, 1864-06-05

- :s-1- :
Of covert in5inuations, or inuendocs, about |
tho obloDE box-}ust to lot him perceive, |
gradually, that I Was not altogether the butt, !
OF victim. Of his little bit Of pleasant mystld-
catlan. My frat observation waa by way Of. |
opening marked battery. I said something J
about the ''pecnliar ahepe OF that ho1;'":
and, IS spoke the words, smiled kno1- |
tpgly, wlnked. and touched him gently with I
my foTednger in the ribs.
Tho manner In which Wyatt resolved this !
harmless pleasantly, convinced me, at once,
that he was uaad. Al first lie stirred ut me- al |
II he found It impossible to comprehend the |
teenled slowly to make Its way Into his
brain, his eyes. In the same proportion I
seemed protrudiug from their sockets. Then
he grew very rcd-then hideously pale--{
then, ,,as II highly amused with what had |
insinuatca, be began a loud and holstesous
mp, with gradually Increased vigor, for ten
mtnutts or mnrt. Ii conclusion he fell fat |
and heavily upon the deck When I. ran to
up1ih him, to all appearance he was dead.
called assistance. and, with much dl1a-.
Guilty, va brought him to himself Upon
revi1ing:- he spoke incohe1ent1y for some
time AT length we bled him and put him
to bed. Tho neIt morning he was quite &C.
covered, 70 far 90 regarded his mere bodily
health. Of bis mind say nothing, OF cou1se.
BY the advice Of the Captain, who seemed to
coincide with ltogether In my viawe OF his
insanity, but cautioned me to say nothing on
this head to any person On board. -
T. Several circumstances occurred Immed- 1
ately after this at Of Wyntt's, which contrib. |
vas already POSSESSED. Among Other things,
this: had been nervous-drank too much
strong green tea, and slept Ill at n{ght-in
|, fact, tor TWO nights could not ha properly
said to sleep at all. Now, my state-Foom
opened into the main cabin, or dtning-room,
WAITS three rooms were In the alter cabin,
which mas separated from tho main enc BY
slight sliding door, never locked even At
night. A We were almost constantly on =
wind, and the breeze WAS not alittle stiff,
tue ship heeled to 1eeward very considerable;
! tnd Whenever her sta1board side was to lee
Eatd, the sliding door between the cabins
slid open, and so remained, nobody
taking the troublo to ret up and shut
it. But my berth was IN such . position
| that when my own state, room door WIS
open, as well as the sliding door IN question;
| {and my own door was always open on
account Of tho heat} I IcouId seo into the after
cabin quito: distinctly, and Just at that pot-
ton Of 1t too, where we1e situated the state
rooms" Of: Mr. Wyatt Well. during two
| L
clearly saw Mrs. Wyatt, about eleven O'Clock
upon each night, steal cautiously from the
| etate room Of Mr.. W., and enter the extra
room, where she remained until daybreak,
| when she WAS called BY her husband, and
went baclk. That they we're virtually aepA-
mcntE-no doubt in contemplation ofa mora
| perfect divorce; and here after al Il thought,
was the mystery Of the extra stats room.
There Was another circumstance, too, which
interested me much. During the two walks
! fu1 nights In question, md immediatel! aieer
| extra stAteroom, was attracted By certain
tlngular, cautious, subdued noises In that
| Of her husband. After listening to them for
some time With thouahtlul attention, at
length succeeded perfectly in -trauslating
tllelr import. They were sounds occasioned
hy mcans Of & chisel and mallet-the latter
! being apparently muftled or deadened by
i some soft WOODEN or cotton substance In
| which It's head was enveloped.
In tie manner ! fanctea could distln-
euish the precise moment when he fatrly dis
engaged tie lid---:slso, that l could deter
1 mine when he removed 1t altogether, and
| when he deposited 1t urou the lower berth
III the room; this latter point. knew, for
example, by CERTAIN slight taps which thu
lid nladc in striking against thu wooden
.dgce Of the berth; as he cndcayored to lay
It down rery Eeutly-there being no room
for it on the Goor. Ailcr thls there was
dead stiffness, aud heard nothing moro,
upon either occasion. until nearly dayhreak;
nuless, perhaps, may mention low sob
| hing, or R1ufmuring sound, 20 TeTT much
suppressed as to be nearly inaudlble-lf, in
deco, the whole OF this latter noise were
not rather produced by my own Imagination.
soy It seemed to resemble goobing Or Sigh
ing-bnt, Of course. it could not 6c eithpr.
rather think it WAS ringing IA my own
! nd n III d.
tom, was merely giving the raln to ane OF
! artistic enthusiasm. He had opened his oh.
loug box, In order to feast hls eyea on the
pictorial treasure within There Was: nothing
In this; however, to make him sob. Il re-
peat, therefore, TINT It must have boen sim
ply . freak Of my own fancy, distemperea By
good Captain uardl's green tea. Just betos!
! i dawn, on each Of the two uighta Of which
speak, I distinctly heard Mr.. Wyatt replace
the lid upon the oblqng boz, and force the
! pals ipto thcls old places. b means Of u!
from lis state-room, fully dressed, and pro
! credea to cali Mrs. ". from hers. u. :.
We bad been at sea seven days, 6Sa wer'
| now of Cape Hattcras, when thero came ,
tremendous heavy blow from tbs southwest
We were In measure prepared for It, how
ever, as the weather had been holding on
threats for some time. Everything VIA
; mndo snug, below and aloft and as the win
. steadily freahened, VIC Jay too, at length
under spanker and foretoisaiI, both doubl
rceled.
In this trim, we rode safely enough 10
fortJ-eight hours-the ship proving hersel
On excellent sea boat. In auany respects, an
the end Of this period, however, the gala ha'
| i1eBhened into q hurricane, and our 0ttcrsnl
; split into ribbons, bringing NJ SO much il
: the trough Of the water thas VIC shipped sew
Ftr
! the other. BY this accident VIC lost thre
= men overheard with the cahoose, and neIri
the whole Of the lnrboard bulwarks. Searcel,
End We recovered our eeuees, before tho fore
| sopsafl went iuto shreda, when we got up
. storm sta, sail, aud n It'll this did pretty Ecl
much more steadily than before.
!, Tue gn!e still held on however, and vi
= snw no sigDe of Its abating. The rigging
: Waa found to be Ill fitted, and greatly strain
- ed, and on the third day the blow, abou
= five in the afternoon, our mizzen mast, In
y heavy lnrch to wlndwarl, went By tho boari
!. For an hour Or moro, ne tried III vain to re
= = rid of It, on account OF the psodtgtous ro
y ling Of the ship; and, befora VIZ had sui
ccedcd the carpenter came n!t and announce
/. four feet OF water in the hold. To add
n our dilemma, VIC found the pumps choke
!. and nearly useless.
:, All was CT INFUSION and despair-bu. M c
: fort Was made to tighten the shtp BY throw
"a ing overheard IS much Of her cargo as coul
:. - be reached, and By cutting nway the IN
!. !, u,asts that femsined. This We at last O
a complished-but VIC were still unable to !
y, anything at the pumps; and, IN the mca.
. time, The leak gained On US very fast. :.
k, At aundoWn, the gale had scnsibly dtmh
IL lshed iu violence, nnu, a. the sea went doW
With 1t, We still entertained faint hopes
gazing ourselves BY the boats. At s p. m
- the clouds broke away to wfudward, sud y
~ had the advantage Of a full moou-a piece
- nod fortune which served wonderfully
- cheer our dropping epirita-
- After Incredible labor, VIC succeeded
~ length in getting the long boat over the st'
'' without material Incident, aud into this '
crowded the whole Of the crew and most
ne tie passengers. This party mado OFT INN
q, diatt]y, and after undergoing much difficult
=. finally arrived In sateIY at Ocracoke Inlet
y the third day after the wreck.
= Fourteen passengers with the captain
ss mained on board, resolving to trust tht
no fortunes to the Jolly boat 1t the stern.
X ! lowered 1t without difficulty, although
+ was only By miracle that We prevented
g from swampfng us it touched the water.
~ contained, when at'oat, the captain and
% wife, Mr.. Wyatt und party, a Mexican o1ic
~ wife, four children, aud myself, with neg
se- valet
M ae- We had no room, OF course, for anythi
"a except few positively necessary inst
~ mcnfs, somG proyisic u, and the clothes uE
ore our lacks No one had even thought of
t.-..sz.. a.-o 49, &bfrr WI