The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-02-09
THE MYSTERIOUS BOX.

THE MYSTERIOUS BOX.
| Wsnoticaed him, / remember; a iron
lbs very frsti and we had threee good
nssons for doing SO. In the first place
hwas the very lastpassenger to come on
Hafd, arriving, indeed, just when The
zbA was ringing as asignal to clear the
faip.
b the second place he was rather q
narkable-looking fellow altogether
II, gaunt, sallow and stern, with a
he, kari face. and a scooly gray eve,
II, as veal declared, = a. manifest air
tmYstey about him.. even from the
4kianihng. as& aelsEIlii iis. = !l.Tsslss
! Last, but by no means least, of our
I rnnds Of suspicion, was the fact that
mmysterious fellow-passenger brought
Hahoard with him an oblong, wooden
shH very much like an overgrown pistol
as d kkieil he seemed far more care
zhthan of the, well worn .portmanteau,
sinh was the only other article of bag
gs which he seemed to possess.
4 HEss evidently not very. heavy, for
W sailor shouldered it with ease. 1t
Ma not be called inconveniently large,
hwhen its master begged to be allowed
bkap itains his statesroom instead~ef
h#mg it in the hold, neither Captain
Eplrser made the slightest objection.
hvas not labeled Z" Glass, with Care,''
nything Of that sort, as we could all
eir ourselves, and yet8its masters
runs anxiety lest it should be dam
ga or even bumped against anything
nt was SO marked that every one be-
me have dismal suspicion as to- its
fMhle contents, f4i.r ss h,,9s..
/ Ml just at first we had something
4Hb think about, for the first three
M pf our voyage were perfect. chap
&wdaccidents. s&s : 1s
labegin with, we were thrown late
asting by having to wait more than
hour for the mail. Then, when we
m Just outside the Narrows, on came
fbg Is thick as buckwheat porridge,
aeh forced us to ie-to till late in the
noon, keeping up all the while a
sras Of bells and fog g-horns, worthy of
|Ainese wedding.
ind as soon as the fog cleared, it was
eeeded by pour of rain which in.
ea . facetious saloon-passenger to
me captain, at dinner-time, whether
Elng was allowed on the after-deck.
length the rain. went off in its turn,
now we began to hope that this was
eaa OF our troubles; but we soon
aa 1t to be only the beginning of
he red and angry sunset on the Sec
alght, the ghostly haze around the
moon when it rose, the short, un-
painting OF the wind, all foreboded
asner mischief; and the older q salts,'
eee meaninglys to Swindward and
Rnesled !" dirty weather"
me prophesy was not long in full
esg itself. About midnight I was
Aened by a crash as If twenty cart
y q bricks had tumbled through the
y, y q as many glass-houses, and |
w ga myself AZ standing bolt-upright in nv |
no. Ike soldier in a sentry-box.
u ee4 moment I had a fine per |
NJ Ssve I vles Of my toes shighsoverhead; |
" Elnd Of waterfall of cushions,
nhows. soap, towels, sboots, |
nhat not. went pouring through
81 part Of the room.
.asn burst forthra deafening chorus,
saOus, groans,a screaming women.
ag children, the rattle of dishes. the
= = s! aaa jingle of broken glass, and we
y iarly ssin for 1t" at last.
ss y ne next twenty-four hours, in the
'fsa palc words of our old boatswain.
's,s ~. -'hng blessed ON board was in
ssN Oss and upside-down.', Plates
ups knives, forks and spoons edT
81 uaselessly from side to side of the
s sasty feeders stuck their forks into
yves IN place of their meat. the
ps;as asall. forfhe mouths of the guests
s9 me ais inso tieir laps instead; and just
ksar % =: ha:gnlhed old gentleman was I,
|nls : ~ !. eonee-cup to his lips as sol II
3 x sasa $, Y ne were taking, poison, the Il
y e.s,s eve . sudden lurch, and the boil 1,
sa'ss sass neW like a fountain-iet. into Il
NV sP5less 3.s shirt-front, making him
Iss III hke speared eel. f,
s, sne morning of the fourth day
! sr's ~ seer seemed to have spent its force.
en- s were at liberty to turn our at, Ii
ss%nce = once more to the mysterious +,
Il Ss $ and hiseaually mysterious box. ];
assa. sOrmer seemed quite as anxious / !,
|ssSs;sa se.Ve himself from contact with /,
ls,sss ls On board as he had been to I
NJ 's "a nus package, for he never spoke
Ill 0he, and always answered as
lsl - = possible ( when he answered | {
L ~ senever y any one spoke to him. !
sele h 4. .ae box itself, it was a greater t
Sd tba. dan ever. The stewards re- 6
mi. ia. ne had warned them SO q
s. es.s agalnst touching it, or even :
& sgss rss.u y as to imply that the con- :
tthinaa ina,ever ' they might be, were i
s6s ag bga very dangerous indeed. But !
Id sos aaa MS doubts whether even the .
as unknown peril would be +