The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1897-05-13
THE OBLONG BOX.

time l was a telegraph operator and dis
patcher for the Mountain Valley railroad
company in western mining country. It
was a wild and lawless country, and WAS
not much in love with my place.
sGoldton. where I was located, was
really nothing more than railroad sta
ton. 1t was not on the line of the Noun
tain Valley railroad, but on spur which |
ran to the Ingot mines. Travel was not |
very extensive. In fact. but one train |
day passed my lonely station.
ssOn the 18th day of every month / re- |
ceived by express for the superintendent
of the Ingot Mining company the money |
with which the miners were paid off The |
amount averaged between $15, 600 and
$4,000. 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 want you to ex-
ercise more than ordinary vigilance in
guarding it, as l understand Grizzly Bill
is operatir g in the mountains again
.'Grizzly Bill was name to inspire ter
ror The individual who bore that unmu-
steal sobriquet was an outlaw of great
daring and resolution. He stopped at moth
ing.
During the night which followed a 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 a 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 3 O'Clock that evening I received a
message saying that it would be impossl-
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, l turned in early that
night Sleep, however, was out of the
question.
''The baggage, freight, express and tele-
graph offices were all under one roof.
One corner of the big warehouse lit was
hardly anything else) was partitioned off
so as to make private inc1osure The
sender and receiver We're affixed to a table
conveniently near MY led, and II necessa-
I nv it was possible to transmit or take a
message without even arising
Along toward midnight the telegraph
| Instrument began to click. heard my
! call, opened the key and asked what was
wanted The operator at Pikeville wired
| back that the train, which had been delay
ed on account of the washout, had started
| for Goldton and would reach there between
| and O'Clock in the morning At pre-
| cisely 2:45 o'clock the train steamed into
| Goldton.
1.-The express messenger alighted and
| handed me a huge and many sealed pack
| age. 1t contained SIT, 500.
s. ooh, that isn't all, said the messen
| ger, with a laugh Il have box in the cal
| that's as heavy as lead. We've been won
dering all the way up the mountain what
| it contained
/ ssThe box was lifted from the car anG
placed on end in the freight department o
the station. 1t was fully feet long and .
| wide-horribly suggestive of the rough
box in which a coffin is Enclosed.
81 put the pay money in the safe, turn
ed the combination lock and retired. fel
into a doze, from which l was arouset
with a start by what seemed to be tn
ticking of the sounder. 1t said as clear a
if some one had spoken: 'Bewarel Dange
threatens.
81 sat up in bed. The moon was shining
| brightly through the window. l gaZed in
tently at the sounder. 1t made not tn
slightest motion, yet the message cam
| again. this time even more startlingly dis
| tinct than before
Upon hearing the third message m
mind instantly reverted to the huge DO
in the freight corner. The partitionlng c
my little apartment did not extend as hlg
as the roof, but merely to a distance {
about five feet above the level of my bee
and by standing on the bed l could pee
over the top and see all parts OF the int
rior of the station
81 rose stealthily to an erect positio
and looked over the edge of the partition
The first thing / saw was the box, stant
ing on end near window in the extren
end of the station, and as 1 looked I sa
its top slowly rise and a mans head PR
| trude itself.
"It was a thick, brutalized face, wit
grizzled whiskers. Instantly it fashe
, | across my mind that it belonged to Gri
{ Fly Bill.
, 81 got out of bed, picked up the CO
shovel and scuttle and made mut
noise as possible AS the night had bee
} an unusually cool one a fire was burning
5 and as I PASSED the stove grabbed N
l revolver and thrust it into my right CO
e | pocket. Into my left pocket l thrust son
| nails and hammer.
, "Then, whistling as loudly as possible
mislead the desperate in the box, left Il
little office and walked across the floor
the freight part of the station. When II
mediately in front of the box, sprang
it with the fury of man fighting for
life and overturned it. 1t fell to the f1oo
top up, with resounding crash. lnstar
ly I was astride the box driving nails in
the lid as hard and fast as a man in terri
for his life could do.
"And all that while was yelling at t
imprisoned outlaw at the top of my voit
telling him that if ne so much as breath
I would instantly kill him.
''But my threats did not appear to frigl
en- him much From the interior of t
box came volley of muffied oaths til
would have astonished Digger Indian.
fired my pistol twice in the air to let hi
know that meant business. After awh
he became quiet 1 carefully examined
box and found that there was no danger
suffocating, for at the upper end the
were a number of tiny perforations viii
freely admitted air.
81 sat astride that box until my ASST
ant arrived at o'clock. 1t was long a
trying vigil, but the magnitude of my
tory buoyed me up. My assistant quicl
went to the mines and told the super1
tendent to hasten at once with a sufhcie
guard of men to the station and take Gr
Ely Bill into custody.
stIt didn't take long to do this, a
when Bill was hauled by no gentle han
from the box he was the angriest outli
ever captured. He fought like tiger, b
it was of no use. He was securely bouT
and later in the day taken to Pikevil
{. where he was subsequently sentenced tt
1T | long term of imprisonment. '-Exchang
b The Perfect Bicycle.
a. Wobbles-The perfect bicycle, sir, Is