The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1882-03-11
The Mysterious Passenger.

We noticed him, remember, from the
very first. and We had three good reasons
for so doing. Ia the first place, he was
the very last passenger to come aboard.
arriving, indeed, just when the bell was
ringing as signal to clear the ship.
In the second place, no was rather
remarkable boxing fellow altogether -
tall, gaunt, sallow and stern. with long,
lean face, and ccld, grey eye, aud, as
we all declared, q manifest air of mys-
terry about him, even from the very beg
ining.
The last, but by no means least. of our
grounds of suspicion, was the fact that
our mysterious fellow passenger brought
on board with him an oblong wooden
box, very much like an overgrown pistol
case, of which be seemed far more care
full than OF he well worn leather port
manteau. which was the only other ar.i.
Gle of baggage he seemed to possess.
1t was evidently not very heavy, for
one sailor shouldered it with ease. 1t
could not be called inconveniently large.
for when its master begged to be allowed
to keep it in his stateraom instead of
slowing it in the hold, neither the cap
tain or the pnrser made the slightest OBJ
lection.
1t was not labelled "Glass, with care, I"
or anything of that sort, as we could all
see for ourselves; aud yet its masters
nervous anxiety lest it should be dam
aged, or even bumped against anything
hard, was so marked that we all began
to have dismal suspicious as to its possi-
BILE contents.
But just at first we had something else
to think about, for the first three days OF
our voyage was q perfect chapter of acci-
dents. "'
To begin with, we were thro wn late al
starting, by having to wait more than an
hour for the mail, Then. when we were
just outside the Narrows, on came q fog
as thick as buckwheat porridge, which
forced us to lie too till late in the after
noon, keeping up all the while chorus
Of bells and horns worthy of Chinese
wedding.
As soon as the fog cleared, it was sue
ceeded by pour of rain which inspired
a facetious saloon passenger TO ask tn,
captain, at dinner time, whether fishing
was allowed on the after-deck.
At length the rain went of in its turn
and now we began to hope that this wa
the end of our trouble but we sool
found it to be only the beginning o
them.
The red and angry sunset on the sec
ond night, the ghostly haze around tn
full moon when it rose. the short, uneas.
painting of the wind, all foreboded furth
er mischief, and the older -salts" locke
meaningly to windward, and prophesie'
dirty weather"
The prophecy was not long in fulhllin
itself. About midnight was awakene,
by crash as if twenty eart-loads o
bricks had tumbled through the roof O
so many glass houses. and found mysel
standing bolt-upright in my berth, lik
q soldier in q sen:ry-box. And the mex
moment / had fine prospective view G
my toes high overhead, while a kind c
waterfall of cushions, blankets, pillows
soap, towels, boots aud whatnot, wen
pouring through every part of the room
Then burst forth deafening chorus c
shouts, groans, screaming women. cry
ing children, the rattle of dishes, th
crash and jingle OF broken glass, and W
were fairly 'in for it" at last.
For the next twenty-four hours, in th
graphic words of oar old boatswain-
''oyery blessed thing on board was insid
out and upside down" Plates and eupi
knives, forks and spoons eddied ceasC
lessly from side to side of the table.
Hasty feeders stuck their forks int
themselves instead Of their meat th
soup meant for the mouths of the guest
emptied itself into their laps instead; an