Keeping watch [Night watches, Part 2.]

Name: Keeping watch [Night watches, Part 2.]
Author: W. W. Jacobs

By W. W. Jacobs

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About This Book

The narrator, a night-watchman, watches a courting pair and recalls being asked to guard a captain's daughter while her father went out. The father, alarmed by anonymous love-letters, urges him to lock the gate and keep strangers away. Left alone with the young woman, the watchman accompanies her on the wharf, they exchange shy confidences, she leans on his arm for support, and their evening drifts from idle talk about life into the ship's cabin. The story sketches human timidity, protective suspicion, and the awkward intimacy that grows under informal chaperonage.

About the Author

W. W. Jacobs

W. W. Jacobs was an English author best known for his humorous short stories and novels, often set in the coastal regions of England. His writing is characterized by a keen observation of human nature and a talent for creating vivid characters. One of his most notable works is "The Monkey's Paw," a classic horror story that explores themes of fate and the supernatural. Jacobs also wrote extensively about the lives of fishermen and the quirks of seaside communities, as seen in his collection "At Sunwich Port." His contributions to literature have left a lasting impact, particularly in the genre of comic fiction.