A young lady, jobless and spurned by her lover, heads to the Manhattan docks to drown herself.
She has nothing, no friends, no family, she just wants to end it all.
And as she's about to jump, a handsome young sailor shouts, "stop! Don't do it!!"
And she says, "I've nothing in this world, I might as well end it!"
And he says, "Listen, listen. It's a rotten world, sure. But never end the thing the lord gave us without changing everything first. I'm leaving tomorrow on a boat for Europe. I know one of the stevedores. I'll find you a place to stowaway, and we can start a new life over there. I'll make you happy. You'll make me happy. It doesn't have to be like this."
And she agrees.
That night they meet in darkness and he smuggles her aboard one of the lifeboats belowdeck.
He brings her a blanket, and some food,
and for three weeks they have this tryst. Each night he brings her a sandwich and they talk and make passionate love until the dawn.
But.
After the third week, the captain is doing a routine inspection belowdecks, and he hears a quiet rustling in one of the lifeboats
And he pulls back the tarp and sees her, shaking in fear.
"WHAT are you doing here, madam??"
And she tells all, "I...I'm a stowaway! I have an...arrangement with one of the sailors on this ship. He's helping us get to Europe, and he lets me hide out in this lifeboat, smuggling me food."
"And?" says the captain
"And...well. He's screwing me."
and the captain says,
"He sure is lady, this is the Staten Island Ferry!"