The rain was falling on the
dirty pavements of Liverpool as Jerome left
the vessel after her arrival. Passing the
custom house, he took a cab, and proceeded
to Brown's Hotel, Clayton Square.
Finding no employment in Liverpool, Jerome
determined to go into the interior and seek
for work. He, therefore, called for his
bill, and made ready for his departure.
Although but four days at the Albion, he
found the hotel charges larger than he
expected; but a stranger generally counts on
being "fleeced" in traveling through the Old
World, and especially in Great Britain.
After paying his bill, he was about leaving
the room, when one of the servants presented
himself with a low bow, and said,
"Something for the waiter, sir?"
"I thought I had paid my bill," replied the
man, somewhat surprised at this polite dun.
"I am the waiter, sir, and gets only what
strangers see fit to give me."
Taking from his pocket his nearly empty
purse, Jerome handed the man a half crown;
but he had hardly restored it to his pocket,
before his eye fell on another man in the
waiting costume.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Whatever your honor sees fit to give me,
sir. I am the tother waiter."
The purse was again taken from the pocket,
and another half crown handed out. Stepping
out into the hall, he saw standing there a
good looking woman, in a white apron, who
made a very pretty courtesy.
"What's your business?" he inquired.
"I am the chambermaid, sir, and looks after
the gentlemen's beds."
Out came the purse again, and was relieved
of another half crown; whereupon another
girl, with a fascinating smile, took the
place of the one who had just received her
fee.
"What do you want?" demanded the now half
angry Jerome.
"Please, sir, I am the tother chambermaid."
Finding it easier to give shillings than
half crowns, Jerome handed the woman a
shilling, and again restored his purse to
his pocket, glad that another woman was not
to be seen.
Scarcely had he commenced congratulating
himself, however, before three men made
their appearance, one after another.
"What have *you* done for me?" he asked of
the first.
"I am the boots, sir."
The purse came out once more, and a shilling
was deposited in the servant's hand.
"What do I owe you?" he inquired of the
second.
"I took your honor's letter to the post,
yesterday, sir."
Another shilling left the purse.
"In the name of the Lord, what am I indebted
to you for?" demanded Jerome, now entirely
out of patience, turning to the last of the
trio.
"I told yer vership vot time it vas, this
morning."
"Well!" exclaimed the indignant man, "ask
here who o'clock it is, and you have got to
pay for it."
He paid this last demand with a sixpence,
regretting that he had not commenced with
sixpences instead of half crowns.
Having cleared off all demands in the house,
he started for the railway station; but had
scarcely reached the street, before he was
accosted by an old man with a broom in his
hand, who, with an exceedingly low bow,
said,
"I is here, yer lordship."
"I did not send for you; what is your
business?" demanded Jerome.
"I is the man what opened your lordship's
cab door, when your lordship came to the
house on Monday last, and I know your honor
won't allow a poor man to starve."
Putting a sixpence in the old man's hand,
Jerome once more started for the depot.
Having obtained letters of introduction to
persons in Manchester, he found no
difficulty in getting a situation in a large
manufacturing house there. Although the
salary was small, yet the situation was a
much better one than he had hoped to obtain.
His compensation as out door clerk enabled
him to employ a man to teach him at night,
and, by continued study and attention to
business, he was soon promoted.
After three years in his new home, Jerome
was placed in a still higher position, where
his salary amounted to fifteen hundred
dollars a year. The drinking, smoking, and
other expensive habits, which the clerks
usually indulged in, he carefully avoided.
Being fond of poetry, he turned his
attention to literature. Johnson's "Lives of
the Poets," the writings of Dryden, Addison,
Pope, Clarendon, and other authors of
celebrity, he read with attention. The
knowledge which he thus picked up during his
leisure hours gave him a great advantage
over the other clerks, and caused his
employers to respect him far more than any
other in their establishment. So eager was
he to improve the time that he determined to
see how much he could read during the
unemployed time of night and morning, and
his success was beyond his expectations.
Clotelle or The Colored Heroine, A tale of the Southern States