Page:Harris Dickson--Old Reliable in Africa.djvu/37

 that. I give you a benefit; I, Aurora Certosa, I have promised. You shall play. Ah, so wonderful you play; I shall sing once, twice, three times. There! In Milan you will live like one little brown princess—and when I come to Milan—ah, when I come, we shall see what we shall see." With her arm about Doris, the singer led her new-made friend away.

The first dinner on shipboard is apt to be a key-note affair. Acquaintances may be formed or not. Ultra-fashionable ladies, crossing to be measured for gloves, make known their missions and their exclusiveness at this function. One stiff bow at the table sets no precedent for another bow on deck.

Mr. J. Blair Eaton and Joe Sloan sitting next each other at dinner was an accident of Joe's contrivance—one sovereign to the steward. Joe accounted for the presence of Prince Jim at the same table upon precisely the same basis—another sovereign to the steward. Joe carried out his part of the program, nevertheless, by attracting Mr. Eaton's attention to Cap Wright, his big partner, who sat in full view, the only man in the room without a dinner coat. "There's that old lake captain over yonder; he knows your sister's brother-in-law in Chicago. Made a big