Robert Barr

“ At breakfast—he had arrived very late, almost as Miss Earle was leaving—he felt he had preserved a glum, reticent demeanor, and that he had the general manner of a fugitive anxious to escape justice. He wondered what Miss Earle must have thought of him after his eager conversation of the morning. The rest of the day he had spent gloomily in the smoking room, and had not seen the young lady again. The more he thought of the day the worse he felt about it. However, he was philosopher enough to know that all the thinking he could do would not change a single item in the sum of the day's doing. ”

“ Any person can see what kind of a man he is—anyone but an innocent child, such as Mrs. Tremain is. Now, no man can help. What she needs is some good, kindly woman to take her by the hand and give her a word of warning. Is there a woman on board of this steamer who will do it? Not one. They see as plainly as any one else how things are drifting; but it takes a man who has murdered his wife to get sympathy and flowers from the modern so-called lady."
"Didn't you ever hear of the man, Howard, who made a large sum of money, I forget at the moment exactly how much, by minding his own business?" ”

“ The purser's room was well forward on the Atlantic steamship. From one of the little red-curtained windows you could look down to where the steerage passengers were gathered on the deck. When the bow of the great vessel plunged down into the big Atlantic waves, the smother of foam that shot upward would be borne along with the wind, and spatter like rain against the purser's window. ”

“ All in all the "dragon" did not have a very easy time of it. She fussed around like any other old hen who had in charge a brood of ducks.
Once I thought there was going to be a row between Montague and Kensington. He met that gentleman in a secluded part of the deck, and, going up to him, said:
"You old wife deserter, why can't you attend to your own affairs?"
Kensington turned deadly pale at this insult, and his fists clenched.
"What do you mean?" he said huskily.
"I mean what I say. Why don't you take your own wife walking on the deck, and leave the young ladies alone. ”

“ He contended that a captain who had crossed the ocean hundreds of times, and for years and years had worked his way up, had just as big a sense of responsibility for his passengers and his ship and his cargo as any newspaper man in New York could have, and this palpably absurd contention he maintained all the way to Liverpool.
When a great ocean racer is making ready to put out to sea, there can hardly be imagined a more bustling scene than that which presents itself on the deck and on the wharf. ”

“ You seem to know things intuitively. I am not nearly as truthful a person as I thought I was until I met you. You seem the very embodiment of truth. If I had not met you, I imagine I should have gone through life thinking myself one of the most truthful men in New York."
"Perhaps that would not be saying very much for yourself," replied the young lady, as she took her place in the steamer chair. ”

“ Morris!" said the young lady brightly. "I am very glad you have come. I will let you into a shipboard secret. The steward of the smoking room brings up every morning a pot of very fragrant coffee. Now, if you will speak to him, I am sure he will be very glad to give you a cup."
"You do like to make fun of me, don't you?" answered the young man.
"Oh, dear no," said Miss Earle, "I shouldn't think of making fun of anything so serious. Is it making fun of a person who looks half frozen to offer him a cup of warm coffee? I think there is more philanthropy than fun about that." ”

“ There was a long row of muffled-up figures on steamer chairs, and the deck steward was kept busy hurrying here and there attending to the wants of the passengers. Nearly everyone had a book, but many of the books were turned face downward on the steamer rugs, while the owners either talked to those next them, or gazed idly out at the blue ocean. In the long and narrow open space between the chairs and the bulwarks of the ship, the energetic pedestrians were walking up and down. ”

“ Her lover sends her a basket. There may be some hidden meaning that she alone will understand in the very flowers chosen, or in the arrangement of them. The flowers, let us suppose, never reach their destination. The message is unspoken, or, rather, spoken, but unheard. The young lady grieves at the apparent neglect, and then, in her pride, resents it. She does not write, and he knows not why. The mistake may be discovered too late, and all because a basket of flowers has been missent."
"Now, Blair," said Waters, "if anything can make you do the square thing surely that appeal will." ”

“ I hope you are not so prejudiced against me that the pleasant effort will be fruitless."
"Oh, I am strictly neutral," said the young lady. "Besides, it really amounts to nothing. Steamer friendships are the most evanescent things on earth."
"Not on earth, surely, Miss Earle. You must mean on sea."
"Well, the earth includes the sea, you know."
"Have you had experience with steamer friendships? I thought, somehow, this was your first voyage." ”

“ Our little society for the reformation of poker players, or to speak more correctly, for the reformation of one particular poker player, was formed one bright starlight night, latitude such a number, and longitude something else, as four of us sat on a seat at the extreme rear end of the great steamer. We four, with one other, sat at a small table in the saloon. One of the small tables on a Transatlantic steamer is very pleasant if you have a nice crowd with you. A seat at a small table compares with a seat at the large table as living in a village compares with living in a city. ”

“ The light was a little dim even at that time of the morning, and I must say I was horror-stricken to see, lying in the bottom of the bath tub, with his eyes fixed on the ceiling, Plodkins. I am quite willing to admit that I was never so startled in my life. I thought at first Plodkins was dead, notwithstanding his open eyes staring at the ceiling; but he murmured, in a sort of husky far-away whisper, "Thank God," and then closed his eyes.
"What's the matter, Plodkins?" I said. "Are you ill? What's the matter with you? Shall I call for help?" ”

“ I cannot see, for instance, why my station, selling ribbons at retail, should be any more dishonorable than the station of the head of the firm, who merely does on a very large scale what I was trying to do for him on a very limited scale."
"Still," said Blanche, with a yawn, "people do not all look upon it in exactly that light."
" Hardly any two persons look on any one thing in the same light. I hope you have enjoyed your voyage so far?"
"I have not enjoyed it very much," replied the young lady with a sigh. ”

“ One by one the other admirers dropped off, and left her almost entirely to Glendenning.
Of all those of us who were deserted by Mrs. Tremain none took it so hard as young Howard of Brooklyn. I liked Howard, for he was so palpably and irretrievably young, through no fault of his own, and so thoroughly ashamed of it. He wished to be considered a man of the world, and he had grave opinions on great questions, and his opinions were ever so much more settled and firm than those of us older people. ”

“ Storm laughed and threw his cards face up on the table. "I have nothing," he said; "I have bluffed you for once."
"It is very often done," answered the gambler quietly, as Storm drew in his pile of money, stuffing it again in his coat pocket. "Your deal, Storm."
"No, sir," said the young man, rising up; "I'll never touch a poker hand again. I have got my own money back and five or ten pounds over. I know when I've had enough."
Although it was Storm's deal, the gambler had the pack of cards in his hand, idly shuffling them to and fro. ”

“ Miss Earle smiled and went on with her reading, while Morris went once more back into the smoking room.
"Now then," said George Morris, when lunch was over, "which is it to be? The luxurious languor of the steamer chair, or the energetic exercise of the deck? Take your choice."
"Well," answered the young lady, "as I have been enjoying the luxurious languor all the forenoon, I prefer the energetic exercise, if it is agreeable to you, for a while, at least." ”

“ Really, for a lady who has rejected a gentleman, she does not look as supremely happy as she might. I must go and have a talk with her."
"Look here, Blanche," cried the young man angrily, "if you say a word to her about what we have been speaking of, I'll—"
"What will you do?" said the young lady sweetly.
Morris stood looking at her. He didn't himself know what he would do; and Blanche, bowing to him, walked along the deck, and sat down in the steamer chair beside Miss Earle, who gave her a very scant recognition. ”

“ Why, it is the most natural thing in the world. There is nothing that we so thoroughly dislike as a person, either lady or gentleman, who is perfect. I suspect you rather have the advantage of me in the reading of books, but I certainly have the advantage of you on chutney, and I intend to make the most of it."
"I am sure I shall be very glad to be enlightened, and to confess my ignorance whenever it is necessary, and that, I fear, will be rather often. So if our acquaintance continues until the end of the voyage, you will be in a state of perpetual delight." ”

“ Morris?" said the young woman, looking up at him with a winning smile. "Miss Earle has gone to dress for lunch. I should do the same thing, but, alas! I am too indolent."
Morris hesitated for a moment, and then sat down beside her.
"Why do you act so perfectly horrid to me?" asked the young lady, closing the book sharply.
"I was not aware that I acted horridly to anybody," answered Morris.
"You know well enough that you have been trying your very best to avoid me."
"I think you are mistaken. I seldom try to avoid anyone, and I see no reason why I should try to avoid you. ”

“ If refusing a man was any satisfaction, it seemed as if Miss Katherine Earle had obtained very little gratification from it. She looked weary and sad as she took the young man's arm, and her smile as she looked up at him had something very pathetic in it, as if a word might bring the tears. They sat in the chairs and watched the Irish coast. Morris pointed out objects here and there, and told her what they were. ”

“ It is a privilege that I hope you will not think I am trying to flatter you when I say any man might be proud of."
"Oh, dear," replied the young lady, laughing, "I did not mean it in that way at all. I meant that it was a privilege to be allowed to practice on those particular rugs. Now, a man should remember that he undertakes a very great responsibility when he volunteers to place the rugs around a lady on a steamer chair. He may make her look very neat and even pretty by a nice disposal of the rugs, or he may make her look like a horrible bundle." ”

“ Meanwhile Miss Earle sat in her own stateroom, thinking over the same subject. Blanche had sweetly asked her permission to sit down beside her.
"I know no ladies on board," she said, "and I think I have met you before."
"Yes," answered Miss Earle, "I think we have met before."
"How good of you to have remembered me," said Blanche kindly.
"I think," replied Miss Earle, "that it is more remarkable that you should remember me than that I should remember you. Ladies very rarely notice the shopgirls who wait upon them." ”

“ The hedges were closely clipped, the fields of the deepest green, and the hills far away were blue and hazy in the distance.
"There is no getting over the fact," said Morris, "that this is the prettiest country in the whole world."
During most of the journey Katherine Earle sat back in her corner of the first-class compartment, and gazed silently out of the flying windows. She seemed too deeply impressed with the beauty of the scene to care for conversation even with the man she was to marry. ”

“ I know a very rich man who can well afford to take the best room in the best steamer if he wants to, but his preference always is for a slow boat like The Tub. He says that if you are not in a hurry, a slow boat is preferable to one of the new fast liners, because you have more individuality there, you get more attention, the officers are flattered by your preference for their ship, and you are not merely one of a great mob of passengers as in a crowded fast liner. The officers on a popular big and swift boat are prone to be a trifle snobbish. ”

“ They are a sly set, those stewards. He knew that a man would simply laugh at him, or perhaps utter some maledictions if he were not feeling in very good humor. In all my ocean voyages, I have never had the good fortune to see a steward fall. He knew also, the racsal, that a lady would sympathize with him, and that he wouldn't lose anything by it, except the cup, which is not his loss."
"Oh, yes, it is," replied the young lady, "he tells me they charge all breakages against him." ”

“ A person naturally would think that, and yet, strange as it may appear, if there ever was a time when two is company and three is a crowd, it is when looking at the phosphorescence that follows the wake of an ocean steamer. ”

“ If she doesn't choose to answer me, then I don't choose to learn."
"Now, I like that ever so much," said the young lady; "if you will get me another cup of coffee I shall be exceedingly obliged to you. My excuse is that these cups are very small, and the coffee is very good."
"I am sure you don't need any excuse," replied Morris, springing to his feet, "and I am only too happy to be your steward without the hope of the fee at the end of the voyage." ”