Three days later Mr. McCracken said to Bernard at the breakfast table:
“Well, I have secured a position for you.”
“Indeed, sir, what is it?” inquired Bernard, with interest. “Is it in
the city?”
“No; did you particularly wish to live in the city?”
“No, sir; as long as the position is a good one, and is likely to lead
to something, I am not particular.”
“You are a sensible boy. Let me say, then, that my friend Professor
Puffer—Ezra Puffer—perhaps you have heard of him—requires a boy of
fair education as secretary and literary assistant. Though he has never
seen you, he will take you on my recommendation.”
“But, sir,” said Bernard, considerably amazed, “am I qualified to be
literary assistant to a professor?”
“As to that, I don’t think anything will be required beyond the ability
of a fair scholar. You have a fair education, I take it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You know a little Latin and French, eh?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And write a good hand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then I have no doubt you will suit my friend Puffer.”
“Of what is he professor?”
“I can’t tell you exactly, but I believe he is interested in
antiquities. By the way, he is going to Europe. I suppose you won’t
object to going with him.”
“No; I shall like it,” said Bernard, in a tone of satisfaction.
“I thought you would. How soon can you be ready?”
“Whenever you wish.”
“Professor Puffer will sail to-morrow in a packet ship, and I have
promised to take you on board. He is so busy making preparations that he
cannot call here.”
“I should like to make his acquaintance before I start.”
“Why?” asked Mr. McCracken sharply. “Can’t you accept him on my
recommendation?”
“I hope he isn’t like Mr. Snowdon.”
“You will find him to be a gentleman. Is that satisfactory?”
“Oh, yes, sir. Don’t imagine I want to make trouble. Only I had a little
curiosity in regard to him; that is all. Have you any idea how I shall
be employed?”
“Well, to tell the truth, I can’t give you much idea. Your labors will
be light, and you will have a chance to see the world. Upon my word,
young man, you are very fortunate. If at your age I had such an
opportunity I should have been delighted. If, however, you would prefer
to go back to the care of Mr. Snowdon, I won’t object to gratifying
you.”
“Oh, no; I am quite satisfied,” said Bernard hastily. “I shall certainly
prefer Professor Puffer. What is his appearance?”
“I should say that he was about my age. He has but one eye, the other
having been destroyed by an accident when he was a young man. I think
the other eye is weak, and it is probably for this reason that he
requires a secretary.”
“Very likely, sir.”
“You can pack your valise to-day, and to-morrow morning I will take you
to the vessel.”
Mr. Stackpole had left the city, and Bernard did not have an opportunity
of seeing his father’s old friend Alvin Franklin, so that he was unable
to inform either of his departure for Europe. He was sorry for this, as
he looked upon both as friends, and would have liked to have had their
good wishes.
Somehow he never looked upon his guardian as a friend. The information
he had received from Mr. Franklin, moreover, had excited in his mind a
suspicion as to Mr. McCracken’s honesty.
However, he was to have an opportunity of supporting himself. Mr.
McCracken had told him that Professor Puffer would pay him twenty-five
dollars a month, besides his board and traveling expenses, and this he
rightly considered as an unusual salary for a boy of his age.
About nine o’clock the next morning he started with Mr. McCracken for
the ship Vesta. It lay at a North River pier, and half an hour or less
brought them to it. It was a ship of fair size, but as Bernard knew very
little about ships of any kind—he had never been on one—he was not in
a condition to judge on this point.
They boarded the ship, and Mr. McCracken addressed the second mate, whom
he knew slightly.
“Is Professor Puffer on board?” he asked.
“Yes, sir; he is in the cabin.”
“Thank you.”
They proceeded to the cabin, where they found the professor. He was a
short, rather stout man, with a red face, scanty hair, and a green shade
covering the lost eye.
Mr. McCracken went up and shook his hand.
“Professor Puffer,” he said, “I have brought Bernard Brooks, your new
secretary. I hope he will prove satisfactory.”
Professor Puffer turned his glance towards Bernard, whom he examined
attentively. Then he said, in a deep bass voice: “I have taken him on
your recommendation, Mr. McCracken. You know what I want. If you say he
will suit me I have no doubt he will. Young man, I hope we shall get on
well together.”
“I hope so, sir.”
“Has your guardian acquainted you with the details of your engagement?”
“He hasn’t told me exactly what I will have to do.”
“You will learn in good time,” said the professor, with a wave of his
hand.
“Whatever the duties are I will try to give you satisfaction.”
“All right!”
“You can look about the vessel, Bernard,” said Mr. McCracken, “while the
professor and I have a little conversation.”
“All right, sir. I shall be glad to do so.”
So Bernard walked about the ship and watched with interest the
preparations for departure. It was all new to him, and he could not help
feeling elated when he reflected that he was about to see something of
foreign countries, while at the same time earning his living.
He was obliged to confess that Professor Puffer did not come up to his
expectations. In fact, he looked like anything but a literary man or
professor. Bernard had imagined a tall, slender man, with a high
intellectual brow, a pale face, an air of refinement and cultivation,
and a quiet manner. Professor Puffer was quite the reverse. He looked
more like a sailor, and his red face seemed to indicate that he was not
a member of a total abstinence society.
“I never in the world should think that he was a professor,” reflected
Bernard. “However, appearances are not always to be trusted, and he may
be very intellectual, though he certainly does not look so. I do hope we
shall get along well together.”
He was interrupted in his reflections by the appearance of Mr. McCracken
on deck.
“I shall have to say good-by, Bernard,” said his guardian, “as the
vessel is about ready to start. I hope you will be a good boy and give
satisfaction to Professor Puffer. If you do not, you cannot expect me to
do anything more for you.”
“No, sir, I won’t. I thank you for procuring me the situation. I will
try to justify your recommendation.”
“All right! Well, good-by.”
It might have been supposed that Mr. McCracken would have shaken hands
with Bernard now that he was about to go away to a distant point and for
an indefinite time, but he did not offer to do it, and Bernard on the
whole was glad to have it so. He felt a physical repulsion for Mr.
McCracken which he could not explain, and preferred to dispense with all
signs of friendliness.
He felt rather relieved, too, when Mr. McCracken had left the vessel,
and he had seen the last of him, for a time at least.
The preparations for departure continued. The sailors were busy, and
soon the vessel left her wharf, and was towed out into the stream.
Bernard watched the shipping in the harbor, the ferry-boats darting here
and there, the Jersey shore, and later the spires and warehouses of the
great city on the other side of the river. He rather wondered why he did
not see Professor Puffer, but that gentleman had gone below. At length
Bernard thought it time to inquire the whereabouts of his employer. The
steward led him below, and pointed to the door of a stateroom. He
knocked at the door, and did not at first have a reply. A second knock
elicited an indistinct sound which he interpreted as “Come in!”
He opened the door and saw the professor lying in the lower berth in
what appeared to be a stupor.
“Don’t you feel well, Professor Puffer?” asked Bernard.
“Who are you?” returned the professor, with a tipsy hiccough.
This, with the undeniable smell of liquor, and a whisky bottle on the
floor, showed clearly enough what was the matter with the professor.
Bernard was shocked. He had always had a horror of intemperance, and he
regarded his corpulent employer with ill-concealed disgust.
“I am Bernard Brooks, your new secretary,” he answered.
“Thatsh all right! Take a drink,” returned the professor, trying to
indicate the bottle.
“No, thank you. I am not thirsty,” said Bernard.
“Give it to me, then.”
Much against his will Bernard handed the bottle to his learned employer,
who poured down the small amount that was left in it.
“Thatsh good!” he ejaculated.
“Have I got to occupy the room with a man like that?” thought Bernard,
with disgust. “I hope there are very few professors like Professor
Puffer.”