The Purser’s Story

"The Purser's Story" by Robert Barr is a captivating tale that follows the life of a ship's purser, who navigates the challenges and intrigues of life at sea. As he manages the ship's affairs and interacts with a diverse cast of characters, the purser experiences a mix of adventure, drama, and personal reflection. The narrative explores themes of duty, loyalty, and the complexities of human relationships within the confined space of a vessel, offering readers a unique glimpse into maritime life in the early 20th century. Barr's storytelling combines humor and poignancy, making it an engaging read for fans of nautical fiction.

• Travel

								
“O Mother-nature, kind in touch and tone.
Act as we may, thou clearest to thine own.”

I don’t know that I should tell this story.

When the purser related it to me I know it was his intention to write
it out for a magazine. In fact he had written it, and I understand
that a noted American magazine had offered to publish it, but I have
watched that magazine for over three years and I have not yet seen the
purser’s story in it. I am sorry that I did not write the story at the
time; then perhaps I should have caught the exquisite peculiarities of
the purser’s way of telling it. I find myself gradually forgetting the
story and I write it now in case I shall forget it, and then be
harassed all through after life by the remembrance of the forgetting.

There is no position more painful and tormenting than the consciousness
of having had something worth the telling, which, in spite of all
mental effort, just eludes the memory. It hovers nebulously beyond the
outstretched finger-ends of recollection, and, like the fish that gets
off the hook, becomes more and more important as the years fade.

Perhaps, when you read this story, you will say there is nothing in it
after all. Well, that will be my fault, then, and I can only regret I
did not write down the story when it was told to me, for as I sat in
the purser’s room that day it seemed to me I had never heard anything
more graphic.

The purser’s room was well forward on the Atlantic steamship. From one
of the little red-curtained windows you could look down to where the
steerage passengers were gathered on the deck. When the bow of the
great vessel plunged down into the big Atlantic waves, the smother of
foam that shot upwards would be borne along with the wind, and spatter
like rain against the purser’s window. Something about this
intermittent patter on the pane reminded the purser of the story, and
so he told it to me.

There were a great many steerage passengers coming on at Queenstown, he
said, and there was quite a hurry getting them aboard. Two officers
stood at each side of the gangway and took the tickets as the people
crowded forward. They generally had their tickets in their hands and
there was usually no trouble. I stood there and watched them coming
aboard. Suddenly there was a fuss and a jam. “What is it?” I asked the
officer.

“Two girls, sir, say they have lost their tickets.”

I took the girls aside and the stream of humanity poured in. One was
about fourteen and the other, perhaps, eight years old. The little one
had a firm grip of the elder’s hand and she was crying. The larger girl
looked me straight in the eye as I questioned her.

“Where’s your tickets?”

“We lost thim, sur.”

“Where?”

“I dunno, sur.”

“Do you think you have them about you or in your luggage?”

“We’ve no luggage, sur.”

“Is this your sister?”

“She is, sur.”

“Are your parents aboard?”

“They are not, sur.”

“Are you all alone?”

“We are, sur.”

“You can’t go without your tickets.”

The younger one began to cry the more, and the elder answered, “Mabbe
we can foind thim, sur.”

They were bright-looking, intelligent children, and the larger girl
gave me such quick, straightforward answers, and it seemed so
impossible that children so young should attempt to cross the ocean
without tickets that I concluded to let them come, and resolved to get
at the truth on the way over.

Next day I told the deck steward to bring the children to my room.

They came in just as I saw them the day before, the elder with a tight
grip on the hand of the younger, whose eyes I never caught sight of.
She kept them resolutely on the floor, while the other looked straight
at me with her big, blue eyes.

“Well, have you found your tickets?”

“No, sur.”

“What is your name?”

“Bridget, sur.”

“Bridget what?”

“Bridget Mulligan, sur.”

“Where did you live?”

“In Kildormey, sur.”

“Where did you get your tickets?”

“From Mr. O’Grady, sur.”

Now, I knew Kildormey as well as I know this ship, and I knew O’Grady
was our agent there. I would have given a good deal at that moment for
a few words with him. But I knew of no Mulligans in Kildormey,
although, of course, there might be. I was born myself only a few miles
from the place. Now, thinks I to myself, if these two children can
baffle a purser who has been twenty years on the Atlantic when they say
they came from his own town almost, by the powers they deserve their
passage over the ocean. I had often seen grown people try to cheat
their way across, and I may say none of them succeeded on my ships.

“Where’s your father and mother?”

“Both dead, sur.”

“Who was your father?”

“He was a pinshoner, sur.”

“Where did he draw his pension?”

“I donno, sur.”

“Where did you get the money to buy your tickets?”

“The neighbors, sur, and Mr. O’Grady helped, sur.”

“What neighbours? Name them.”

She unhesitatingly named a number, many of whom I knew; and as that had
frequently been done before, I saw no reason to doubt the girl’s word.

“Now,” I said, “I want to speak with your sister. You may go.”

The little one held on to her sister’s hand and cried bitterly.

When the other was gone, I drew the child towards me and questioned
her, but could not get a word in reply.

For the next day or two I was bothered somewhat by a big Irishman named
O’Donnell, who was a fire-brand among the steerage passengers. He
would harangue them at all hours on the wrongs of Ireland, and the
desirability of blowing England out of the water; and as we had many
English and German passengers, as well as many peaceable Irishmen, who
complained of the constant ructions O’Donnell was kicking up, I was
forced to ask him to keep quiet. He became very abusive one day and
tried to strike me. I had him locked up until he came to his senses.

While I was in my room, after this little excitement, Mrs. O’Donnell
came to me and pleaded for her rascally husband. I had noticed her
before. She was a poor, weak, broken-hearted woman whom her husband
made a slave of, and I have no doubt beat her when he had the chance.
She was evidently mortally afraid of him, and a look from him seemed
enough to take the life out of her. He was a worse tyrant, in his own
small way, than England had ever been.

“Well, Mrs. O’Donnell,” I said, “I’ll let your husband go, but he will
have to keep a civil tongue in his head and keep his hands off people.
I’ve seen men, for less, put in irons during a voyage and handed over
to the authorities when they landed. And now I want you to do me a
favour. There are two children on board without tickets. I don’t
believe they ever had tickets, and I want to find out. You’re a
kind-hearted woman, Mrs. O’Donnell, and perhaps the children will
answer you.” I had the two called in, and they came hand in hand as
usual. The elder looked at me as if she couldn’t take her eyes off my
face.

“Look at this woman,” I said to her; “she wants to speak to you. Ask
her some questions about herself,” I whispered to Mrs. O’Donnell.

“Acushla,” said Mrs. O’Donnell with infinite tenderness, taking the

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