Morris tribune., 1880-08-05

was CVES 9S OOuAu DC. l)ul lIlaC 0lgnC,
things seemed all out of gear, as I have
said. My pipe didn't soothe me as was
its wont; try as I might, I couldn't get
interested In the newspaper; uncomfort-
able feeling of dread possessed my mind.
ait all comes from that pesky mon
ey package" muttered to myself.
"Why couldn't it have got here on the
IL 80 and saved me the job of keeping it
here over Rightv
Just at this moment came a terrific
clap of thunder and fash OF lightning
vivid enough to make the lamp DIM.
had locked up the safe and put the key
there was no combination lock--in my
pocket. But had not the largest faith
in the security of the old safe It had
occurred to me often that person could
open it, even if no wasn't a skillful
cracksman. 1t was my custom to leave
my door open between my little room
and the ticket Office, so that it Red Ra-
vine was called on the telegraph key
could hear it. The instrument had been
clicking away at great rate for the past
hour; but as it was none of my business
had paid no attention to what was going
| over the wires. Judged now from the
nearness of the lightning and the jerking
sounds Of the instrument that the storm
was playing the mischief with the mes
sages. ! passed into the ticket Office
where light was left burning, and
stood for some time thinking whether the
| money package would be less exposed in
the safe than it would be under the mat
tress of my bed, and finally concluded
that the latter would be the hardest for
any thief to reach. So took out the
heavy brown envelope and slowed 1t away
under the mattress.
Once more sat down to my newspa-
per and pipe, but with no better success
than before. The storm seemed now to
have centered over the little station.
Peal after peal of thunder rent the air,
and the tightening played on the sky
like prosperous on an inky back ground
If you have ever chanced to be in tele-
graph Office during thunder storm, you
may have seen the electricity dash down
the wires in way to make timid peo.
pie nervous. Even veteran operators,
like myself, wouldn't want to undertake
to receive that sort of a message. I was
tempted to close the key, but the mean
ingless ticking had sort of fascination
for me in the mood then was.
To occupy myself about something
relighted my lantern, went into the
freight room, examined again the bolts
of the doors and the tastenings Of the
windows, and returned TO the room more
worried and upset than ever. Just as /
was entering my own nest, the light of
the lantern fell squarely on the wooden
box. Oddly enough, until that moment l
had forgotten all about the dead young
woman. Thinking so steadily of the
$4,000 had, l suppose, driven the box
out of my mind. But can't say it was
any comfort to have it brought back
now; for q corpse is never the most
cheerful of company, and, feeling as l
did then, / would a great deal rather
have had no company at all.
It must have been the imp OF preverse,
I suppose, that lmpelled me, after the
the box had been brought back to my
mind, to leave the door open SO that I
could sit and stare at 1t with morbid curl
osity. As have already said, my Sleep
ing apartment was merely partit1oned
off from the freight room, and was con-
nected with the latter by door. The
body had been placed in such a position
that when this door was open the head of
the box was in sight. Two or three times
I got up to shut the door, but some odd
and strange fatality drove me back to my
chair, and caused me to keep in view the
box with its sad freight. All this time
the storm ragged, the thunder discharged
its mighty batteries, the lightning fash
ed, and the mad rsvlngs OF the telegraph
continued. caught my hand trembling
as I tried to refill my pipe. Nervousness,
no doubt; but possibly an observer might
have thought that old Billy was q little
frightened.
/ had Just risen to wind the little clock
on the shelf, when suddenly out of the
hitherto meaningless ticking of the in
strument sharply and distinctly came to
my ears these sounds:
which in spoken words meant, "Watch
the box.'
I started as If charge of electricity
had shot through my frame. could
fairly feel my face grow white. I stood
mononless, clutching the back of my
chair and with my eyes riveted in va
cant stare at the table In the telegraph
office. knew this was no work of an
excited imagination. The words, to nv
practical ear, were as plain as if shouted
In clarion tones. There had come no
call tor Red Ravine, and the message
ended without signature or mark, but ab-
ruptly, as 1t had begun. More than that,
1t was not the writing of an operator on
any section of the line. I would have
sworn to that with as much positiveness
as you would to the tones of a voice with
which you are familiar. In the dot and
dash alphabet we learn to distinguish
who is handling the keys almost with as
others distinguish handwriting. And in
all my experience I had never heard the
ssunder click OF message like that.
While stood dazed and almost para
lyzed (for you must remember that old
Bllly's nerves were strung to terrible
pitch that night the rapid and unintel-
hg1ble CliCk-cllck was resumed as if g
demon had again got hold of the key. 1t
was fully five minutes before / mustered
courage enough to pass into the ticket
office and slt down by the table myself.
XNOb OuCC udu i JuIucu UdCh W lOOk aL
the box. Almost at the instant of nv
sitting down at the table the clicking
stopped short, as it had done before, and
then these words were repeated: "Watch
the box"
Isprang up from the table, and, with
the now strengthened conviction that it
was no delusion, no fancy, but that the
sound had come plainly over the wires,
felt my courage returning, and resolved
TO heed the mysterious warning. The
rolling of the thunder and the mad roar
of the storm no longer depressed me.
I stepped boldly back into my own room,
and rested my eyes unfinchingly on the
on the the mysterious box. What was
the mysterious ireight9 Why had the
phantom of the storm sent those words
ever the wlresa What unknown hand
had reached out from the very lightning
itself to warn me of danger? These
questions rushed through my mind as /
felt the dread fear diappearing and found
myself of sudden growing strangely
calm.