The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-10-25
MY ROOMMATE.

Sulu inc Dcrtn SlCWartl, uSncrlnS me into
n coy little cabin. Your friend can have
33. The lower berths will not 30 occu-
pied"
SO much the better, - said my frond,"
whom had met for the first time at Liv-
crpool Street station that evening. He
seemed n gcntlcmanly follow and had an
endless stock Of good stories at his COM
mand so that was not sorry to hear that
we were to bc companions for the rest of
the journey, and flung my luggage down
on one of tho lower bcrths with alacrity
'Wcrc lucky" he remarked, as we
made our way up on deck "Tho boats
are usually crowded at this timo of tho
year and it's difficult 10 secure n cabin to
oneself. Have cigar? There's plenty to
sec up here, isn't there? I've been across
some dozens of times"
l took the portly cigar that no offered
me, and for II time we wandered up and
down the decks, watching the crowd of
passengers Dutch, English, Hebrew and
German, who had just come on board. 1t
was not until the lights of Harwich were
mere pins heads in the distance that wo
decided to turn i'll.
We undrcsscd in q very few minutes,
and, hurting our clothes on tho empty
bcrths below us, scrambled up aloft My
cabin companion switched off tho electric
light.
''Wc shall DO half way up the Mas when
wc wake tomorrow" he remarked, wish
ing me good night.
Good night" l answered, turning over
on my side l rccollcct thinking for few
minutes of the jolly holiday before me; OF
Mynhccr Van der Dem, the wealthy dia-
mond merchant, and his pretty daughter,
whom hoped soon to make my wife; of
skating and slcighing galore in her COM
pany mt Amsterdam; of tho chance of my
host being rs ready to give his only child
to comparatively poor young Englishman
as he WAS to invite me to his house; of
dozen other things connected with my Wis
it and with past days when the branch in
Hatton Garden was being started and the
Van der Dcnns lived in London. And
then, suddenly, the rolling of tho vessel,
tho throbbing of the engines and tho fumes
of tho strong cigar / had smoked on deck
must have ovcrpowcrcd me, for the next
moment l seemed to hear the gruif voice
of the berth stewards:
NOW, sir, it's time to get up, please. I
called you some time ago and thought YOU
were dressed. We're just outside Rotter-
dam.
I rubbed my eyes drowsily and dartcd
up, knocking my head suddenly against
tho white ceiling of the cabin and tho
berth steward, having mt length succeeded
in rous!ng me- hurried out to attend to his
numerous duties. How on earth had I
managed to ovcrslccp myself so shocking
~? a glance at the tumblcd bcdclothcs
opposite showed mo that my acquaintance
of tho night before was already up. l could
feel that tho engines wcro beginning to
slow down, while, through the portfolio,
trees and houses on tho bank of the river
were to be seen. On tho deck above I
could hear tho shuflling of many feet the
excited jabbcring of Dutch and English
Jews the cultural tones of Germans, tho
shouts of tho sailors to those on tho quay
the Pumping down of bags and boxes
ready for landing.
/ was still tlrowSy, but managed to re-
sist the temptation TO lie down again and
began to fish about for my clothes on the
berth below me- 1 was annoyed with my
self Tor losing the early morning trip up
the river, and the sight of the snow coy
cred windmills, the quaint wooden houses
the low marsh lands, and the curious littlo
craft that generally dot the Mas. l was
equally annoyed with my roommate for
his kindly consideration i'll not rousing mo
from my sumhcrs, and L struggled into
my garments rather viciously. And thon,
suddenly, it began to dawn upon me that
something was wrong.
What on earth wasI to do? Tho clothes
that had fShcd up from below wcro not
the ones that | threw on the berth over
night-thcy had been changed for others!
BY mistake or by dcsign-ycS it must
have been by design, for no such mistake
could possibly have been madc-tho man
in tho other berth had substituted his
clothes for mine.
flew to the electric bell and rang vigor-
ously for the steward. But by this timo he
was busy on deck handing departing pas
scngcrs their luggage and pockcting tips
in return, and no ono heard or needed my
summons. twas impossible for me, half
clad as | was, to rush up above among the
crowd, and as hastily as possible ! slipped
into tho other mans clothes. had como
off much the worst over the bargain, for
there was not n sou in tho pockets of the
substituted garments, while my watch and
chain, money and jcwelry wcro all missing.
When finally was in u condition to
rush up tho gnnEway-I need hardly say
without finishing my toilet for j was in
my (or the other man's) shirt slceycs-I
found that most of tho passengers had left
tho deck, though n small group of officers
were standing on tho shore side of the YES
sci, engaged in earnest consultation. The
heads of II couple of Dutch policemen, dis
tinguishcd from tho others by their curl
Ous, low crowned helmets, lowered above
tho group, and I ut once rushed toward
them, thanking the lucky chance that had
brought them on the spot.
Have you got him?" l shouted excited
ly, no doubt cutting curious enough fig
uro in tho blue shirt and short trousers
that my friend of the night before had been
consdcratc enough to lend me.
ut looks rather as If VIC have, " said ono
OF the ships officers, CHANGING ut mo with