§ 4 Why the Major Didn’t Suit
On a voyage of one of the Cunard liners from New York to Liverpool a Major H. Reynolds of London was registered on the passenger list. The purser, running over the names, assigned to the same stateroom as fellow travelers, this Major Reynolds and a husky stockman from the Panhandle of Texas.
A little later the cattleman, ignoring the purser, hunted up the skipper.
“Look here, cap,” he demanded, “what kind of a joker is this here head clerk of yours? I can’t travel in the same stateroom with that there Major Reynolds. I can’t and I won’t! So far as that goes, neither one of us likes the idea.”
“What complaint have you?” asked the skipper. “Do you object to an army officer for a traveling companion?”
“Not generally,” stated the Texan—“only this happens to be the Salvation Army. That there major’s other name is Henrietta!”