All but one corner of the dining-room was deserted, and there a
solitary waiter was placing plates for the "Waiting Group," who had not
been served with dinner. The "Waiting Group" was one of the most
cheerful, lively, witty and jolly groups on the place. In fact it
contained some of the most eminent persons in our midst, and at dinner
the waiters were of the masculine gender solely.
We found there would be room for us to join their table, and that our
company was welcome. Alas! alas! How can I describe the dinner? I do
not mean the things we had to eat--fine eating was of little
consequence if we could satisfy hunger; but the merry cheer was
indescribable. It was the Professor (Dana) who sat at the head of the
board. It was the brilliant and witty "Timekeeper" (Cabot) who was at
one side, and when our party was added to them--"the Hero"
(Butterfield), with his full, hearty and musical laugh; Glover (Drew)
with his funny and apt quotations, and with the other four to six
clear-headed fellows, not a dull one among them--the gamut of merriment
ran to its highest notes.
Of course the Professor couldn't help making a few remarks about the
"object of our journey" and inquiries about the "success of the
enterprise," and of course our party didn't answer in parliamentary
language, but parried wit with wit, fun with fun, joke with joke.
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