Either from the convenience of
the opportunity, or because we had already a number of acquaintances
in that part of the ship, Mr. Jones and I paid it a late visit.
Steerage No. 1 is shaped like an isosceles triangle, the sides
opposite the equal angles bulging outward with the contour of the
ship. It is lined with eight pens of sixteen bunks apiece, four
bunks below and four above on either side. At night the place is lit
with two lanterns, one to each table. As the steamer beat on her way
among the rough billows, the light passed through violent phases of
change, and was thrown to and fro and up and down with startling
swiftness. You were tempted to wonder, as you looked, how so thin a
glimmer could control and disperse such solid blackness. When Jones
and I entered we found a little company of our acquaintances seated
together at the triangular foremost table. A more forlorn party, in
more dismal circumstances, it would be hard to imagine. The motion
here in the ship's nose was very violent; the uproar of the sea often
overpoweringly loud. The yellow flicker of the lantern spun round
and round and tossed the shadows in masses.
Pages:
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51