The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-03-12
THE oBLoNG BOX.

1
hme I was o telegraph operator and dis
patcher for the Mountain Valley railroad
company in . western mining country. II
was wild and lawless country, and was
not much in love with my place
| "Goldton, where ] was located, was
really nothing more than railroad sta.
ton. II was not on the line of the Noun.
tain Valley railroad, but on spur which
ran to the lngot mines Travel was not
very extensive. In fact. but one train q
day passed my lonely station.
"0n tho 10th day Of every month re.
oeiyed by express for the superintendent
of the Ingot Mining company the money
with which the miners were paid off. The
amount averaged between $4,000 and
$1S, 900. On June IA, that year, the super
intendent of the mines came to me and
said
Perkins, the pay money will be here
tomorrow, as usual, but l want you to ex
ercise more than ordinary vigilance in
guarding 1t, as understand Grizzly Bill
is operating In the mountains again. e.
"Grizzly Bill was a name to inspire ter
ror. The Individual who bore that unmu-
steal sobriquet was an outlaw of great
daring and resolution. Hestopped at moth
ing.
During the night which followed vio-
lent rainstorm swept through the noun
tains. Shortly before 10 O'Clock the next
morning received word over the wire
that the train from Pikeville could not get
to Goldton owing to washout below
Summit Rock. 1t was thought that the
track could be made passable by afternoon
and that the train would reach my station
about o'clock.
"At o'clock that evening / received
message saying that it would be impossi-
BILE for the train to get through before or
10 O'Clock the next morning. sent word
to this effect to the mine superintendent,
who in turn communicated it to the men.
Feeling rather tired, 1 turned In early that
night Sleep, however, was out of the
question.
1.-THE baggage, freight, express and tole-
One corner of the big warehouse Ut was
hardly anything else) was partitioned off
SO rs to make private Enclosure. The
sender and receiver were affixed to table
conveniently near my bed, and If necessa-
ry it was possible to transmit or take
message without even arising.
"Along toward midnight the telegraph
instrument began to click. l heard my
call, opened the key and asked what was
wanted. The operator at Pikeville wired
back that the train, which had been delay
cd on account of the washout, had started
for GoldtOn and would reach there between
and 4 O'Clock in the morning. At pre-
cisely e:45 o'clock the train steamed into
Goldton.
'Ihe express messenger alighted and
handed me huge and many sealed pack
age. 1t contained $17,500.
oh, that isn't all, said the messen-
ger, with laugh. Il have box in the car
that's as heavy as lead. We've been won
dering all the way up the mountain what
it contained
"The box was lifted from the car and
placed on end in the freight department of
the station. 1t was fully feet long and 4
wide-horribly suggestive of the rough
box in which a coffin is inolosed
II put tho pay money in the safe, turn
ed the combination lock and retired. l fell
into a doze, from which l was aroused
with start by what seemed to be tho
ticking of the sounder. 1t said as clear as
If some one had spoken: 'Bewarel Danger
threatens
II sat up in bed The moon was shining
brightly through the window. / gazed in
tently at the sounder. 1t made not the
slightest motion, yet the message came
again, this time even more startlingly dis
tinct than before
Upon hearing the third message my
mind instantly reverted to the huge box
in the freight corner. The partitioning of
my little apartment did not extend as high
as the roof, but merely to q distance Of
about five feet above the level Of my bed,
and by standing on the bed could peer
over the top and see all parts Of the inte-
rior of the station.
II rose stealthily to an erect position
and looked over the edge Of the partition.
The first thing I saw was the box, stand
ing on end near window in the extreme
end of the station, and as I looked ! saw
its top slowly rise and a mans head pro-
trude itself.
at was a thick, brutalized face, with
grizzled whiskers, Instantly it flashed
across my mind that it belonged to Griz-
ely Bill.
II got out Of bed, picked up the coal
shovel and scuttle and made as much
noise as possible. As the night had been
an unusually cool one fire was burning,
and as 1 passed the stove l grabbed my
revolver and thrust it into my right coat
pocket Into my left pocket l thrust some :
nails and hammer.
"Then, whistling as loudly as possible to |
mislead the desperate in the box, ! left the |
little Office and walked across the floor of |
the freight part of the station. When i'm
mediately in front Of the box, I sprang ut |
1t with the fury Of man fighting for his
life and overturned it. 1t fell to the floor,
top up, with rasounding crash. Instant
ly was astride the box driving nails into
for his life could do.
And all that while was yelling at the
Imprisoned outlaw at the top OF my voice,
telling him that II he so much as breathed
would instantly kill him.
but my threats did not appear to fright
en- him much. From the interior Of the
box came volley of muffled oaths that
would have astonshed Digger Indian.
fred my pistol twice in the air to let him
know that meant business After awhile
no became quiet. l carefully examined the
oox and found that there was no danger of
'uffocating, for at the upper end there
we're number of tiny perforations which
Freely admitted air.
II sat astride that box until my assist
mt arrived at z o'clock. 1t was long and
rying vigil, but the magnitude of my vic
DRY buoyed me up. My assistant quickly
vent to the mines and told the superin-
endent to hasten at once with sufficient
,uard of men to the station and take Griz-
ly Bill into custody.
ut didn't take long to do this, and
When Bill was hauled by no gentle hands
rom the box he was the angriest outlaw
yer captured. He fought like tiger, but
was Of no USE He was securely bound,
nd later in the day taken to Pikeville,