In a Steamer Chair and Other Shipboard Stories (1892)

During his first night aboard steamer City of Buffalo, Mr. George Morris dreams he is being chased around deck by a pair of young ladies – one a pronounced blonde, and the other an equally pronounced brunette … and he suffers a great deal of uncertainty as to which he desires the most to avoid. At last they have him cornered and start mopping the deck with him – with the swish, swish, swish of men scrubbing the deck in early morning!

Troubling dream … yet the blonde from whom sought escape, by booking this voyage, is also on board – as is this reserved, literate, and interesting brunette, Miss Katherine Earle … who is traveling not so much away from America, as he is, but toward a definite destination … about which she will say nothing.

Scottish novelist Robert Barr (1850-1912) is at the height of his powers with In a Steamer Chair and the other stories in this collection, depicting life aboard the oceangoing steamer ships around the turn of the last century with knife-sharp precision and artistry.