetent from drink, and so as to scandalize the management or create disorder, he would insist that they should abstain from further indulgence for the time being, and if still incompetent, should go to their rooms. I could recite a hundred instances like these, if necessary, to prove his fine sense and firm determination not to let matters drift as the captains of some vessels were in the habit of doing, to the great scandal of the river and its business.
After I had finished the round of the boat, I went to join Mr. Devlin, and this young gentleman I found stretched in his bunk, reading Kent's Commentaries, or something like that. For it was his ambition, it appeared, to become a lawyer, and his present duties were only a means thereto. Notwithstanding this, he easily surpassed every one about him in the business we had in hand. For once a guest had been served, and opportunity afforded Mr. Devlin to get a look at him, he knew from that time on better than the man himself what dishes pleased him best. A passenger had but to move his lips or raise his eyes, and he was off like a shot to procure what was wanted. If we did not happen to have the thing asked for, which was sometimes the case, though not often, he was never abrupt or rude in making it known, as less skillful persons would have been, but tactful, so that in the end the passenger felt that nothing in the world could have been more inopportune than his request. Thus he kept every one in good humor and taught his subordinates, by example and otherwise, the science of doing obscure things well. Often, too, it fell out that some of us small fry would get into trouble with a guest, whereupon Mr. Devlin would be called, and always to the extinguishment of the passenger. For, while he did not deny that we were in the wrong, he in the end never failed to bring about our vindication. This, however, only to such as he thought were doing their best. The others he sent ashore with their pack and such small savings as the clerk had to their credit at the first landing.