The Upper Berth

The Upper Berth, by Francis
Marion Crawford

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Title: The Upper Berth
Author: Francis Marion Crawford
Release Date: August 5, 2007 [EBook #22246]
Language: English
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THE UPPER BERTH

BY
F. MARION CRAWFORD
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK
27 West Twenty-third St.
LONDON
24 Bedford St., Strand
The Knickerbocker Press
1894
COPYRIGHT, 1894 BY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
PUBLISHERS' NOTE.
The two stories by Mr. Crawford, presented in this volume, have been
in print before, having been originally written for two Christmas
annuals which were issued some years back. With the belief that the
stories are, however, still unknown to the larger portion of Mr.
Crawford's public, and in the opinion that they are well worthy of
preservation in more permanent form, the publishers have decided to
reprint them as the initial volume of the "Autonym" library.
THE AUTONYM LIBRARY.
Small works by representative writers, whose contributions will bear
their signatures.
32mo, limp cloth, each 50 cents.
The Autonym Library is published in co-operation with Mr. T. Fisher
Unwin, of London.

I. THE UPPER BERTH, by F. Marion Crawford.
II. BY REEF AND PALM, by Louis Becke. With Introduction by the
Earl of Pembroke.
This will be followed by volumes by S. R. Crockett, and others.

THE UPPER BERTH

The Upper Berth.
Somebody asked for the cigars. We had talked long, and the
conversation was beginning to languish; the tobacco smoke had got
into the heavy curtains, the wine had got into those brains which were
liable to become heavy, and it was already perfectly evident that, unless
somebody did something to rouse our oppressed spirits, the meeting
would soon come to its natural conclusion, and we, the guests, would
speedily go home to bed, and most certainly to sleep. No one had said
anything very remarkable; it may be that no one had anything very
remarkable to say. Jones had given us every particular of his last
hunting adventure in Yorkshire. Mr. Tompkins, of Boston, had
explained at elaborate length those working principles, by the due and
careful maintenance of which the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé
Railroad not only extended its territory, increased its departmental
influence, and transported live stock without starving them to death
before the day of actual delivery, but, also, had for years succeeded in
deceiving those passengers who bought its tickets into the fallacious
belief that the corporation aforesaid was really able to transport human
life without destroying it. Signor Tombola had endeavoured to
persuade us, by arguments which we took no trouble to oppose, that the
unity of his country in no way resembled the average modern torpedo,
carefully planned, constructed with all the skill of the greatest European
arsenals, but, when constructed, destined to be directed by feeble hands
into a region where it must undoubtedly explode, unseen, unfeared, and
unheard, into the illimitable wastes of political chaos.

It is unnecessary to go into further details. The conversation had
assumed proportions which would have bored Prometheus on his rock,
which would have driven Tantalus to distraction, and which would
have impelled Ixion to seek relaxation in the simple but instructive
dialogues of Herr Ollendorff, rather than submit to the greater evil of
listening to our talk. We had sat at table for hours; we were bored, we
were tired, and nobody showed signs of moving.
Somebody called for cigars. We all instinctively looked towards the
speaker. Brisbane was a man of five-and-thirty years of age, and
remarkable for those gifts which chiefly attract the attention of men. He
was a strong man. The external proportions of his figure presented
nothing extraordinary to the common eye, though his size was above
the average. He was a little over six feet in height, and moderately
broad in the shoulder; he did not appear to be stout, but, on the other
hand, he was certainly not thin; his small head was supported by a
strong and sinewy neck; his broad muscular hands appeared to possess
a peculiar skill in breaking walnuts without the assistance of the
ordinary cracker, and, seeing him in profile, one could not help
remarking the extraordinary breadth of his sleeves, and the unusual
thickness of his chest. He was one of those men