W. W. Jacobs 
Night Watches 

A charming collection of short stories, 10 in this book, P. G. Wodehouse claimed Jacobs was one of his greatest influences, it’s not hard to see why. Jacobs stories are generally about the misadventures of sailors (tramp steamer sailors rather than Royal Navy)although there is the occasional non seafaring story, usually told by an old codger sitting outside a pub. There are sixteen stories here all are good lightly humorous pieces generally with a twist in the end.