ld not lose him for anything, not
only because I own I like good food, but the Trois Freres has such
a reputation for good living that, if I am in port, passengers will
wait for days to sail with me, instead of going by other craft.

"And then, too, I have no trouble with my crew, and it is rarely,
indeed, that I change one of my hands; for although their meals are
of course much simpler than mine, they are all perfect in their
way.

"It takes a great deal of trouble off my hands, too. Instead of my
having a dozen little accounts to go into, at every port we enter,
I allow him a certain sum and he manages on that--so much a day for
my own table, so much for each passenger, and so much for the crew.
How he does it, I don't know. I find that it is cheaper than it
used to be, before his time; and yet I have all sorts of dainties I
never dreamt of, then.

"I say to him sometimes, 'Leon, you must be ruining yourself;' but
he smiles and says, 'I am well content, captain; if you are
satisfied, I am so.'

"He buys the fish off the boats as they come in, and I can
understand that he gets them far more cheaply than if he waited
till they were hawked in the streets. He is great at omelets and,
when he has a chance, he is ashore before the countrywomen come
into the market; and will buy the whole stock of eggs, a pound or
two of butter, and three or four couples of fowls from one woman,
who is glad to sell cheaply and so be free to return home at once.
At Bordeaux he lays in a stock of snipe and other birds from the
sand hills and marshes, oysters, and other such matters. He is a
great favourite with the crew and, in cold weather or stormy
nights, there is always hot soup ready for them.

"He has only one fault. As a rule, the cooks are expected to help
get up the anchor and sails, but he will not put a hand to sailors'
work. He says that a cook must not have a rough hand, but that it
should be as soft as a woman's. Personally, I believe that is all
nonsense. However, as we have a fairly strong crew, I do not press
him on the subject; though sometimes, when I tail on to a rope
myself, and see him leaning quietly against his galley smoking his
pipe, I am inclined to use strong language."

"I don't think that is much to put up with, captain," Patsey said
with a smile, "if he always cooks for you such breakfasts and
dinners as we have had today; and I do think that there is,
perhaps, something in what he says about rough hand