THAT LITTLE SQUARE BOX

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1607, 21 October 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

THAT LITTLE SQUARE BOX

" Alii aboard ?" said the captain. " All aboard, sir I" said the mate. " Then stand by to let her go." It was nine o'clock on a Wednesday morning. The good ship Spartan was lying off Boston Quay with her cargo under hatches, her passengers shipped, and everything prepared for a start. The warning whistle had been sounded twice, the final bell had been rung. Her bowsprit was turned towards England, and the hiss of escaping steam showed that all was ready for her run of three thousand miles. She strained at the warps that held her like a greyhound at its leash. I have the misfortune to be a very nervous man. A sedentary literary life has helped to increase the morbid love of solitude which, even in my boyhoodj was one of my distinguishing characteristics". As 1 stood upon the quarter-deck of the Transatlantic steamer I bitterly cursed the necessity which drove me back to the land of my forefathers. The shouts, of the sailors, the rattle of the cordage the farewells of my fellow-passengers, and the cheers of the mob, each and all jarred upon my sensitive nature. I felt sad too. An indescribable feeling, as of some impending calamity,' 1 seemed to haunt me. The sea' was calm, and the breeze light. There was nothing to disturb the equanimity of the most confirmed of landsmen, yet I felt as if I stood" upon the verge of a great though indefinable danger. 'I have noticed that such p'resenti-' ments occur 'often in men of my peculiar temperament, and that they areribt uncommonly fulfilled. There is a theory that "it arises from a spebies' of second - sight, a subtle encountered 'Hrtbo t w|qH&raQjjttri^^^^^^^| 6nc£.' ' Be that 'as it T ixiav^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H from nappy, as i sgre&crai^^^^^^^^^^^^J weeping, che^rui^rsu^^Bi^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H white' jieckB' "^i§|j§s|Hß!|^^^^^^^^^^| the course of tns^iijaX^^^Hu^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B

ilieir hands s atljflTttijpdßg^fi'atio gestures, apparently vrilh thd' IfitdntioiT of stopping the ship. " Look ' sliarp !*' shouted -the crowd. " Hold hard 1" oped the captain. " Ease her ! stop her ! Up with the gangway 1" and the two men sprang aboard just as the second warp parted, and a convulsive Throb of the engine shot us clear of the shore. There was a cheer from the deck, another from the quay a mighty fluttering of handkerchiefs, and the great vessel ploughed its way out of the harbour, and steamed grandly away across the placid bay. We were fairly started upon onr fortnight's voyage. There was a general dive among the passengers in guest of firths and luggage, while a popping of corks in the saloon proved that more than one ,bereaved traveller was adopting artificial means for drowning the pangs of separation. I glanced round the deck and took a running inventory of my compagnom de voyage. They presented tlie usual types met with upon these occasions. There was no striking face among them. I speak as a connoisseur, for*f aces are a specialty of mine. I pounce upon a characteristic feature as a botanist does on a flower, and bear it away with me to analyse at my leisure, and classify and label it in my little anthropological museum. There was nothing worthy of me here. Twenty types of young America going to " Yurrup," a few respectable middle-aged couples as an antidote, a sprinkling of clergymen and professional men, young ladies, bagmen, British exclusivcs, and all the ollapodndo. of an ocean-going steamer. I turned away from them and gazed back at the receding shores of America, and, as a cloud of remembrances ro&e before me., my heart warmed towards the land of my adoption. A pile of portmanteaus and luggage chanced to be lying on one side of the deck, awaiting their turn to be taken below. With my usual love for solitude I walked behind these and sitting on a coil of rope between them and the vessel's side, I indulged in a melancholy reverie. I was aroused from this by a whisper behind me. " Here's a quiet place," said the voice, " Sit down and we can talk it over in safety." Glancing through a chink between two colossal chests, I saw that the passengers who had joined us at the last moment were standing at the other side of the pile. They had evidently failed to see me as I crouched in the shadow of the boxes. The one who had spoken was a tall and very thin man with a blue-black beard and a colourless face. His manner was nervous and excited. His companion was a short plethoric little fellow, with a brisk and resolute air. He had a cigar in his mouth, and a large ulster slung over his left arm. They both glanced round uneasily, as if to ascertain whether they were alone. " This is just the place," I heard the other say. They sat down on a bale of goods with their backs turned towards me, and I found myself, much against my will, playing the unpleasant part of eaves-dropper to their conversation. , " Well, Muller," said the taller of the two, " we've got it aboard right enough." " Yes," assented the man whom he had addressed as Muller, " it's safe aboard." " It was rather a near go." " It was that, Flannigan." " It wouldn't have done to have missed the ship," " No, it would have put our plans out." "Euined them entirely," said thelittleman, and puffed furiously at his cigar for some minutes. " I've got it here," he said at last. " Let me see it." " Is no one looking ?" "No, they are nearly all below." " We can't be too careful where so much is at stake," said Muller, as he uncoiled the ulster which hung over his arm, and disclosed a dark object which he laid upon the deck. One glance at it was enough to cause me to spring to my feet with an exclamation of horror. Luckily they were so engrossed in the matter on hand that neither of them observed me. Had they turned their heads they would infallibly have seen my pale face glaring at them over the pile of boxes. From the first moment of their conversation a horrible misgiving had come over me. It seemed more than confirmed as I gazed at what lay before me. It was a little square box made of some dark wood, and ribbed with brass, I suppose it was about the size of a cubic foot. It reminded me of a pistol-case, only it was decidedly higher. There was an appendage to it, however, on which my eyes were riveted, and which suggested the pistol itself rather than its receptacle. This was a trigger-like arrangement upon the lid, to which a coil of string was attached. Beside this trigger there was a small square aperture through the wood. The tall man, Flannigan, as his companion called him, applied his eye to this and peered in for several minutes with an expression of intense anxiety upon his face. " It seems right enough," he said at last, " I tried not to shake it," said his companion. ' " Such delicate things need delicate treatment. Put in some of the needful, Muller." The shorter man fumbled in his pocket for some time, and then produced a small paper packet. He opened this, and took out of it half a handful of whitish granules, which he poured down through the hole. A curious clicking noise followed from the inside of the box, and both the men smiled in a satisfied way. " Nothing much wrong there," said Flannigan. "Eight as a trivet," answered his companion. " Look out ! here's some one coming. Take it down to our berth. It wouldn't do to have any one suspecting what our game is, or, worse still, have them fumbling with it, and letting it off by mistake." " Well, it would come to the same, whoever let it off," said Muller. "They'd be rather astonished if they pulled the trigger," said the taller, with a sinister laugh. " Ha, ha ! fancy their faces 1 It's not a bad bit of workmanship, I flatter myself." " No,'' said Muller. " I hear it is your own design, every bit of it, isn't 'it ?" " Yes, the spring and the sliding shutter are my own-" "We should take out a patent." And the two men laughed again with a cold harsh tlaugh, as they took up the little brass-bound package, and concealed it in Muller's voluminous overcoat. / f " Come down, and we'll stow it inouiil^rtmm said Flannigan. "We won't >jamStXS^^ night, and-itwill be eaiasg&mS&!%^ |jml^)oxßxa)f c wjjy^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H

melodramatic scowl which seemed to cause him no small astonishment, and strode past him to the other side of the deck. Solitude was what I wanted — solitude in which Should ' brood over the frightful crime which was being hatched before my very eyes. One of the quarter boats was hanging rather low down upon "the davits. An idea struck me, and, climbing ofckthe bulwarks, I stepped intothe empty boat an^ay down in the bottom of it. Stretched onhyjr back, with nothing but the blue sky above mfc^and an occasional view of the mizen as the Ve>qpl rolled, I was at least alone with my oicimess and my thoughts. \ I tried to recall the words whMi had been spoken in the terrible dialogue Khad overheard. Would they admit of any\onstruction but the one which stared me in the face ? My reason forced me to confess thaVjtiiey would not. I endeavored t» array the various facts which formed the chain of circumstah- * tial evidence, and to find a flaw in it ; but no, not a link was missing. There was the strange way in which our passengers had come aboard, enabling them to evade any examination of their luggage. The very name of ' Flannigan' smacked of Fenianism, while ' Muller' suggested nothing bul Socialism and murder. Then their mysterious manner; their remark that their plans would have been ruined had they missed the ship ; their fear of being observed; last but not least, the clenching evidence in " the production of the little square box with the trigger, and their grim joke about the face of the man who should let it off by mistake, — could these facts lead to any conclusion other than that they were the desperate emissaries of some bocfy, political or otherwise, and intended to sacrifice themselves, their fellow-passengers, and the ship, in one great holocaust ? The whitish granules which I had seen one of them pour into the box formed no doubt a fuse or train for exploding it. I had myself heard a sound come from it which might have emanated from some delicate piece of machinery. But what did they mean by their allusion to tonight ? Gould it be that they contemplated putting their horrible design into execution on the very first evening of our voyage ? The mere thought of it sent a cold shudder over me, and made me for a moment .superior even to the agonies of sea-sickness. I have remarked that I am a physical coward. lam a moral one also. It is seldom that the two defects are united to such a degree in the one character. I have known many men who were most sensitive to bodily danger, and yet were distinguished for the independenc&and strength of their minds. In my own case, however, jfregffltf to'tsay that my quiet and retiringriiabTEs had fostered a nervous dread of doing anything remarkable or making myself conspicuous, which exceeded, if possible, my fear of personal peril. An ; ordinary mortal placed under the circumstances in which I now found myself would have gone at once to the captain, confessed his fears, and put the matter into his hands. To me, however, constituted as I am, the idea was most repugnant. The thought of becoming the observed of all observers, crossquestioned by a stranger, and confronted with two desperate conspirators in the character of a denouncer, was hateful to me. Might it not by some remote possibility/ L prove that I was mistaken ? What would b8 ", my feelings if there should turn out to. be 'no ' grounds for my accusation? No, I would procrastinate ; I wonld keep my eye on the ' two desperadoes and dog them at every turn. Anything was better than the possibility of being wrong. Then it struck me that even at that moment some new phase of the conspiracy might be developing itself. The nervous excitement seemed to have driven away my incipient attack of sickness, for I was able to stand up and lower myself from the boat without experiencing any return of it, I staggered along the deck with the intention of descending into* the cabin, and finding how my acquaintances of the morning were occupying themselves. Just as I had my hand on the companion-rail, I was astonished by receiving a hearty slap on the back, which nearly shot me down the steps with more haste than dignity. "Is that you, Hammond?" said a voice which I seemed to recognise.' " God bless me," I said as I turned round, "it can't be Dick Merton Why, how are you, old man?" This was an unexpected piece of luck in the midst of my perplexities. Dick was just the man I wanted ; kindly .and shrewd in his nature, and prompt in his actions, I should t have no difficulty in telling him my suspicions, and could rely upon his sound sense ( to point out the best course to pursue. Since » I was a little lad in the second form at Harrow, Dick had been my adviser and protector. He saw a glance that something had gone wrong with me. " Hullo 1" he said, in his kindly way, "what's put you about, Hammond? You"^look as white as a sheet. Mai de iner, eh ?" " No, not that altogether," said -I. " Walk up and down with me, Dick ; I want to speaft to you. Give me your arm." j Supporting myself on Dick's stalwart t *< frame, I tottered along by his side; but *f$V < was some time before I could muster resojfec£" tion to speak. ,' ' "Have a cigar," said he, breaking the silence. "No thanks," said I. " Dick, we shall be all corpses to-night." " That's no reason against your having a cigar now," said Dick, in his cool way, but looking hard at me from under his shaggy eyebrows as he spoke. He evidently thought that my intellect was a little gone. "No," I continued, "it's no laughing , matter ; and I speak in sober earnest, I assure you. I have discovered an infamous conspiracy, Dick, to destroy this ship and every soul that is in her ;" and I then proceeded systematically and in order, to lay before him. , „ . the chain of evidence which I had collected. " There, Dick," I said, as 1 concluded, " what do you think of that? and, above all, what am I to do ?" To my astonishment he burst into a hearty fit of laughter. "I'd be frightened," he said, "if any fellow but you had told me as much. You always had a way, Hammond, of discovering^ £ mate's nesfes. I like to see the old trai||||< "bsilqrig out again. Do/ you remember tfrajL JfpisoT how you sworettfere was a ghost WmL the lone room,^»irfßML. turned otlt to mirror ? WliM^ would anyggj^ Wehay^B?