The Grain Ship (1914) is a collection of short stories by Morgan
Roberston. Published a year before the author's death, The Grain Ship
compiles works of short fiction originally published in Harper's
Monthly, New Story Magazine, and The Sunday Magazine. The ten
stories of The Grain Ship showcase Robertson's skill for yarn-spinning
while benefitting from his experience as a merchant sailor. Dining alone
at an upscale restaurant, an old sailor overhears an intriguing
conversation at the next table over. He listens as a retired sea captain
discusses the discovery off the coast of Spain of a merchant ship
abandoned and overrun with rats. Intrigued at first, the sailor soon
remembers an encounter nearly three decades old. While making his way
across Arizona as a cattle driver, thinking of nothing more than
returning to sea, he meets a stranger in distress with a faded anchor
tattooed on his arm. Taking him to his shelter, he realizes the stranger
has lost his memory, that he has no idea of who or where he is. When a
rat runs across the floor of the shelter, he suddenly remembers his
experience on a grain ship bound from San Francisco, a disastrous voyage
on which the whole crew--save for himself--disappeared. "The Grain Ship"
is a tale of terror, illness, and doom on the high seas by an author
whose experience as a sailor serves him well. Collected in this volume
are nine more stories published during Morgan Robertson's brief yet
productive career as a professional writer, including "From the Darkness
and the Depths," "Noah's Ark," and "The Argonauts." With a beautifully
designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of
Morgan Robertson's The Grain Ship is a classic work of American
fiction reimagined for modern readers.
