Page:In a Steamer Chair and Other Stories.djvu/13

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IN A STEAMER CHAIR




THE FIRST DAY.


Mr. George Morris stood with his arms folded on the bulwarks of the steamship City of Buffalo, and gazed down into the water. All around him was the bustle and hurry of passengers embarking, with friends bidding good-by. Among the throng, here and there, the hardworking men of the steamer were getting things in order for the coming voyage. Trunks were piled up in great heaps ready to be lowered into the hold; portmanteaus, satchels, and handbags, with tags tied to them, were placed in a row waiting to be claimed by the passengers, or taken down into the staterooms. To all this bustle and confusion George Morris paid no heed. He was thinking deeply, and his thoughts did not seem to be very pleasant. There was nobody to see him off, and he had evidently very little interest in either those who were going or those who were staying behind.