The storm was raging without, and so we decided to lie in the harbor until the sea had abated sufficiently for me to get some coal barges alongside to replenish our bunkers.
At three that afternoon we went ashore and had a splendid Xmas dinner with the Consul and absorbed the details and the atmosphere of the remarkable conditions that were the sole topic of conversation among the guests, each of whom had personal experiences and ghastly details to add to what I had already learned.
So interesting was the occasion that I had about made up my mind to accept my new friend’s invitation to spend the night ashore to meet some other people, when Morris, with tears in his eyes, begged me to return to the France for dinner, as he said he had a surprise for me. So I told him to have the boat at the landing place at seven that evening, and a few minutes after that hour I was in my little saloon on board the France.
It was a surprise! Morris met me at the foot of the companion-way wreathed in smiles, clad in my dress-suit, and my only clean white shirt. The fact that the trousers came up to his ankles, the sleeves almost to his elbows, and that each breath he took threatened to burst the back from the shoulders down, and that the collar he had squeezed into was nearly choking him to death, in no way seemed to diminish his keen enjoyment of the idea that he was the perfect representation of the most ideal of butlers. For a moment I was annoyed, for somehow one’s dress clothes seem to be too sacred for promiscuous distribution. But his delight was so apparent and his anticipation of my pleasure in his transformation was so genuine that I had not the heart to spoil his little surprise.
Our little table was elaborately set for eight, with carefully prepared menu-cards at each plate. Four sad-looking strangers were seated in a melancholy row on a sofa and the captain and the two engineers, who had been obviously scrubbed, grinned sheepishly as I came in.
Morris, fairly knocking his heels together in sheer delight, swept a profound obeisance and in a ringing voice announced, “[Christmas dinner is served], your honor!”
Well, I was surprised and no mistake!
“Who are these men in the corner, Morris?” I inquired.
