“I suppose so!” he answered, with something like a sneer. “The mate, on a dollar and a half a day, is always expected to do the captain’s work on this boat.”
“I shall not ask you to do mine; but are you dissatisfied with your wages?”
“I think the pay is mean.”
“So do I; and from to-day your wages shall be two dollars a day. I have already spoken to Colonel Wimpleton about this matter, and he consents to it.”
“Thank you; that’s handsome,” replied Van Wolter. “Excuse me for what I said just now; I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“All right. I want you to have the boat ready to start in just seven minutes after she stops at the wharf. And, to help the matter, you may say to the hands that their pay shall be raised a quarter of a dollar each per day. They must work lively when we make a landing.”
“You are a gentleman and a scholar, Captain Penniman, and what you need most time will give you.”
“What’s that?”
“More years.”
He rang the bell, slowed the boat, and made as beautiful a landing as I had ever seen in my life. The moment the steamer touched the wharf he rushed down the ladder to the forward deck.