BREAKFAST AT THE ST. NICHOLAS.
When Tony woke up in the morning he looked about him with momentary
bewilderment, wondering where he was.
George Spencer was already awake.
"How did you sleep, Tony?" he asked.
"First rate."
"It must be late. Please look at my watch and tell me what time it is."
"Half-past eight," said Tony, complying with his request. "Why, it's
late."
"Not very. I didn't get up until ten yesterday. Well, what do you say
to getting up and having some breakfast?"
"Am I to breakfast with you, Mr. Spencer?"
"To be sure you are, unless you have another engagement," added
Spencer, jocosely.
"If I have it can wait," said Tony. "How much do they charge here for
board, Mr. Spencer?"
"Four or five dollars a day. I really don't know exactly how much."
"Four or five dollars a day!" exclaimed Tony, opening his eyes in
amazement. "How much I shall cost you!"
"I expect you will cost me a good deal, Tony," said the young man. "Do
you know, I have a great mind to adopt you!"
"Do you really mean it, Mr. Spencer?"
"Yes; why shouldn't I. I like what I have seen of you, and I have
plenty of money."
"It must be a nice thing to have plenty of money," said Tony,
thoughtfully.
"There is danger in it, too, Tony. I am ashamed to tell you how much I
have spent in gambling and dissipation."
"I wouldn't do it, Mr. Spencer," said Tony, soberly.
"Capital advice, Tony. I am going to keep you with me for fear I might
forget, that is, if you think you will like me well enough to stay."
"I am sure to like you, Mr. Spencer, but you may get tired of me."
"I'll let you know when I do, Tony. How much income do you think I
have?"
"A thousand dollars!" guessed Tony, who considered that this would be a
very large income.
Spencer laughed.
"It is over ten thousand," he said.
"Ten thousand!" exclaimed Tony. "How can you spend it all?"
"I did spend it all, last year, Tony, and got a thousand dollars in
debt. I gambled, and most of it went that way. But I'll leave that off.
I shall have you to take up my time, now."
"Did you know that man you played billiards with last night, Mr.
Spencer?"
"I made his acquaintance in a gambling house, and I was well punished
for keeping company with such a man."
Tony was now nearly dressed.
"You didn't get your clothing from a fashionable tailor, I should
judge," said his new guardian.
"No," said Tony, "I haven't been to fashionable tailors much."
"After breakfast I must go with you and see you properly clothed. If
you are to be my ward, I must have your appearance do me credit."
"How very kind you are to me, Mr. Spencer," said Tony, gratefully. "I
don't know how to repay you."
"You've done something in that way already."
"It seems like a dream that a poor boy like me should be adopted by a
rich gentleman."
"It is a dream you won't wake up from very soon. Now if you are ready
we will go down to breakfast."
Tony hung back.
"Won't you be ashamed to have me seen with you in these clothes?" he
asked.
"Not a bit. Besides you will soon be in better trim. Come along, Tony."
They went down together, and entered the breakfast room. A considerable
number of persons were there. Several stared in surprise at Tony as he
entered and took his seat. Our hero noticed it, and it made him nervous.
"Do you see how they look at me?" he said.
"Don't let it affect your appetite, Tony," said his friend. "When you
appear among them again you will have no reason to feel ashamed."
A speech which Tony heard from a neighboring table did not serve to
reassure him.
An over-dressed lady of fifty said to a tall, angular young lady, her
daughter:
"Elvira, do you see that very common-looking boy at the next table?"
"Yes, ma."
"He looks low. He is not as well dressed as our servants. It is very
strange they should let him eat at an aristocratic hotel like this."
"Isn't he with that gentleman, ma?"
"It looks like it. He maybe the gentleman's servant. I really think it
an imposition to bring him here."
Mr. Spencer smiled.
"Don't mind it, Tony," he said. "I know those people by sight. They
are parvenus. I suppose you don't understand the word. They are vulgar
people who have become rich by a lucky speculation. They will change
their tune presently. What will you have for breakfast?"
"There's such a lot of things," said Tony, "I don't know what to
choose."
"You'll get used to that. I'll order breakfast for both."
The waiter appeared, and Mr. Spencer gave the order.
The waiter looked uncomfortable.
"Mr. Spencer," he said, "it's against the rules for you to bring your
servant to the table with you."
"I have not done so," said Mr. Spencer, promptly. "This young gentleman
is my ward."
"Oh, excuse me," said the waiter, confused.
"Has any one prompted you to speak to me about him?"
"Those ladies at the next table."
"Then those ladies owe an apology to my ward," said the young man, loud
enough for the ladies to hear.
The shot told. The ladies looked confused and embarrassed, and Tony and
his guardian quietly finished their breakfast.
There was another lady who noticed Tony, and this was Mrs. Harvey
Middleton. She was to sail for England in the afternoon.
As Tony and Mr. Spencer were going out of the breakfast-room, they met
her entering.
She started at the sight of Tony, and scanned his face eagerly.
"Who are you, boy?" she asked, quickly, laying her hand on his arm.
Tony was too surprised to answer, and Mr. Spencer answered for him.
"It is my ward, madame," he answered. "He has been roughing it in the
country, which accounts for the state of his wardrobe."
"O, I beg pardon, sir," said Mrs. Middleton. "I thought his face looked
familiar."
"You see, Tony, that your appearance attracts attention," said Mr.
Spencer, laughing. "Now we'll go out, and I'll get you a fit-out."
They went to a well-known clothier's, and Mr. Spencer purchased two
handsome suits for our hero, one of which he put on at once. At another
place a plentiful supply of under-clothing was purchased. Next a hat
and shoes were procured. Tony's hair was cut, he took a bath, and
in a couple of hours he was transformed into a young gentleman of
distinguished appearance.
"Really, Tony, I shouldn't have known you," said his friend.
"I shouldn't have known myself," said Tony. "I almost think it must be
some other boy. Who'd think I was Tony, the Tramp, now?"
"You are not to be a tramp any longer. I have not yet formed my plans
for you, but I shall soon. I suppose, Tony, your education has been
neglected."
"I should think it had," answered Tony. "I'm as ignorant as a horse."
"Then you ought to learn something."
"I wish I could."
"You shall, but, as I said, I must arrange details later."
* * * * * * *
About this time Rudolph and Mrs. Middleton were conversing, preparatory
to starting for the steamer.
"You are sure the boy is dead?" she said.
"Sure? I ought to be. Didn't I see him dead with my own eyes?"
"I saw a boy this morning who looked as I suppose the boy would have
looked--of the same age, too."
"Where did you see him?"
"He was with a gentleman, coming out of the breakfast-room as I was
entering it."
"It couldn't have been he," said Rudolph, positively. "Even if he were
alive, he wouldn't be here. But he's dead, I tell you. There's no doubt
of it."
"There are strange resemblances," said the lady. "But, of course, it
couldn't have been the boy. Indeed, the gentleman with him told me that
it was his ward."
Rudolph laughed.
"Tony wasn't likely to have a gentleman for a guardian," he said.
But Rudolph would have felt less easy in his mind if he had known that
the boy whom he supposed dead at the bottom of a well was really in the
hotel at that very moment.