Is He a Poofter

Is he a Poofter? I was reading “An American Tragedy” by Theodore Dreiser reading slowly because the writer proceeded slowly in his writing It was eleven at night; I was going to bed when I had finished a chapter; when there was a knock on my cabin door, the deckhand stood there looking shy; I asked him what he wanted, and apparently he had run out of cigarettes; I didn’t believe him and asked who had sent him; he didn’t answer but hurriedly left It appeared the former chief steward was gay, now the boy was sent up by the crew to see if I was gay too A cargo ship is a cosmos of gossip and pornographic magazines when there was a perfect library with books changed by a welfare origination the literature was of a high standard, this was an effort to educate and brighten the mind of seamen Alas, I was not social, sitting in mess halls playing cards and telling risqué jokes, spent my free time in my cabin surrounded by books and dreams of a better life. A better life came when illness ended my career and I was free to find my own way in life.