The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-05-30

at YOU; for of course | thought he W,
wandering In his wits.
"Then what had seemed like anxiei
in his face became mortal fear-gennir
abject terror such as no actor could hav
n initiated. lie threw himself upon HI
k knees. and, clasping his hands together
]. bcsonght me not TO treat his words wit
: ilicrcdulity.
/; ,"'Then why, SIR replied, do yo
2 talk such damned nonsense about M
, shipp
" Because it's true, captain, h
t groaned. There's dynamite on board
and clockwork machinery connecte,
with it. AS ain living man, if tn
! thing is not at once looked to, the shil
: and all on board of her will be blown {,
atoms within the time l have men
! toned
CAT this confess / felt cold shud
der down the nape of my neck, for no
three months before the very catastro
phe al which he limited had taken place
at (l tlink) Bremerhaven, and hat
struck terror into all ships captain.
like myself. Some infamous villain hat
insured steamer very heavily, and
taken means for its destruction on its
voyage in this very manner, only the
internal machine had burst on the quay
killing scores of people, and its inventor
with it.
".Good heavens, mani tell me ALL !
cried, 'and quickly
Nay, but daren't and can't he
pleaded, unless | have your solemn
promise that you will never betray me
| Know that you are man of your
word, and that will suffice for me.
\ on must promise whatever NAV ham
pen, never to allude to the conversation
that we are now having, or to make use
OF it in any war to the disadvantage of
myself or others.'
"Well, said /, Il promise. Now,
where is this cursed dynamiteY
One moment, captain. There is
SUN time and to spare, now, since you
nave listened to reason, and | must
prove to you that, though once heark-
ened to the whisper of the devil, re-
pcnted, and would have undone the
mischiefif could. This ship is insured
IN Loncon never mind where and
how-for large sum, and have been
employed to sink her. l brought the
machinery, set 10 this very day (for YOU
have made the voyage quicker than was
thought possible), down to Liverpool,
in small portmanteau which was sent
on board the night before she sailed.
IL was stipulation that | should sail
with you TO see that nothing intcrfered
with the execution of the plan. But |
swear to you, no sooner did touch the
deck than | repented. | wanted the
package placed in my own cabin-ask
yonr men if it was not so in order that
| might have some opportunity of get
ting it thrown overheard in the course
of the voyage. They had already, how
ever, put it below where, indeed, il
was Intended TO go-with the other bag
gage. Its small p0rtmanteau of bull
lock's-hidc, and they might as we'll have
let me have il in my cabin
"The dread had passed away from the
mans voice directly | had given my
promise that no harm should happen to
him. He had doubtless every conf
dence in the clockwork machinery, but
that was of course not my case.
Come up on deck, you scoundrel,' |
cried l, 'and identify this internal |
thing
81 set twenty men at work at once to |
bring up the deck, WEIGH, since we had |
not yet even sighted land, astonished !
them not little.
"'Quick. quick, my good fellows;
there will be an extra grog for you,' |
said. if you turn the things out within |
the hour
"The passengers who had not been
across the water before thought it
natural thing enough perhaps, but nv
officers imagined had gone demented.
There | stood with this Yankee tailor
(Bs he looked like) by my side, who.
though he affected to be quite uncon-
cerned, kept a sharp eye on everything
that came up, and was to let me know
by nod when we got to the drafted |
thing. The luggage ofa Cunarder is no
Joke in point OF quantity, but in quality
it varies more perhaps than any similar |
collection to be found anywhere else.
There were arks belonging 10 fine la
dies, large enough to go sea in; chests /
that contained clothes and tools of emf
grants; dapper portmanteaus of gentle
men touring for pleasure; bags of car
that had no other luggage |
nor property on earth; hampers full of
English fare TO astound the natives of |
New York; and photograph cases
smelling OF nasty stuff for twenty feet
round 'em.
81 won golden opinions from the la
dies, through my being so very particH- |
lar, and calling out Gently, gently
handleiem' smart, my men, but be care
full not to shake 'em,' which of course
was put down to my carefulness of their
precious possessions, whereas was
thinking of the dangers of dynamite,
which explodes, you know, by concus-
sion. That blessed portmanteau, as it
happened, was at the very bottom of
ala NANCY, Unlocking thing enough,
and, though small, as heavy as lead.
Now, just throw that overheard, my
fine fellows,' said l, will you, and be
careful not to knock it against the bull
warks.'
Nobody, of course, questions the or
ders of ships captain when at sea-
and over it went with splash; but
saw the first mate look at the second
with an expression that conveyed she's
mad as clearly as if he had given
words to it. 1t was this circumstance,
combined with the sense of complete
security from the awful peril that had
threatened us, that for the first time put
it into my mind that had been-made
the victim of hoax. If it had been so,
| verify believe should have thrown
the little tailor after his portmanteau;
but when ] called TO mind the face of
the fellow when he first came into my
cabin, could not quite believe that.
However, L took an opportunity of
speaking to him once more alone.
Look here said |, you unmitigated
thief and villain; there's one point in
your story that wants clearing up.
Your life is not very valuable, it is true,
but | dare say you yourself put fancy
price upon it, and that being so, how
could you take personal charge of a ma
chine that, according to your own ac-
count, was TO blow us all to splinters?-
how comes it, mean, that ou were on
board with it, yourselfr
"'Well captain he replied, you see,
Pm poor man, and the money was a
good round sum; and, as | told you,