His new position brought many minor changes that he had not had time to think of yet. When the cabin dinner bell rang that day he did not quite know what to do, so he wisely waited and did nothing, and in a few minutes the Captain sent for him to come down to dinner.
“The supercargo eats with the Captain, Silburn,” Captain Griffith said. “I neglected to tell you that. And he is always ‘Mister’ to the crew; but for my part I shall call you Silburn, because you are so young.”
It was odd enough to be eating there with the Captain and first officer at the table he had helped to wait on before, but he soon grew accustomed to it, just as he did to being called Mr. Silburn by everybody but the Captain. In a few days he appeared in a new suit of dark blue cloth and a cap to match, with a single gilt button on each side; a costume in which he looked as nautical and business-like as any young supercargo could desire.
Doing the clerical work in getting together and loading the cargo was mere routine business for him now, thanks to the experience he had had in former voyages; and by the time the North Cape was ready for sea again he felt considerable confidence in himself in his new position. The non-arrival of Harry Leonard made him a little uneasy, for it would not do to fail to have a cabin boy ready on sailing day. Harry had written that he would be on at once, but nearly a week had passed. He arrived, however, just as Kit was thinking of looking for another boy.
“Oh, say, what a swell you are, Kit!” he exclaimed, “in that uniform. I must have one like that some day. But I’ll take a shy at your old place first, for a voyage or two. That’s good enough to begin on, I suppose. Say, what does a fellow get promoted to from there? Does supercargo come next?”
“Not always,” Kit answered. He could not help seeing that Harry’s ideas were up too near the top-masts, and would have to come down nearer the keel before long. “But it’s very pleasant work in the cabin of the North Cape, as long as you don’t give the Captain any occasion to use his rope’s-end on you.” Kit did not believe much in teasing the new boys on board, but Harry was so full of his own importance that he could not resist the temptation to frighten him a little.
“No! say, does he though?” Harry asked, in alarm. “Does he whack you very hard?”
“Oh, not so very!” Kit laughed; “anyhow, you don’t mind it much after you get used to it. Come down to the cabin; he told me to bring you down to him when you came.”
“This is the boy I spoke to you about, sir,” Kit said to the Captain. “His name is Harry Leonard.”
“I tried to come as soon as I got Kit’s letter,” Harry broke in, “but I had to have some clothes made.”