Perth Amboy evening news., 1910-08-05
THE
OBI,ONG BOX
8- BY -A-
EDGAR ALLAN POE

ence, Captain Hardy. We were to sail On the 18th OF
June, weather permitting. and OH the 18th l went o
bonrd to arrange some matters In my stateroom-
l found that we were TO have a great mnny passengers, inciud-
ing a more than usual number of ladies. On the list were several
of my acquaintance. and among other names l was rejoiced to
see that of Mr. Cornelius Wyatt, a young artist for whom l enter
tained feelings of warm friendship. He had been with me a fell
low student at c. university, where we were very much together.
He had the ordinary temperament of genius and was a COM
pound of mlsanthropy, sensdbdaity and enthusiasm. To these
qualities he united the warmest and trdest heart which ever beat
In a human bosom.
I observed that his name was carded upon three statereoms,
and upon again referring to the list of passengers 1 found that he
had engaged passage for himself, wife and two sisters-his own
The staterooms were sufficiently roomy and each had two berths.
one above the other. These berths, to be sure, were so exceed
ingly narrow as to be insufficient for more than one person; STILL
1 could not comprehend why there were three staterooms for
these four persons. was just at that epoch in one of those
moody frames of mind which make a man abnornany fnqu@tiVe
about trthes, and confess with shame that 1 busted myself in a
variety of ill bred and preposterous conjeetures about this matter
of the supernumerary stateroom. 1t was no business of mine, to
be sure, but with none the less pertinacity did i occupy myself In
attempts to resolve the enigma. At last / reached d conclusion
which wrought in me great wonder why 1 had not arrived at 1T
before.
sit is a servant, of course" I said. What a fool am not
sooner to have thought of so obvious ii soluttont'
And then 1 again repaired to the list, but here 1 saw distinctly
that no servant was to come with the party, although, in fact, 1T
had been te original design to bring one, for the words land
servant" had been first written and then overscored.
"Oh. extra baggage, to be sure 1 now said to myself-"some-
thing he wishes not to be put in the hold, something to be kept
under his own eye-ah, 1 have it, a painting or>so-and this Is
what he has been bargaining about with Nieolino, the Italian
Jew"
This idea satisfied me, and 1 dismissed my curiosity for the
Wyatts two sisters I knew very we'll. and most amiable and
clever girls they were. His wife he had newly married, and
had never yet seen her, He tsd often talked about her in my
presence, however, and in his usual style of enthusiasm. He de-
scribed her as of4surpasdng beauty, wit and accomplishment L
was therefore quite anxious to make her acquaintance
On the day in which l visited the ship the i4th Wyatt and
party We're also to visit it, so the captain informed me- and l
waited on board an hour longer than had designed in hope of
being presented TO the bride, but then an apology came-"Mrs. W.
was a little indisposed and would decline coming on board until
tomorrow at the hour of sailing"
The morrow having arrived, ] was going from my hotel to the
wharf when Captain Hardy met me and said that owing TO cur
cumstanees'a stupid but convenient phrase-%he rather thought
the Independence would not sail for a day or two and that when
all was ready he would send up and let me know" rms 1
thought strange, for there was a stiff southerfy breeze but as
1.-The circumstances were not forthcoming, although pumped
for them with much perseverance,, had nothing to do but to
return home and digest my impatience at leisure.
/ did not receive the expected message from the captain for
nearly a week. 1t came at length however. ad | immediately
went n board. The ship was crowded with passengers and
everything was in the hustle attendant upon making sail.
Wyatts party arrived in about ten minutes after myself There
were the two sisters, the bride and the artist, the latter in one
of his customary fits of moody misanthropy. l was too well used
to these, however, to pay them any special attention. He did not
even Introduce me to his wife this courtesy devolving per force
upon his sister Marian, a very sweet and Intelligent girl who In
4 few hurried words made Il S acquainted.
Mrs. Wyatt had been closely yelled, and when she raised her
veil in acknowledging my bow confess that was very pro-
foundly astonished. should nave cen muc nor 50 however,
had not long experience advised me not to trust with too implicit
a reliance the enthusiastic descriptions of my friend, the artist.
when INDUCING in comments upon The loveliness o I woman
When beauty was the theme 1 well knew with what facility he
scared into the regions of the purely ideal
The truth is / could not help regarding Mrs. Wyatt as a de-
cidedly plain looking woman. If not positively ngy, she was
not, 1 think. very far from it. She was dressed however, in ex-
ausite taste, and then L had no doubt that she had eapuvated my
friends heart by the more enduring graces of the intellect and
soul She said very few words and passed at once into her state
room with MI. ".
My old inquisitveness now returned, There was no servant
that was a settled point. l looked, therefore, OF II extra Dag
gage. After some delay a cart arrived at the wharf with an
oblong pine box. which was everything that seemed to be ex-
-pected. Immediately upon It's arrival we made sail and in a
short time were safely over the bar and standing out to sea.
The box In question was, as l say, oblong. 1t was about six
feet in length by two and a half in breadth. l observed it at
tentively and like to be precise. Now, this shape was peculiar,
and no sooner had L seen it than / took credit to myself for the
accuracy of my guessing. Il had reached the conclusion. it will
be remembered, that the extra baggage of my friend, the artist,
would prove to be pictures, or. at least, a picture, for l knew he
had been for several weeks in conference with Nicotine. and now
here was a box which from its shape could possibly contain
nothing in the world but a copy OF Leonaraos Last supper"
and a copy of this very Last Supper" done by RubLni the
at Florence. / had known for some time to be in the
possession of Nicolno This point. therefore, considered as
sufficiently settled. chuckled excessively when l thought OF my
acumen.- 1t was the first time | had ever known Wyatt to keep
from IN any of his artistical secrets, but here he evidently in
tended to steal a march upon nae and smugge a fine picture to
New York under my very nose, expecting me to know nothing OF
the matter. L resolved to quiz him well now and hereafter
One thing, however. annoyed me not a little. The box did
not go into the extra Stateroom- It WAS deposited In Wyatfs
own, and there, too, it remained, occupying very nearly the
whole of the floor, no doubt to the exceeding discomfort OF the
artist and his wife-this the more especially as the tar o paint
with which 1t was lettered in sprawing capitals emitted a strong,
disaereeabIe and, to my fancy, a peculiarly disgusting oacr. On
the lid we're painted the words: Mrs. Adelaide Curtis, Albany
New York. Charge Of Cornelius Wyatt, Esq. This. Side Up.
To Be Handled With Care"
Now. l was aware that Mrs. Adelaide Curtis of Albany was
the artists wifes mother, but then l looked upon the Whole q
arass "a a justification intended for myself i made UP my
ulnd az eeurs that the box and contents would never get far
ther north than the studio Of my misanthroplc ftaen N ham
Aers street, New York
For the arst three or four days we had nne weather. sltheagh
ana wind was dead ahead, having chopped round to the nsffn-
wara immediately upon eur losing sight Of the eeast Xae pas
sengers were coEsSssssnty In high spirits ana 0isp0sSA ~ =
sM