The Ship-Dwellers: A Story of a Happy CruisePaine, Albert Bigelow
General
The Ship-Dwellers: A Story of a Happy Cruise
Paine, Albert Bigelow
Middle East -- Description and travel
The Doctor was not alarmed. "Don't worry, Joe," he said. "You're booked
for Jerusalem, all right enough. I'll get mine when I decide to go."
"But suppose you decide to go after the party is made up?"
The Doctor stroked his chin. "Hell-of-a-note if I can't go ashore and
buy a ticket for Jerusalem," he said, which had not occurred to the
Apostle, who immediately remembered that he didn't want to go to
Jerusalem anyway, had never wanted to go, and had vowed, before, he
would never go again.
However, he will go, because the Colonel is going; and the Colonel is
going because, as the Doctor still insists, he made his money by
publishing Bibles without reading them, which I think doubtful--not
doubtful that he did not read them, but that he is going to the Holy
Land in consequence. I think he is going because he knows the Apostle is
going--and the Doctor, and the game of piquet. Those are reasons enough
for the Colonel. He is ready at a moment's notice to follow that
combination around the world.
But if we no longer have services on these sea Sundays we have other
features. The Music-Master plays for us, if encouraged, and he gave us a
lecture this afternoon. It was on ancient music, or art, or archæology,
I am not sure which. I listened attentively and I am pretty sure it was
one of those things. He is a delightful old soul and his German is the
best I ever heard. If I could have about ten years' steady practice,
twelve hours a day, I think I could understand some of it.
The "Widow" entertains us too. She belongs to the Genoa contingent, and
is one of those European polyglots who speak every continental language
and make a fair attempt at English. It is her naïveté and unfailing
good-nature that divert us. She approached one of our American ladies
who wears black.
"You a widow, not?" she said.
"Oh no, I am not a widow."
"Ah, then mebbe you yus' divorce, like me."
We get along well with the Europeans. Our captain tells us he has never
seen the nations mix more harmoniously, which means that we are a good
lot, altogether, which is fortunate enough.
But I am prone to run on about the ship and our travellers and forget
graver things; I ought to be writing about Greece, I suppose, and of the
wonders we are going to see, to-morrow, in Athens. I would do it, only I
haven't read the guide-book yet, and then I have a notion that Greece
has been done before. The old _Quaker City_ was quarantined and did not
land her people in Greece (except two parties who went by night), and
the "Innocents" furnishes only that fine description of the Acropolis by
moonlight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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