Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-10-08
THE MAN IN THE OTHER BERTH

".
me into cosey little cabin. Your
friend can have 80; the lower berths
/ vii! not be occupied
30 much the better" said my
FRIEND whom I had met for the first
| time at Liverpool street station that
evening. He seemed a gentlemanly
/ fellow, and had an endless stock Of
good stories at his command, so that
was no, sorry TO hear that we were
10 be companions for the rest of the
/ Journey. and flung my luggage down on
one Of the lower berths with alacri,y.
We're lucky" he remarked. as we
/ made our way up on deck; 'the boats
/ are usually crowded at this time Of the
/ year, and it's difficult to secure cabin
( 20 ones self Have a cigar? There's
plenty to see up here, isn't there? I've
! been across some dozens Of times"
/ I took the por,ly cigar that he Of
/ f5red me. and for a time we wandered
| mp and down the decks. watching the
/ crowd of passengers, Dutch, English,
I Hebrew and German. who had just
/ come On board. il was not until the
/ lights Of H3rwich were mere pins heads
/ iu the distance that we decided TO turn
/ in
We undressed in q very few minutes,
/ and. hurting our clothes on the empty
| berths below us, scrambled up aloft.
| lIy cabin companion switched of the
electric light.
We shall be half way up Che Mas
/ when we wake tomorrow" he re-
/ marked, wishing me goodnight,
/ Goodnight I answered, Thinning
over on my side I recOliect thinking
/ for q few minutes Of the jolly holiday
/ before me. of Myuheer Van der Dem,
/ The wealthy diamond merchant, and
/ his pretty daughter whom I hoped sOOE
/ % make my vie; OF skating and sleigh
/ ing galore ia her company at Amster-
. dam; of the chance Of my host being all
. ready to give his only child TO a COM
| paratve.y poor young Englishman as
/ he was 10 invite me 10 his house; Of
/ dozen other things connected with my
/ visit. and with past days, when The
/ branch IN Hatton Garden was being
/ started. and the Van der Danns lived IN
/ London. And then. suddenly, the roll
| iug of the vessel, the ,hrobbing Ct the
engines, and the fumes OF the strong
/ cigar 4 l7d smoked on deck must have
| 0verpCVored me, for the next mOment
/ ] seemed 20 hear the gruff voice of the
| berth steward
Now. SIR, us time Co get up. please
! called you some tine ago, and thought
you were dressed. We're just outside
/ Rotterdam
1 rubbed my eyes drOwsily and DART
/ e1 UP. knocking my head suddenly
I against the white ceiling OF the cabin
ana the berth steward. having succeed
/ ed in rousing me, hurried ont to attend
Cd his numerous duties. How on earth
had I managed 10 Oversleep myself so
sl0cEDgly? A glance ut the tumbled
bed clothes opposite showed me that
I my acquaintance of the night before
was already up I could feel that the
engines were beginning t0~slow down;
while, through the port hole. trees and
houses on The bank of the river were
Go DE seen. On the deck above l could
hear the shutting Of many feet, the
excited jabbering OF Dutch and English
| Jews. the gu,-eral tones of Germans,
the shouts Of the sailors to those en-
/ the quay, the pumping down Of bags
and boxes ready for landing.
i was s,ill drOwsy, bus I managed 20
I
| and began CD fish abOu. for my clothes
| on the berth below me. Then suddenly
i- began 10 dawn upon me that some
thing was wrong.
What on earth was I 70 do? The
| clothes that l had fshed up from below
were not the ones that 1 threw on the
berth over nigat-chey had been chang@
ell for others By mistake or by design
yes. e must have been by design. for
no such mistake could possibly have
/ been made. The man i'm the other
ber,h had substituted his clothes for
mine.
When / was finally in a condition TO
rush up the gangway-I need hardly
say without finishing my toilet. for I
was in my (Or the other man9 shirt
sleeves found that most of the other
| passengers had left the deck. though
@ small group Of officers were standing
on The shore side Of the vessel. engaged
I'm earnest consultation. The heads Of
@ couple OF Dutch policemen. distin-
gusled from the others by their curl
Gus, low-crowned helmets. lowered
above the group, and 1 at once rushed
toward them, thanking the lucky chance
that had brought them on the spot.
Have you got hin? ~ I shouted. no
doubt cutting a curious enough figure
m the blue shirt and short trousers
that my friend of the night before had
been cOusideraJe enough to lend me.
l- looks rather as If we have" said
one of the ships officers. glancing at
me with q singular expression. that 1
| could not at all understand. i'm his eyes
Blue shirt and light trousers dark
musfache-that's all right, isn't it,
OHcor, he said in Dutch, TO one OF the
/ policemen.
but where is hep" I asked in SUR
prise, looking from one to the other
"Iho fellows taken practically every
thing watch, chain. money, clothes
Let's have a look at the other
things, said one Of the policemen ig-
nOriug my question altogether and
turning TO meet the steward, who was
stumbling over the gangway under the
/ weight of the clothes that I had left in
the cabin. Blue shirt. light trousers
/ dark mustache. astracan OvercOat. soft
. felt hat ne mUttered, checking off the
/ items with q cablegram ne had in his
/ hand. And he speaks Dutch pretty
well. but with q fore ign accent. Yes
| my friend. I'm afraid we'u have to
| take charge OF YOU for the present. in
I spite of your clever little ruse. Just
/ put the rest of your clothes on, please,
/ and come along quietly"
But what's the meaning of all thiS?"
/ I asked i'm bewilderment, as the hand
/ ouffs were clicked ON directly / had