Passaic City record., 1892-12-31


sailing along as nice as you please when
bang came that pampero like shot from
a cannon. Every rag of canvas we had
out was swept away like the swapping OF
/ your finger and the boats went smashing
into splinters.
"About as bad as typhoon," re-
marked.
"a typhoonln he exclaimed; "why,
| it was worse while it lasted; worse than
a typhoon or West India hurricane.
Luckily it didn't stay more than ten min
utes or me aud your box would have
| been at the bottom.
| Then he mentioned other incidents OF
the voyage, ratified off with great glib
ness the names of their stopping places
and referred to little peculiarities OF some
| of the ports of the far East, which GER
tainly seemed to show an acquaintance
with them. He mentioned, in the most
casual manner, that while coming out OF
the Ly-ee-moon passage of Hong Kong
Harbor they narrowly escaped collision
with French steamer which was just
going in, and he spoke of an incident OF
their stay at the Tanjong- Pagar docks
at Singapore. His conversation was
| fairly dotted with marine terms, but less
so than the talk of the sailor as the
dramatists usually present him on the
stage.
He chatted on with great ease, and for
time had me quite off my guard. Then
| it occurred to me that his manner was
decidedly more iaunty and free than
that of the first officers or even the cap
tains of tramp steamers under the Eng
lish flag. His accent was not specifically
British, and his manner of twirling an
envelope, which I had given him to
show my full name and address, was
that of a man more accustomed to the
handling of papers than of one in his
purported position. A suspicion arose
In nv mind that he was not all his fancy
and statements painted him, and while
he was talking so engaglngly I endeav-
ored to stake him in." But could not
imagine what his object was, assuming
that he was counterfeit, inasmuch as
he had distinctly stated that there was no
charges for freight; he also said there
were no custom house duties, the officials
at Philadelphia having consented that
the contents Of the box, being intended
as present, might enter the United
States free of charge, as though they
were for the Metropolitan Museum OF
Art or other public institution.
Fifteen or twenty minutes passed
in general talk, and then there came q
slight lull in the conversation. Ichanged
my position in my chair in the endeavor
to hint that it was about time to bring
the interview to an end; he took the hint
and rose to go, remarking, as he dld so,
that he would send the box by express
that very afternoon. He was returning
to Philadelphia at once, having run over
to New York for some custom house and
other business, and would be in posses
sion of my curios the next morning. /
thanked him and rendered cigar, which
he accepted unhesitatingly. My suspi-
cion that he was an impostor had been
pretty thoroughly AdispelIed by the
knowledge he had displayed of Asiatic
ports and waters and of marine life in
general, and by the absence of any re-
quest for money.
AS we neared the door leading from
the parlor to the hall he suddenly stopped
and said.
.Oh, by the way, told you there
were no charges on the box. forgot
the wharf charges at Philadelphia; that
= Ill ~-1,,Vt bouo 70 nor ~
s.Indeed!" / answered, my suspicion
returning. "How much are those
chargesa"
.sTwo dollars and sixteen cents" he
answered.
ssAhl" I said, "that's mere trife.
Have you bill for them2"
ssOh, no, have no bill; the purser
pays those charges to the wharfman and
asked me to collect the amount from you,
If saw you."
"Certainly," I answered. "Just let
that come as collect charge with the
box
ssWe couldn't do that" he said, ''be-
cause we sail tomorrow morning."
"In that case," I suggested, "let your
consignees In Philadelphia pay the
amount, send me the bill and / will re-
nit. They will be entirely safe, as they
can hold the box for security until they
receive the money"
Certainly, we can do that" he re-
piled, quickly, 'though, really, they
have nothing to do with the wharf
charges, which are settled by the purser,
as just told you. 1t will make little
bother for them, but we'll leave it that
way if you prefer it"
Here was a blow to my suspicious;
the man was ready to comply with my
suggestion even though it might be q
trouble to the consignees.
I expected that he would want to bor-
row the price of his fare to Philadelphia,
and was ready with an answer in case he
should do so. But he had done nothing
of the sort, and, as for the wharf
charges, was somehow in a position in
which tho lioht did not SHINE favorably