The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-11-07
IN THE OTHER BERTH.

have SO; the lower berths will not be oc-
cupied."
80 much the better, said my friend"
whom 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 not sorry to
hear that we were to be companions
for the rest of the journey, and flung
my baggage down on one of the lower
Lcrths with alacrity
We're lucky" he said, as we made
our way up on deck; 1.-The boats are
usually crowded at this time of year,
and it's difficult to secure cabin to
oneself. Have a cigar? There's plenty
TO see up here, isn't there? I've been
across some dozens of times"
l took the portly cigar that he Of
fered me, and for a 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 IIarwich were mere pinheads
in the distance that we decided to turn
in.
I'VE shall be half way up the Mas
when we wake tomorrow" he re-
marked, wishing me good night.
Good night" L answered, turning
over on my side. 1 recollect thinking
for few minutes of the jolly holiday
before me of Mynheer Van der DEM,
the wealthy diamond merchant, and
his pretty daughter, whom hoped soon
20 make my wife; of skating and sleigh
ing galore in her company at Amster-
dam; of the chance of my host being as
ready to give his only child to compar-
ntively poor young Englishman as he
was to invite me to 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 Denns lived in
London. And then, suddenly the roll
ing of the vessel, the throbbing of the
engines and the fumes of the strong
cigar | had smoked on deck must have
overpowered me, for the next moment
| seemed to hear the gruff voice of the
berth steward:
"Now, sir, it's time to get up, please.
called you some time ago, and thought
you were dressed. We're just outside
Rotterdam"
l rubbed my eyes drowsily, and
darted up, knocking my head suddenly
against the white ceiling of the cabin;
and the berth steward, having at length
succeeded in rousing me, hurried out
to attend to his numerous duties. How
on earth had l managed to oyersleep
myself so shockingly? a glance at the
tumbled bcdclothes opposite showed
he that my companion of the night
before was already up. l could feel
that the engines were beginning to slow
down; while, through the port hole,
trees and houses on the bank of the
river were to be seen. On the deck
above | could hear the shutting of many
feet, the excited jabberng of Dutch and
English Jews, the cultural tones OF
Germans, the shouts of the sailors to
those on the quay the Pumping down OF
bags and boxes ready for landing.
| was still drowsy, but managed tC
resist the temptation to lie down again
and began to fish about for my clothes
on the berth below me. Twas annoyed
with myself for losing the early morn
ms trip up the river, and the sight Of
the snow-covered windmills, the quaint
wooden houses, the low marsh lands
and the curious little craft that general
ly dot the Mas; l was equally annoyed
with my roommate for his kindly con
sderation in not rousing me from my
slumbers; and | struggled into my gar
nents rather viciously. And then, sud
denly, it began to dawn upon me thai
something was wrong.
What on earth was l to do? The
clothes that had fished up from below
were not the ones that l threw on thu
berth overnight-they had beer
changed for others! By mistake or b,
dcsign-yes, it must have been by de
sign, for no such mistake could posi-
bly, have been made; the man in thu
other berth had substituted his clothes
for mine.
! flew to the electric bell, and rams
vigorously for the steward. But b,
this time he was busy on deck, handing
departing passengers their luggage anC
pocketing tips in return, and no on
heard or needed my summons. 1t wa
impossible for me, half clad as Twas, t.
rush up above among the crowd; ant
rs hastily as possible slipped into tn
other mans clothes. l had come OF
much worse over the bargain, for Their
was not sou in the pockets of the sub
stituted garments, while my watch ant
chain, money and jewelry were al
missing.
When finally was in condition t.
rush up the gangway-I need hardl,
say without finishing my toilet, for
was in my Tor the other man's) shirt
sieeves-I found that most of the pas
sengers had left the deck, though
small group of officers were standing
on the shore side of the vessel, engage
in earnest consultation. The heads o
couple of Dutch policemen, distin
guished from the others by their curl
ous, low-crowned helmets, towere
above the group; and l at once rushe
toward them, thanking the luck