Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1882-01-28
THE MYSTERIOUS BOX.

reasons for doing so. In the first
place, he was the very last passenger
to come on board, arriving, indeed,
just when the bell was ringing as a
signal to clear the ship.
In the second place he was rather
a remarkable looking fellow alto
gether-tall ,gaunt, sallow and stern,
with a long lean face, and a cool,
gray eye, and, as we all declared, a
manifest air of mystery about him,
even from the beginning.
Last, but by no means least, of
our grounds of suspicion, was the
fact that our mysterious fellow.pas-
senger brought cupboard with him an
oblong, wooden box, very much like
an Overgrown pistol case, of which
he seemed far more careful than of
the well.worn portmanteau, which
was the only other article of bag
gage which he seemed to possess.
1t vas evidently not very heavy,
for M sailor shouldered it with
ease. 1t could not be called incon-
veniently large, for when its master
begged to be allowed to keep it in
his s%tate-room instead of slowing it
in the hole, neither Captain nor pur-
e made the slightest objection.
1t vas not labeled "GIass, with
Care" or anything of that sort, as
we could all see for ourselves, and
yet its masters nervous anxiety lest
it should be damaged or even bump
ed against anything hard, was so
marked that everyone began to have
dismal suspicion as to its possible
contents.
But just at first we had something
else to think about, for the first few
days of our voyage were a perfect
chapter of Incidents.
To begin with, we were thrown
late at starting by having to wait
more than an hour for the mail.
Then, when we were just outside
the Narrows, on came a fog as thick
as buckwheat porridge, which fore
ed us to lie-to till late in the after
noon, keeping up all the while a
chorus of bells and fog-horns, wor-
thy of a Chinese wedding.
And as soon as the fog cleared, it
was succeeded by a pour of rain,
which inspired a facetious saloon
passenger to ask the captain, at the
dinner-table, whether fishing was al
lowed on the after-deck.
AT length the rain went off in its
turn, and now we began to hope
that this was the end of our troubles;
but we oon found it to be only the
beginning of them.
The red and angry sunset on the
second night, the ghostly haze around
the full moon when it rose the short
uneasy painting of the wind ,all fore
BODIED further mischief; and the old
er "salts" looked meaningly to
windward and prophesied ''dirty
weather."
The prophesy was not long in full
filling itself. About midnight | Was
awakened by a crash as if twenty
carloads of bricks had tumbled
through the roofs of as many glass
houses, and found myself standing
bolt upright in my berth, like a SOL
dier in a sentry-box. The next mo-
ment | had IA fine perspective view
of my toes high overhead, while a
kind of waterfall of cushions, tow
els, blankets, pillows, soap, boots,
and what not, went pouring through
every part of the room
Then burst forth a deafening cho-
rus of shouts, groans, screaming
women, crying children, the rattle
of dishes, the crash and jingle of
broken glass, and we were fairly Sin
for it" at last.
For the next twenty-four hours,in
the graphic words of old boatswain,
''every thing blessed on board was
inside.out and upside-down. Plates
and cups, knives, forks and spoons,
eddied ceaselessly from side to side
of the table.
Hasty feeders stuck their forks in
themselves in place of their meat the
soup meant for the mouths of the
guests emptied into their laps in
stead; and just as one dignified old
gentleman was raising his coffee.cu