LAKE SUPERIOR. 31 



ing the slightest prospect of occupation after dinner, 

 and yet every man, woman, and child set to work eat- 

 ing as though they expected at any moment to be 

 dragged away and condemned to weeks of starvation. 

 The waiters, feeling themselves above their places, 

 were independent if not insolent, and we overheard 

 the following discourse bet ween one of them and an 

 unhappy wretch who had' come in late and could 

 obtain no attendance. The suffering individual 

 began rapping on his plate with the knife till he 

 attracted the notice of a passing waiter : 



Waiter. "Well, what are you making that noise 

 for ?" 



Starving Individual, "I should like to have 

 something to eat." 



Waiter. " Isn't there plenty to eat all round you ?" 

 Individual, " But I want some meat." 

 Waiter. " Why don't you ask for it, then ? 

 What do you want ?" 



Individual.-^-" What kinds are there ?" 

 Waiter. " Why there's beefsteak, to be sure." 

 IndividucU.-^-" I would like to have some beef- 

 steak." 



Waiter. " Why didn't you say so, then, at first ? 

 Give me your plate if you expect me to get it for you." 

 It was their habit to empty the water loft in the 

 glasses back into the pitchers, and when I asked 

 one for a glass of water, he drank out of it himself 

 first, and then handed it to me. On another occa- 

 sion he helped Don by giving him the tumbler a 

 stranger had just used. 



