Unused to business or any kind of stir, I thought it fine to be doing something, but strive as I would I could never come up to the needs of the office. Of all the things set me to do, however, I found it hardest to remember the names of the dishes to be served at dinner and the order in which they were prescribed. For we had no written or printed bill of fare, as was afterward the custom, and as, indeed, some of the more wastefully managed boats had at the time of which I speak. These lapses of memory, so strange and inexcusable, were a constant source of mortification to me, for none of my companions had any difficulty in saying off the names glibly enough. To overcome this weakness I put forth every effort, but never with any success to speak of. Thus, acquainting myself with the names of the dishes in advance, I would con them over till I had them at my tongue's end; but when I approached a guest and sought to repeat them in order, they vanished from my mind as if I had never heard them. This not wholly, but in part, and usually the more important dishes, such as rare meats and particular pies, held in high esteem by our customers. Perhaps if some irate guest had rebuked me, I might have mended, but no such thing happened. For sometimes, when one would face about with kindling eye as if to say some rude thing, they would turn it off in another way. Why, I do not know, unless it might be because of my heightened color and look of shame. My companions soon came to know my failing, and so would stop as they passed to and fro to set me right, or recite at length the dishes that were being served. Because of this I labored the harder to master the business, but never, as I have said, with any success. Truly, I would often say to myself in shame, the captain was right when he said I was not smart enough for the business. No, alas! and never would be.

We had breakfast on the War Eagle at seven, and dinner at twelve, supper being served at six. With the first and last I got on very well, as there were but few dishes and they easily remembered. Dinner being an elaborate affair and made much of by the captain, I could in no way get the hang of it. Because of these lapses I mourned much in secret, and came to look forward to the hour with direful forebodings. Mr. Devlin, in his great kindness, placed me at the upper end of the saloon, where the ladies sat, and this, I knew, because they were less exacting than the men. Indeed, I was every day in debt to one or more of these dear creatures for some act of forbearance or gentle office of kindness in this connection. Sometimes, when I blundered more than usual, I would glance in affright at the captain to see if he noticed my awkwardness, and doing so would perhaps see a frown on his face; but when he saw me looking toward him he would smile in the most amiable way possible and as if greatly pleased at the deftness I showed in a business so perplexing. This forbearance endeared him to me the more, but without in any way lessening the shame I felt at not being able to do as well as the others. Indeed, in the end, it so preyed upon me that I went to Mr. Devlin and asked to be put in the pantry to look after the knives and forks. This he would by no means do, saying I got along very well, and that no complaint had ever been made by the captain or any guest. Encouraged by this, I redoubled my efforts to please, but without ever being able to come up to any just expectation of what I was required to do.

One of my duties, and that which I liked best, was to see that the pilots were supplied with drinking-water and such small things as their business required, which the fixedness of their work did not permit them to look after themselves. This took me to the wheelhouse, and many times, I am sure, when there was no excuse for it. For of all places this was the best for seeing what was going on, and especially for watching the river and the country round about. Had I been older, I thought, I should have sought to learn the trade of pilot, for save that of captain, it seemed to me the most considerable in the world. To know the channel by day or night and be able to carry the boat forward and be its master were things apart and worthy of any man's strivings.

The work of the cabin boys was not hard, nor their hours long. We were up at sunrise and off duty at seven in the evening. After that we were our own masters; and it was my habit, if the weather was not too rough, to spend my spare time on the upper deck or in the pilot-house. Thus midnight often found me, and reluctant to go to my room, where I was always sure to find Devlin poring over his studies.

Of all the things that happened, and they were many, the most romantic, I thought, was the landing at night for wood. Then the torches, placed here and there, lit up the dark forest and glistening water, making them look for all the world as if they were alive to what we were doing. At such times the patient roustabouts, running back and forth, amid the cries of the mate, gave to the scene the air of being a place of punishment, where lost souls were scourged with blows and curses to do more than lay in the power of men. This, I have often thought in my more mature years, was not far from the real truth, though the necessity of haste in the business of such carriers makes those in charge impatient of delay, and so perhaps more prone to lose their tempers than other men.

Thus the summer and fall passed as the War Eagle went back and forth between the fair city of St. Louis and the distant posts on the upper river. St. Louis was then the most considerable city in the West, and well worth studying by those seeing the world. Because of this I sought in every way during our visits to increase my knowledge of its affairs; and thus it fell out that here for the first time I found my way to the theater one hot night in midsummer. This not advisedly, as it turned out, for demanding a ticket at the office, and the agent being busy over his accounts, answered absently:

"Where?"

Not knowing what he meant, I replied at random:

"Anywhere, if you please."

At this he looked up, and seeing me, cried out with great promptness and show of gayety: