by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER I.
A GROWLING PASSENGER.
"Boy, I told you to bring me some pickles," said Major Billcord, apassenger on a Lake Champlain steamer, to a boy in a white jacket, whowas doing duty as a waiter at dinner in the cabin.
"Yes, sir; and I brought them," replied Dory Dornwood, as he took thedish of pickles almost from under the passenger's nose, and placed itquite under his nose.
"No impudence to me, boy!" exclaimed Major Billcord, as he bestowed asavage glance at the young waiter.
"I beg your pardon, sir: I did not mean to be impudent," replied Dorymeekly.
"Waiter, bring me a piece of roast beef rare. Now, mind, I want itrare," said the passenger sitting next to the major.
"Yes, sir; in a moment, sir," added Dory, to indicate that he heard theorder.
"When I send you for any thing, you should put it where I can see it,"added Major Billcord sternly.
"I thought I put the pickles where you could see them," answered Dory,as he started for the pantry to obtain the roast beef rare.
"Here, boy, stop!" called the major. "Where are you going now? Bring methe boiled onions, and I want them well done."
"Yes, sir," replied the waiter, as he darted after the onions, andreturned with them in an instant; for he found the dish in another partof the table. "The boiled onions," he added, as he placed them besidethe snappy passenger's plate, so that he should be sure to see them.
"Isn't it about time for my roast beef, waiter?" asked the nextgentleman.
"In a moment, sir."
"These onions are not half done, boy!" exclaimed the major. "I told youto bring me onions well done, and not raw onions."
"I don't cook them, sir; and I brought such as I find on the table,"pleaded Dory, as he started to fill the order of the next passenger.
"Here! come back, boy! I want boiled onions well done, and I don't wantany impudence," snarled the major.
Dory brought another dish of onions, and placed them by the side of thegentleman's plate. He repeated the order of the next passenger to assurehim that he had not forgotten it, and was in the act of rushing for it,when Major Billcord broke out again.
"These onions are no better than the others: they are not half cooked.Now go to the steward, and tell him I want boiled onions well done."
"Get my roast beef first," added the next passenger.
"Here, waiter! bring me a sidebone of chicken, some green pease,string-beans, pickled beets, boiled cabbage, a plate of macaroni, andany other vegetables you may happen to have; and don't be all day aboutit," said the passenger on the other side of Major Billcord.
"In a minute, sir," replied Dory.
"Go to the steward at once, and tell him what I want," stormed themajor.
"Waiter, bring me a plate of roast stuffed veal, with a specimen of allthe vegetables on the bill of fare. Don't leave out any. If you leaveout any of them, I will travel by railroad the next time I go north,"shouted another passenger.
Dory did not wait to hear any more. He was not a waiter of greatexperience, and he found that the confusion of orders was rather tryingto him. He went to the carving-table, delivered the message of MajorBillcord to the steward, and called for the orders he had received.Before he had his tray ready, the steward brought him the onions; and hecarried them with the other articles to the table.
"Your onions, sir," said he, as he placed the little dish where theirate gentleman could not help seeing them.
While Dory was serving the other passengers, whose orders he had taken,and while half a dozen others were clamorous for every item on the billof fare, Major Billcord thrust his fork into one of the odoriferousvegetables brought to him.
"These are not a whit better done than the others were!" exclaimed MajorBillcord, dropping his knife and fork in disgust. "What do you mean,boy, by bringing me such onions as these?"
"The steward gave me those onions for you, sir," pleaded Dory, who wascertainly doing his best to please all the passengers at the dinnertable; and the young waiter had already learned that this was not one ofthe easiest tasks in the world.
"Don't tell me that, you young rascal! You haven't delivered my messageto the steward," growled the irate passenger.
"Yes, sir: I told him just what you wanted, and he sent the dish ofonions to you, sir," Dory explained.
"The steward would never have sent me such onions as these. You haven'tbeen to him as I told you. You are an impudent young cub, and you are nomore fit for a waiter than you are for a steamboat captain."
"I brought the onions the steward sent; and it isn't my fault that theyare not right," said Dory gently, though he did not always speak and actin just that way.
"Is my dinner to be spoiled by the stupidity and carelessness of a boy?"demanded Major Billcord. "If I have any influence on board of this boat,such blockheads shall not be employed as waiters."
"I will get any thing you wish, sir," added Dory, appalled at the remarkof the important passenger.
"Don't come near me again! Go, and tell the steward to send anotherwaiter to me," was all the reply the major would give him.
Dory Dornwood intended to deliver even this message to the steward; buthe was kept very busy by the wants of the other passengers, so that hecould not go at just that minute. He had been instructed to serve allpersons at the tables alike; and he was not quite old enough andexperienced enough to comprehend that his instructions were to be obeyedin a Pickwickian sense on certain occasions.
Major Billcord sat back in his chair, and watched the movements of theboy-waiter for the full space of fifteen seconds, which he doubtlessinterpreted as fifteen minutes. It was not to be expected that he couldfinish, or even go on with, his dinner without the boiled onions welldone. Possibly he did not care so much for the aromatic vegetable as hedid for his own sweet will. At any rate, he would not touch anothermorsel of food; and, when the fifteen seconds had fully expired, he wasready to make another demonstration.
"Boy, didn't I tell you to go and call the steward, and tell him to sendme another waiter?" demanded Major Billcord, as savagely as though Doryhad struck him in the face.
"Yes, sir, you did, and I am going; but we are all very busy, and thepassengers want a great many things. I am going now, sir," replied Dory,who thought it might be safer to let the rest of the passengers waitthan to anger so great a magnate as the major.
Dory delivered his message, and the steward uttered an exclamation whichwould have cost him his situation if Major Billcord had heard it. Thehead of the culinary department went to the place occupied by theimportant personage.
"If you don't discharge that boy before supper-time, there will betrouble," said the major when the steward presented himself. "He isstupid, careless, and impertinent. He had the presumption to tell methat he did not cook the onions, and it was not his fault that they werenot properly done."
Possibly the steward might have voted on the same side of the question,if he had considered it prudent to express an opinion; but he apologizedfor the cook, and said nothing about the waiter. He explained that hehad been to the kitchen for the onions, and had sent the best on theboat to the distinguished passenger.
"Then the young rascal gave them to some other person!" exclaimed MajorBillcord. "The boy is not fit for a waiter."
"He is only serving for a week or two, while one of our regular waitersis away. He is the son of one of the second pilots."
"Which one?" demanded the angry passenger.
"Dornwood. He says the boy is a little wild, and he wants to getsomething for him to do," added the steward. "The boy is rather morethan his mother can manage when his father is away, as he is all theseason."
"This is not a reform-school, and we don't want any such scallawags onthe boat. But you needn't tell Dornwood that I said any thing about hisboy," added the major in a low tone.
Of course the steward would not say any thing on such a delicatesubject. After dinner Dory Dornwood was called up and discharged. Hetried to explain that he
had done his best, and had not spoken animpudent word. The steward had been satisfied with him, but it wasimpossible to resist the influence of such a man as Major Billcord.
Perry Dornwood was the second pilot of one of the night boats for thisweek; and Dory could not run to his father with his grievance, for hefelt that he had a grievance. Possibly it would have done no good if hehad. His father had had some trouble with him, and he was more inclinedto believe the worst that could be said of his son than the best.
Perry Dornwood the pilot had rather forced himself into the position heoccupied. He was a good enough pilot; but he drank too much whiskey tobe fully reliable. He was never drunk, at least not when on duty; but hewas generally pretty well soaked in liquor. The captain of his steamerdid not believe in him, and Perry's position had been nearly lostseveral times; but some kind of an influence still kept him in hisplace.
The pilot lived in Burlington. He had a wife and two children, a son anda daughter. Mrs. Dornwood was a most excellent woman, but she was almostdiscouraged under the trials and difficulties which beset her path inlife. Her husband did not half provide for his little family; and it wasall the poor mother could do to scrub along, feeding and clothing theboy and girl.
The pilot had work only a portion of the year on the lake, and he wasnot disposed to find other employment when not so engaged. Even themoney he did earn did not all find its way into the expenditures fortaking care of the family. It was feared by the good woman that herhusband gambled.
Dory--his name was Theodore--was now fourteen years old. His mother hadexplained to him the condition of the family finances. They had nothing,and Perry Dornwood owed many debts. The boy had been wild, but thosewho knew him best said there was nothing bad about him. He had lookedfor work, and his father had found it for him. Now he had lost hisplace; and his discharge was a very heavy blow to him, though he waswild.