e.

"What will you have?" asked the waiter, coming up to him.

"Give me a regular dinner," said Nat, seeing the sign on the wall:

_Regular Dinner, 11 to 2. 30 cents._

The waiter walked off, and presently returned with some bread and
butter.

"Pea or tomato soup?" he asked.

"What's that?" questioned the boy.

"Pea or tomato soup?"

"I don't want any soup--I want a regular dinner."

At this the waiter smiled, for he saw that Nat was green.

"We serve soup first--if the customer wants it."

"And what do you serve after that?"

"One kind of meat, vegetables, coffee or milk, and pie or pudding."

"Oh! Well bring me the meat and other stuff. I never cared for soup
anyway."

"Roast beef or lamb?"

"Roast beef."

The waiter went off, and presently Nat was supplied with all he cared to
eat. The food was good, and he took his time, finishing off with a piece
of lemon meringue pie, a dainty of which he was exceedingly fond, but
which Mrs. Felton had seldom dared to make.

"Thirty cents, but I guess it was worth it," he thought, as he left the
restaurant.

Nat had never seen Lake Erie, and toward the middle of the afternoon he
walked down in the direction of the water. The shipping interested him
greatly, and it was dark before he realized that the day was gone
without anything definite being accomplished.

"Gracious, how time flies when one is in the city!" he thought.
"To-morrow, I must make up my mind what to do next. If I don't, I'll
have my money spent, and no job, either."

As it grew darker the boy felt the necessity of looking for
accommodations for the night. Seeing a sign on a house, Furnished Rooms
by the Day, Week, or Month, he ascended the stoop, and rang the bell. A
young Irish girl answered his summons.

"Can I get a bed for to-night?" asked Nat.

"I guess yez can--I'll call Mrs. O'Hara," said the girl.

The landlady soon showed herself, and said she could let Nat have a hall
room for fifty cents. To the boy's notion this seemed rather high.

"I can't take less," said Mrs. O'Hara, firmly.

"Very well; I'll take the room for to-night," answered Nat. "Can I put
my bundle up there now?"

"To be sure."

Fortunately for Nat, the room proved clean and well-kept, and the bed
was better than the one he had used at the farm. Tired out, the boy
slept soundly until seven o'clock, when he lost no time in dressing and
going below.

"Will you want the room again to-night, Mr. Nason?" a