manage fer once,' an' so I
went along. When we got there the' was a carriage to meet us, an' two
men in uniform, one to drive an' one to open the door, an' we got in an'
rode up to the house--cottige, he called it, but it was built of stone,
an' wa'n't only about two sizes smaller 'n the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Some
kind o' doin's was goin' on, fer the house was blazin' with light, an'
music was playin'.

"'What's on?' says Price to the feller that let us in.

"'Sir and Lady somebody 's dinin' here to-night, sir,' says the man.

"'Damn!' says Price, 'I fergot all about the cussed thing. Have Mr.
Harum showed to a room,' he says, 'an' serve dinner in my office in a
quarter of an hour, an' have somebody show Mr. Harum there when it's
ready.'

"Wa'al," pursued David, "I was showed up to a room. The' was lace
coverin's on the bed pillers, an' a silk an' lace spread, an' more dum
trinkits an' bottles an' lookin'-glasses 'n you c'd shake a stick at,
an' a bathroom, an' Lord knows what; an' I washed up, an' putty soon one
o' them fellers come an' showed me down to where Price was waitin'.
Wa'al, we had all manner o' things fer supper, an' champagne, an' so on,
an' after we got done, Price says, 'I've got to ask you to excuse me,
Harum,' he says. 'I've got to go an' dress an' show up in the
drawin'-room,' he says. 'You smoke your cigar in here, an' when you want
to go to your room jest ring the bell.'

"'All right,' I says. 'I'm 'bout ready to turn in anyway.'"

The narrator paused for a moment. John was rather wondering what it all
had to do with the Erie Canal, but he said nothing.

"Wa'al, next mornin'," David resumed, "I got up an' shaved an' dressed,
an' set 'round waitin' fer the breakfust bell to ring till nigh on to
half-past nine o'clock. Bom-by the' came a knock at the door, an' I
says, 'Come in,' an' in come one o' them fellers. 'Beg pah'din, sir,' he
says. 'Did you ring, sir?'

"'No,' I says, 'I didn't ring. I was waitin' to hear the bell.'

"'Thank you, sir,' he says. 'An' will you have your breakfust now, sir?'

"'Where?' I says.

"'Oh,' he says, kind o' grinnin', 'I'll bring it up here, sir,
d'rec'ly,' he says, an' went off. Putty soon come another knock, an' in
come the feller with a silver tray covered with a big napkin, an' on it
was a couple of rolls wrapped up in a napkin, a b'iled egg done up in
another napkin, a cup an' saucer, a little chiney coffee-pot, a little
pitcher of cream, some loaf sugar