The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-04-23
THE 0BL0NH BOX.

"Tl rillirrY' snid thu major "Wcll, |
should say 50. II was the most exciting
thing thnt ever occurred to me At the
time | was n telegraph operator and dis
ratchrr for the Mountain Valley railroad
company in western mining country. 1t
was n wild ana lawlcss country, and was
not much in love with my place.
"Goldton, where | was located. was
really nothing moro than railroad sta
ton. 1t was not on the line of the Noun
tain Valley railroad but on spur which
ran to the 1ngot mines. Travel was not
very extensive. In fact. but one train II
day passed my lonely station.
"On the 10Th day of every month l re-
ccivcd by express for the superintendent
of the lngot Mining COMFY the money
with which the miners wciC paid off. The
amount averaged between $4,000 and
$4,000. On June IA, that year, the super
intcndent of the mines came to me and
said:
Perkins the pay money will be here
/ tomorrow, as usual, but / want you to ex-
ercisc more than ordinary vigilance in
guarding it, as l understand Grizzly Bill
/ is operating in the mountains again.
Grizzly Bill was name to inspire ter
ror. The individual who bore that unmu-
steal sobriquct 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 Pikcville could not get
! to Goldton owing to n 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 l received a
message saying that 1t would be impossi-
bic for the train to get through before 8 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 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 cit was
hardly anything else) was partitioned of
so as to make a private Enclosure. The
sender and receiver were affixed to a table
conveniently near my bed, and if necessa
ry it was possible to transmit or take O
"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
ed on account of the washout, had started
for Goldton and would reach there between
3 and O'Clock in the morning. At pre-
cisely 40 o'clock the train steamed into
Goldton.
1.-THE express messenger alighted ant
handed me huge and many sealed pack
age. 1t contained SIT, 800.
oh, that isn't ALL said the messen
ger with u laugh. Il have box in the cal
that's us heavy as lead We've been won
dering all the way up the mountain what
it contained.
"The box was lifted from the car ant
placed on end in the freight department o
the station. 1t was fully feet long and
wide-horribly suggestive of the rougl
box in which IA coffin is inclosed.
Il put the pay money in the safe, turn
cd the combination lock and retired. l fcl
into doze, from which l was arouset
with Il start by what seemed to be tn
ticking of the sounder. 1t said as clear n
if some one had spoken: Beware! DANCE
threatens.
81 sat up in bed. The moon was shining
brightly through the window. / gazed in
tently at the sounder. 1t made not TIN
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 partitioning O
my little apartment did not extend as higl
hn Inf m icta n
about five feet above the level of my bed
and by standing on the bed 1 could pee
over the top and see all parts of the int
rior of the station.
e"I rose stealthily to an erect position
and looked over the edge of the partition
The first thing / saw was the box, stand
ing on end near window in the eXtrem
end of the station, and as / looked l saw
its top slowly rise and u mans head pro
trude itself
at was thick, brutalized face, wit
griZzled whiskers. Instantly it flashe
across my mind that it belonged to Griz
ely Bill.
Il got out Of bed, picked up the Goa
shovel and scuttle and made as muc
noise as possible. AS the night had bee
an unusually cool one a fire was burning
and as l passed the stove l grabbed IN
revolver and thrust it into my right Goa
pocket. Into my left pocket l thrust som
! nails and hammer.
"Then, whstling as loudly as possible t
mislead the desperate in the box, i left tn
little office and walked across the floor G
the freight part of the station. When i'm
mediately in front of the box, l sprang a
it with the fury of man fighting for hi
life and overturned it, 1t fell to the floor
top up, with II resounding crash. Instant
ly ] was astride the box driving nails int
the lid as hard and fast as man in terro
for his life could do
"And all that while / was yelling at tn
imprisoned outlaw ut the top of my voic,
telling him that if he so much as breathe
/ would instantly kill him.
but my threats did not appear to fright
en- him much. From the interior of tn
box came "a volley of muflled oaths tina
would have astonishcd Digger Indian.
fired my pistol twice in the air to let hiI
J know that ] meant business. After awhil
he became quiet. l carefully examined tn
box and found that there was no danger c
| ertffn in,r fpu mr. thn md fhnr