Page:A hairdresser's experience in high life.djvu/281

Rh was boarding at one of the fashionable hotels. The ladies who were boarding at the same hotel, thinking he had plenty of money, were continually insisting on his giving them a party. After some time, he consented, when the invitations were issued, not only to those ladies who were at the hotel, but to many in the city and some from Newport. He then told the ladies his arrangements were made for a certain day. Music and supper were ordered. He went to the head waiter and arranged with him to have all the servants that waited on the table, put on white aprons, standing-collars, and the little fashionable cravat; also, that every dish on the table should be covered, and to have the covers all as bright as silver.

The evening came on. The ladies and gentlemen were seated in the parlor, waiting for the supposed Menter's Band, when in walked a tall, thin, colored man, with a fiddle, and commenced playing: the only tunes he could give them the whole evening were, "Auld Lang Syne" and "The Campbell's are Coming." The guests were very much disappointed, but in anticipation of a good supper they said nothing. After a merry dance, they were invited down to the supper-room, where they were all delighted with the appearance of things. A long table was set out; the waiters, with their white aprons and fashionable cravats, looked very neat, and the covers of the dishes glittered like burnished silver. After they were all seated in order, the covers were removed with as much ceremony as if the dishes contained all the luxuries and delicacies that could be procured: when, lo! there was nothing in them but crackers and cheese!

The gentleman arose and said: "Ladies and