"Island Hotel, sir?" said Ethan Wormbury, approaching one of the gentlemen, whose wife was leaning upon is arm; "best hotel in the place, sir, and close to the wharf."
"If it is the best hotel in the place, that is where we wish to go,"
replied the gentlemen, with a slightly foreign accent in his tones.
"This way, if you please, sir," added Ethan, with enthusiasm, as he began to move up the wharf.
"Doctor," called Mr. Hamilton, "where are you going?"
"To the hotel. Thin man says he keeps the best one in this place."
"We are all going to the Sea Cliff House," added the chief of the party.
Ethan gnashed his teeth with rage, and so did the squire, his father. It was really horrible to see the whole party going to the Sea Cliff.
"How do you do, Mr. Hamilton?" said Squire Moses, extending his withered hand to the New York merchant. "Glad to see you come down to the old place once in a while."
"Ah, how do you do, Squire Wormbury?" replied Mr. Hamilton, taking the offered hand. "I mean to come down here every year."
"My son keeps the Island Hotel," insinuated the squire. "He don"t make quite so much show as Bennington, but he will take good care of you, and feed you better. Folks that know say he keeps the best house. And Bennington has raised his price to three dollars a day; the Island Hotel is only two."
Moses Wormbury considered the last argument as by far the most powerful one he could present. How any man could help wishing to save a dollar a day on his board, was more than the squire was able to comprehend.
"I have already spoken for rooms at the Sea Cliff House, and they have made fires in them for us," replied Mr. Hamilton, unmoved by the old man"s powerful appeal.
"Ethan will give you a fire, and not charge you anything extra for it, as they do at Bennington"s," added the squire. "He can accommodate the whole party if you will sleep two in a bed. You will save at least fifteen dollars a day by going to the Island Hotel."
"As we have spoken for rooms at the Sea Cliff House, I think we ought to go there," answered the New Yorker, rather coldly, unmoved by the economical considerations of the squire.
"Stage all ready, Mr. Hamilton," interposed Leopold, who had listened with painful anxiety to a portion of the old man"s arguments.
The "stage" was a long wagon, like an omnibus, but with no top; and Ethan saw, with an aching and an angry heart, the entire party of fifteen crowd into this vehicle. Squire Moses was not only vexed, he was downright mad. At any time it would have annoyed him, as well as Ethan, to see fifteen "arrivals" go to the "other house," and not a single one to the Island Hotel. To the old man it was doubly grievous at the present time, for every day the party staid at the Sea Cliff House would put at least forty-five dollars into the pocket of its landlord; and he was afraid Mr. Bennington would be able to pay his interest money on the day it was due. He wanted the new hotel for his son, if he could get it cheap enough, that is, for one third or one half of its value. This dawning of prosperity upon the Sea Cliff was, therefore, very unwelcome to the squire and his son.
Leopold leaped upon the box with the driver as soon as the pa.s.sengers were all seated, and the two horses tugged up the steep hill from the wharf with the heavy load. On the level road above, the excited teamster put the whip upon his horses, and dashed up to the hotel at full gallop. Fifteen arrivals at once, at this time in the year, was very unusual, and everybody about the hotel was thrown into a fever of excitement. The landlord stood upon the piazza, with no hat on his head, bowed and sc.r.a.ped, and helped the ladies out of the wagon. The party were shown to the parlor, which the roaring fire had heated to a fever temperature, so that the perspiration stood upon the landlord"s brow when he entered it. In the mean time Leopold had hastened to his room to change his clothes, and make himself presentable to the party.
"This is delicious--isn"t it?" said one of the ladies, when she felt the warm air of the parlor.
"It feels like a new world," added another.
"What a blessing it will be to be warm and dry once more!" put in a third.
"We have made fires in your rooms, ladies," interposed the polite landlord, doubly courteous under the avalanche of good fortune which had fallen upon him. "I will show you your rooms as soon as you wish."
"Let us get warm before we do anything," said Mr. Hamilton, removing his heavy coat. "You have a very nice house, Mr. Bennington."
"We think it is pretty fair down here," replied the modest landlord. "We have a parlor up one flight, with a bed-room on each side, which Leopold always calls "Mr. Hamilton"s rooms." I think they will suit you; at any rate, I fitted them on purpose for your use."
"That was very considerate," laughed the merchant.
"The three rooms will just accommodate your family. I have four other parlors, not quite so large, with one bed-room to each," continued the landlord, looking around at the New Yorkers, as if to ascertain their wants. "Of course you needn"t have private parlors, if you don"t want them. I have plenty of nice single rooms."
"We want the private parlors," replied Mr. Hamilton. "I did not expect to find such accommodations in Rockhaven."
"I think I know what a hotel ought to be," added the landlord. "By and by, if our guests don"t want private parlors, we shall put beds in them."
"Squire Moses says you have raised the price," laughed the rich merchant.
"Yes, sir: I couldn"t afford to keep such a house as I mean to keep at two dollars a day in these times."
"You have done quite right, and the price is very reasonable."
"I shall have to charge five dollars a day for the parlors, if anybody wants them."
"Certainly; that is also proper; and we want five of them. Now I will go to the office, and enter the names on the register," said Mr. Hamilton.
Their were five gentlemen with their wives, two single gentlemen, two young ladies, and one young gentleman of sixteen. Rooms were a.s.signed to them according to their several needs, and all the party expressed themselves as delighted with their accommodations. The furniture was not costly, but it was neat and comfortable. The beds were clean, and everything was in good order. The baggage, which the boats had brought ash.o.r.e after landing the pa.s.sengers, was conveyed by the wagon to the hotel. In less than an hour, the guests were all comfortable and happy.
Mr. Bennington was on the jump all the time, and so was Leopold. The landlady, who was also the cook, was "spreading herself" to the utmost upon the dinner. They all knew that the success of the house depended in a very great measure upon the satisfaction given to these wealthy and influential guests. The landlord, however, knew better than to waste his strength upon mere "style," for he could not expect to equal that to which his present patrons were all accustomed at home. He wanted the best of meats and vegetables, well cooked, and served hot. He knew very well that a teaspoonful of string beans, mashed potato, stewed tomato, or green peas, in a miniature dish, placed before a guest after it had been standing half an hour on the pantry table, was not eatable; and he governed himself accordingly.
At dinner the guests appeared modestly dressed, and it would have been difficult to identify in them the bundles of water-proofs, shawls, and overcoats which had landed at the wharf. Leopold had put on a "biled shirt," as he called it, and dressed himself in his best clothes. To him was a.s.signed the duty of waiting upon Mr. Hamilton and his family.
In his "store clothes" Leopold was a good-looking fellow, and he was remarkably attentive to the wants of Miss Rosabel.
The dinner proceeded satisfactorily to the new guests, as to the old ones. Dr. Heilenwinder declared that the soup was marvellously good; and when he learned that Mrs. Bennington, who made it was a German by birth, its excellence was explained to him.
The fog and rain continued for three days, and the ladies of the party hardly ventured out of the house. The bowling alleys and billiard tables were in constant use, and every evening, in the large hall connected with the hotel, there was a dance, to which Mr. Hamilton invited many of the town"s people. It was fun and frolic from morning till midnight; and no party weather-bound in a hotel ever enjoyed themselves more.
The fourth day was bright and pleasant.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE EXCURSION TO HIGH ROCK.
The yacht party which had come to Rockhaven in the Orion, in spite of the fog and the rain, appeared to be very happy. If they were aristocratic in the metropolis, they were not so in their summer resort.
Though the party was large enough to enable them to "have a good time"
without any a.s.sistance from outside of the hotel, they invited many of the people of Rockhaven to join them in their indoor amus.e.m.e.nts. As Mr.
Hamilton was a native of the town, he was quite at home there, though he had been absent from his boyhood. In addition to the dancing, the billiards, and the bowling, one of the gentlemen of the party was an elocutionist, and gave several "readings" in the parlor. A celebrated writing-master, who was a guest at the hotel, gave an exhibition of his sleight of hand tricks, in which he was almost as skillful as in the use of his pen. At the end of the third day it was voted that, in spite of the weather, the party had enjoyed themselves to the utmost. Mr.
Bennington and Leopold were unremitting in their efforts to make the guests comfortable and happy.
But in spite of the enjoyment within doors, the New Yorkers were glad to see the sun shine again. For the first time since their arrival they were permitted to gaze upon the rugged and beautiful scenery of the island. They were delighted with the cliffs, and with the views from them. Most of the party spent the day in rambling about the town and in climbing the rocks; but the younger members of it insisted upon something more exciting. When Leopold carried their coffee to Rosabel and her friend Isabel Peterson, at the breakfast table, he found them very much excited. They were talking together with a furious enthusiasm, though there was to be no wedding, or even a grand ball.
"We want to go to High Rock right off after breakfast," said Rosabel; and it appeared that the high spirits of the young ladies were produced simply by the antic.i.p.ation of this excursion.
"In the Rosabel?" asked Leopold.
"Yes, certainly," answered Miss Hamilton.