{"product_id":"2940012065896","title":"Atlantis","description":"An Excerpt from the book-\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe German fast mail steamer, _Roland_, one of the older vessels of the\u003cbr\u003eNorth German Steamship Company, plying between Bremen and New York, left\u003cbr\u003eBremen on the twenty-third of January, 1892.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt had been built in English yards with none of those profuse, gorgeous\u003cbr\u003egold decorations in a riotous rococo style which are so unpleasant in the\u003cbr\u003esaloons and cabins of ships more recently built in German yards.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe crew of the vessel included the captain, four officers, two engineers\u003cbr\u003eof the first rank, assistant engineers, firemen, coal-passers, oilers, a\u003cbr\u003epurser, the head-steward and the second steward, the chef, the second\u003cbr\u003ecook, and a doctor. In addition to these men with their assistants, to\u003cbr\u003ewhom the well-being of that tremendous floating household was entrusted,\u003cbr\u003ethere were, of course, a number of sailors, stewards, stewardesses,\u003cbr\u003eworkers in the kitchen, and so on, besides two cabin-boys and a nurse.\u003cbr\u003eThere was also an officer in charge of the mail on board. The vessel was\u003cbr\u003ecarrying only a hundred cabin passengers from Bremen; but in the steerage\u003cbr\u003ethere were four hundred human beings.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrederick von Kammacher, to whom, the day before, the _Roland_ had been\u003cbr\u003enon-existent, telegraphed from Paris to have a cabin on it reserved for\u003cbr\u003ehim. Haste was imperative. After receiving notification from the company\u003cbr\u003ethat the cabin was being held, he had only an hour and a half in which to\u003cbr\u003ecatch the express that would bring him to Havre at about twelve o'clock.\u003cbr\u003eFrom Havre he crossed to Southampton, spending the night in a bunk in\u003cbr\u003eone of those wretched saloons in which a number of persons are herded\u003cbr\u003etogether. But he managed to sleep the whole time, and the crossing went\u003cbr\u003ewithout incident.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt dawn he was on deck watching England's ghostly coast-line draw nearer\u003cbr\u003eand nearer, until finally the steamer entered the port of Southampton,\u003cbr\u003ewhere he was to await the _Roland_.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the steamship office, he was told that the _Roland_ would scarcely\u003cbr\u003emake Southampton before evening, and at seven o'clock a tender would be\u003cbr\u003eat the pier to convey the passengers to the ship as soon as it was\u003cbr\u003esighted. That meant twelve idle hours in a dreary foreign town, with the\u003cbr\u003ethermometer at ten degrees below freezing-point. Frederick decided to\u003cbr\u003etake a room in a hotel, and, if possible, pass some of the time in sleep.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a shop window he saw a display of cigarettes of the brand of Simon\u003cbr\u003eArzt of Port Said. He entered the shop, which a maid was sweeping, and\u003cbr\u003ebought several hundred. It was an act dictated by sentiment rather than\u003cbr\u003eby a desire for enjoyment. The cigarettes of Simon Arzt of Port Said were\u003cbr\u003eexcellent, the best he had ever smoked; but the significance they had\u003cbr\u003eacquired for him was not due to any intrinsic virtue of theirs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe carried an alligator portfolio in his waistcoat pocket. In that\u003cbr\u003eportfolio, among other things, was a letter he had received the very day\u003cbr\u003ehe left Paris:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e* * * * *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDear Frederick,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's no use. I left the sanatorium in the Harz and returned to my\u003cbr\u003eparents' home a lost man. That cursed winter in the Heuscheuer Mountains!\u003cbr\u003eAfter a stay in tropical countries, I should not have thrown myself into\u003cbr\u003ethe fangs of such a winter. Of course, the worst thing was my\u003cbr\u003epredecessor's fur coat. To my predecessor's fur coat I owe my sweet fate.\u003cbr\u003eMay the devil in hell take special delight in burning it. I need scarcely\u003cbr\u003etell you that I gave myself copious injections of tuberculin and spat\u003cbr\u003ea considerable number of bacilli. But enough remained behind to provide\u003cbr\u003eme with a speedy _exit us letalis_.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow for the essential. I must settle my bequests. I find I owe you three\u003cbr\u003ethousand marks. You made it possible for me to complete my medical\u003cbr\u003estudies. To be sure, they have failed me miserably. But that, of course,\u003cbr\u003eyou cannot help, and, curiously enough, now that all's lost, the thing\u003cbr\u003ethat most bothers me is the horrid thought that I cannot repay you.","brand":"qasim idrees","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145238266096,"sku":"2940012065896","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012065896_p0.jpg?v=1763552438","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012065896","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}