In a Steamer Chair | Page 4

the companion-way, and then, with a sigh of relief, ran
down the steps. There were still quite a number of people in the saloon,
and seated at the side of one of the smaller tables he noticed the lady
whose name he imagined was Miss Katherine Earle.
"My name is Morris," said that gentleman to the head steward. "Where
have you placed me?"
The steward took him down the long table, looking at the cards beside
the row of plates.
"Here you are, sir," said the steward. "We are rather crowded this
voyage, sir."
Morris did not answer him, for opposite he noticed the old gentleman,
who had been the companion of the young lady, lingering over his
wine.
"Isn't there any other place vacant? At one of the smaller tables, for

instance? I don't like to sit at the long table," said Morris, placing his
finger and thumb significantly in his waistcoat pocket.
"I think that can be arranged, sir," answered the steward, with a smile.
"Is there a place vacant at the table where that young lady is sitting
alone?" said Morris, nodding in the direction. "Well, sir, all the places
are taken there; but the gentleman who has been placed at the head of
the table has not come down, sir, and if you like I will change his card
for yours at the long table."
"I wish you would."
So with that he took his place at the head of the small table, and had the
indignant young lady at his right hand.
"There ought to be a master of ceremonies," began Morris with some
hesitation, "to introduce people to each other on board a steamship. As
it is, however, people have to get acquainted as best they may. My
name is Morris, and, unless I am mistaken, you are Miss Katherine
Earle. Am I right?"
"You are right about my name," answered the young lady, "I presume
you ought to be about your own."
"Oh, I can prove that," said Morris, with a smile. "I have letters to show,
and cards and things like that."
Then he seemed to catch his breath as he remembered there was also a
young woman on board who could vouch that his name was George
Morris. This took him aback for a moment, and he was silent. Miss
Earle made no reply to his offer of identification.
"Miss Earle," he said hesitatingly at last, "I wish you would permit me
to apologise to you if I am as culpable as I imagine. Did I run against
your chair and break it?"
"Do you mean to say," replied the young lady, looking at him steadily,

"that you do not know whether you did or not?"
"Well, it's a pretty hard thing to ask a person to believe, and yet I assure
you that is the fact. I have only the dimmest remembrance of the
disaster, as of something I might have done in a dream. To tell you the
truth, I did not even suspect I had done so until I noticed I had torn a
portion of my clothing by the collision. After you left, it just dawned
upon me that I was the one who smashed the chair. I therefore desire to
apologise very humbly, and hope you will permit me to do so."
"For what do you intend to apologise, Mr. Morris? For breaking the
chair, or refusing to mend it when I asked you?"
"For both. I was really in a good deal of trouble just the moment before
I ran against your chair, Miss Earle, and I hope you will excuse me on
the ground of temporary insanity. Why, you know, they even let off
murderers on that plea, so I hope to be forgiven for being careless in the
first place, and boorish in the second."
"You are freely forgiven, Mr. Morris. In fact, now that I think more
calmly about the incident, it was really a very trivial affair to get angry
over, and I must confess I was angry."
"You were perfectly justified."
"In getting angry, perhaps; but in showing my anger, no--as some one
says in a play. Meanwhile, we'll forget all about it," and with that the
young lady rose, bidding her new acquaintance good night.
George Morris found he had more appetite for dinner than he expected
to have.

SECOND DAY.
Mr. George Morris did not sleep well his first night on the City of
Buffalo. He dreamt that he was being chased around the deck by a
couple of young ladies, one a very pronounced blonde, and the other an

equally pronounced brunette, and he suffered a great deal because of
the uncertainty as to which of the two pursuers he desired the most to
avoid. It seemed to him