The Project Gutenberg EBook of 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

Character set encoding: ASCII

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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