He grumbles if we run short of anything, and is a good deal more particular about my dinner being just what it should be than I am myself.
"Sometimes when we have rough weather I say to him, 'Make me a soup today, Leon.

I shall be well content with that, and it is not weather for turning out a regular dinner.' "He always replies gravely, 'Monsieur, anyone can cook when the sea is calm.

It is on an occasion like this that one who knows his business is required.

Monsieur will dine as usual.' "And up comes dinner, with three or four courses, cooked to perfection.

For myself, I would rather snatch a few mouthfuls and go up on deck again; but this would hurt Leon's feelings if he saw it, and he might even consider that he must seek another employer, for that his talents were wasted upon me; so I go through it all with exemplary patience.