Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1905-07-08
The Special Correspondent

/ paddle boxes, the wind Is so strong that
| seek shelter among the packages COW
cred by the tarpaulin. Stretched on one
of the boxes, wrapped In my rug, with
my head resting against the tarpaulin,
shall soon be asleep
After come time | am awakened by a
curious noise. Whence comes this noise =?
| listen more attentively. 1t seems as
though some one Is snoring close to my
ear.
"That is some steerage passenger" l
think. HE has got under the tarpaulin
between the cases, and he will not do
so badly in his improysed ca bin."
BY the light which filters down from
the lower part of the pinnacle, l see
nothing | listen again. The noise has
ceased. 1 look about. There Is no one
on this part of the deck, for the second
class passengers are all forward.
Then l must have been dreaming, and
l resume my position, and try again to
sleep. This time there Is no mistake.
The snoring has begun again. and | am
sure 1t is coming from the case against
which | am leaning my head.
Goodness l say. There must be
an animal in here!'
Now l am off on the trail. It must
be wild animal ON its way from some
menagerie to some Sultan of Central
Asia
l light a wax vesta, and as I am shell
tered from the wind, the fame keeps
upright. BY its light what do | read?
The case containing the wild beast is
the very one with the address:
Mademoiselle Zinca Klork, Avenue
Cha-Coua, Pekin, China.
Fragile, my wild beast! Keep from
damp, my lion Quite so! But for what
does Miss Zinca Klork, this pretty Rou-
manian, want a wild beast sent in this
way?
My thoughts bewilder me. l have
two-pound weight on each eyelid. l lie
down along by the tarpaulin; my rug
wraps me more closely, and | fall into a
deep sleep. 1t is not yet daylight when
awake.
l rub my eyes, l rise, go and lean
against the rail- The Astara is not so
lively, for the wind has shifted to the
northeast
The night is cold. I warm myself by
walking about briskly for half an hour.
think no more of my wild beast Sud
l look at my watch. 1t is only 3 O'Clock
in the morning. l will go back to my
place. And | do so with my head against
the side of the case. shut my eyes
Suddenly there is a new sound. This
time l am not mistaken. A half-stihed
sneeze shakes the side of the case. Never
did an animal sneeze like that!
Is it possible? A human being Is hid
den in this case and is being fraudulent
IL carried by the Grand Transasiatic to
the pretty houmanian? But is it a man
or a woman? 1t seems as though the
sneeze has a masculine sound about it.
The eastern horizon grows brighter.
The clouds in the zenith are the first 70
color. The sun appears at last all wat
cry with the mists of the sea.
| look it is indeed the case addressed
to Pehn. l notice that certain holes are
pierced here and here, by which the air
inside can be renewed. Perhaps two
eyes are looking through these holes,
watching what is going on outside.
At breakfast rally all the passengers
whom the sea has not affected; the young
Chinaman, Major Noltitz, Ephrinell.
Miss Bluett, Monsieur Caterna, the Bar
on Observation-Disclosures, and seven or
eight other passengers. | am careful
not to let the American into the secret
of the case.
About noon the land is reported to the
eastward, a low, yellowish land, with no
rocky margin, but a few sand hills in
the neighborhood of Krasnovodsk.
In an hour we are in sight of Uzun
Ada, and twenty-seven minutes after
ward set foot in Asia.