A Master Of Craft: Jacobs Top Collections
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The girl stood a minute or two in thought, and put her small foot out tentatively towards the rigging some few feet distant. It was an awkward jump, and she was still considering it, when she heard footsteps behind, and a young man, increasing his pace as he saw her, came rapidly on to the jetty.
"This is the Foam, isn't it?" enquired the girl, as he stood expectantly. "I want to see Captain Flower."
"He went ashore about half an hour ago," said the other.
The girl tapped impatiently with her foot. "You don't know what time he'll be back, I suppose?" she enquired.
He shook his head. "I think he's gone for the evening," he said, pondering; "he was very careful about his dress."
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About the author
Jacobs is now remembered for his macabre tale "The Monkey's Paw" (published 1902 in the collection of short stories The Lady of the Barge) and several other ghost stories, including "The Toll House" (published 1909 in the collection of short stories Sailors' Knots) and "Jerry Bundler" (published 1901 in the collection Light Freights). However, the majority of his output was humorous in tone. His favourite subjects were marine life: "men who go down to the sea in ships of moderate tonnage" said Punch, reviewing his first collection of stories, Many Cargoes, which achieved great popular success on its publication in 1896. Michael Sadleir described Jacobs' fiction thus: "he wrote stories of three kinds; describing the misadventures of sailor-men ashore; celebrating the artful dodger of a slow-witted village; and tales of the macabre".
