Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-11-19
A BOMB
AT SEA
By F. A. Mitchell

other. I'VE are In some ddnBer.
"Submarinesf
"I hope not" said the other, turning
pale.
Its not submarine danger" a third
put In: 'it's a bomb. A wireless has
been received from New York stating
that a letter has fallen into the hands
of the police indicating that a box is
aboard containing an explosive, set to
be fred in three or four days after
sailing"
"Oh, my goodness gracious!' exclaim-
ed an elderly lady sitting in a steamer
chair with a very pretty daughter be-
side her. The mother showed signs Of
fainting. The daughter was very
much troubled. Her mothers heart
was weak.
There's no danger, mamma; indeed
there isn't, 1 assure you"
"How do you know? You don't
know. Isn't 1t awful"
az do know
It appeared that the girl was trying
to keep her mother from another
danger than a bomb; therefore no n
WIN ONcIuCdlu 0hdI 6AO SdA0 pau any
attention to her claiming to know that
nothing was to be feared from an ex-
plosion. In the wireless message re-
ceived a description of the box was
given. 1t was six feet square and
marked: Fragile. Handle With Care.
This Side Up"
A thorough search was made of the
hold where freight had been stored,
but it was not necessary to remove
anything, for the box was found as
described with nothing stored in it. An
officer conducting the search listened
for a ticking, but heard nothing. He
was not surprised at this, for the bomb
was probably in the center of the box
with packing material around it.
The next information the lady and
her daughter received concerning the
danger was seeing the box swing out
oyer the side Of the ship. The girl
gave a shrek and, running to the rail,
called out frantically to those below
not to drop the box into the water.
The mate directed them to hold 1t, and
while the internal machine dangled In
the air the girl ran down the compan-
ionway to a lower deck where the work
of getting rid of the danger was going
on. The mate, the men at the tackle
and a group Of passengers standing
around looked at her wonderingly.
"Oh, heavens" she cried, don't let
it go; take 1t i'm
what have you got to do with itY'
asked the mate. al =
Bring 1t In"
sIt's safe enough where It IS. Cone.
confess. Are you mixed up In the
plot?"
"No-yes. 1t isn't a plot to blow up
the ship; there's no bomb in the box"
"Well, what is in the box?"
why there's nothing to hurt any,
body" E
How do you known" as
Because l do"
"No such woman's reason as that can
be taken where the lives of hundreds
of persons are at stake. Let her GO.
men,"
The girl sprang to the ropes. The
officer made a sign for them to hold.
Come, u with it! We can't take
any further risk"
Bring it back and I'll open it If
you are afraid to. There's nothing in
it to hurt any one"
The box was brought back, and for
the first time holes were noticed bored
in its sides.
"a s~towaway," remarked the man
who made the discovery.
Bring a hammer" said the mate.
The lid was taken off the box by
one of the men, and the top Of a mans
head appeared. :
Come out o thati' roared the mate.
The man was helped out of the box
as pale as the girl. They staggered to-
gether and fell into each others arms;
The act caused more commotion thaH
the receipt of the wireless telegram.
What in thunder does this mean?'
asked the mate. Young Teller, if you've
been trying to beat your way you'll go
down into the furnace room to shovel
coal"
Nonsense" exclaimed a passenger.
Don't you see that they're a pair of
lovers?'
"A love story" cried another locker
on. Lets nave it."
The young man and the girl looked
at each other sheepishly; then the for
mer said:
My friends, l suppose Well have to
confess. This young lady and 1 are
lovers. Her mother is taking her
abroad to get rid of me. 1t occurred to
us to outwit her by my being shipped
as freight. Some friends helped me.
l was put in this box. with plenty of
food and water, and all might have
gone right, but some Of the crowd
must have talked. Likely one of them
has reported the box to contain a bomb
as a practical joke"
"Joke be hanged" said the mate.
in another minute you would have