Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1895-11-09
IN THE OTHER BERTH.

IhlS VIII DC your perrin, SIT, NO. 81,
said the berth steward, ushering me
into cozy little cabin. "Your friend can
have 33; the lower berths will not be oc-
cupied."
$50 much the better, said my friend"
whom l had met for the first time Mt
Liverpool street station that evening.
He seemed 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
bcrths with alacrity.
Were lucky" he said, rs we made
our way up on deck; "the bouts are
usually crowded at this time of year,
and it's difficult to secure cabin to
oneself. Have 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 n 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 pinheads
in the distance that we decided to turn
in.
eve 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. I 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 a compar-
ntively poor young Englishman as he
was to invite me to his house; of n
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
1 seemed to hear the gruff voice of the
berth steward:
Now, sir, it's time to get up, please.
l called you some time ago, and thought
you were dressed. We're just outside
Rotterdam"
1 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 oversleep
myself so shockingly? a glance at the
tumbled bedclothes opposite showed
me 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 l could hear the shutting of many
feet, the excited jabbering 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 to
resist the temptation to lie down agaln,
and began to fish about for my clothes
on the berth below me. Twas annoyed
with myself for losing the early morn
ing 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; was equally annoyed
with my roommate for his kindly con-
sideration in not rousing me from my
slumbers; and struggled into my gar
n.ents rather viciously. And then, sud
denly, it began to dawn upon me that
something was wrong.
What on earth was to do? The
clothes that had fished up from below
were not the ones that threw on the
berth overnight-they had been
changed for others! By mistake or by
design-yes, it must have been by de-
sign, for no such mistake could possi-
bly, have been made; the man in the
other berth had substituted his clothes
for mine.
l flew to the electric bell, and rang
vigorously for the steward. But by
this time he was busy on deck, handing
departing passengers their luggage and
pocketing tips in return, and no one
heard or needed my summons. 1t was
impossible for me, half clad as was, to
rush up above among the crowd; and
rs hastily as possible l slipped into the
other mans clothes. had come off
rnuch worse over the bargain, for there
was not sou in the pockets of the sub
stituted garments, while my watch and
chain, money and jewelry were all
missing.
When finally was in condition to
rush up the gangway-I need hardly
say without finishing my toilet, for
was in my Tor the other man's) shirt
sleeves-I found that most of the pas
sengers had left the deck, though a
small group of officers were standing
on the shore side of the vessel, engaged