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Speaker 1: The Oblong Box by Edgar Allan Poe. Some years ago,

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I engaged passage from Charleston, s c. To the City

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of New York in the fine packet ship Independence Captain Hardy.

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We were to sail on the fifteenth of the month June,

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weather permitting, and on the fourteenth I went on board

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to arrange some matters in my state room. I found

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that we were to have a great many passengers, including

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a more than usual number of ladies. On the list

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were several of my acquaintances, and among other names, I

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was rejoiced to see that mister Cornelius Wyatt, a young

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artist for whom I entertained feelings of warm friendship. He

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had been with me a fellow student at Sea University,

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where we were very much together. He had the ordinary

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temperament of genius, and was a compound of misanthropy, sensibility,

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and enthusiasm. To these qualities he united the warmest and

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truest heart which ever beat in a human bosom. I

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observed that his name was carded upon three state rooms,

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and upon again referring to the list of passengers, I

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found that he had engaged passage for himself, wife, and

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two sisters his own. The state rooms were sufficiently roomy,

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and each had two berths, one above the other. These berths,

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to be sure, were so exceedingly narrow as to be

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insufficient for more than one person. Still, I could not

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comprehend why there were three staterooms for these four persons.

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I was just at that epoch, in one of those

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moody frames of mind which make a man abnormally inquisitive

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about trifles. And I confess with shame that I busied

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myself in a variety of ill bred and preposterous conjectures

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about this matter of the supernumery stateroom. It was no

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business of mine, to be sure, But with none the

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less pertinicity did I occupy myself in attempts to resolve

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the enigma. At last I reached a conclusion which wrought

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in me great wonder why I had not arrived at

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it before. It is a servant, of course, I said,

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what a fool, I am not sooner to have thought

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of so obvious a solution. And then I again repaired

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to the list. But here I saw distinctly that no

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serpent was to come with the party, although in fact

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it had been the original design to bring one, for

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the words and servant had been first written and then overscored,

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Oh extra baggage. To be sure, I now said to

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myself something he wishes not to be put in hold,

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something to be kept under his own eye. Ah, I

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have it a painting or so, and this is what

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he has been bargaining about with Nicolino, the Italian Jew.

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This idea satisfied me, and I dismissed my curiosity for

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the nons Whyatt's two sisters I knew very well and

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most amiable and clever girls. They were his wife, he

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had newly married, and I had never yet seen her.

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He had often talked about her in my presence, however,

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and in his usual style of enthusiasm, he described her

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as of surpassing beauty, wit and accomplishment. I was therefore

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quite anxious to make her acquaintance. On the day in

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which I visited the ship, the fourteenth Wide and party

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were also to visit it, so the captain informed me,

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and I waited on board an hour longer than I

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had designed, in hope of being presented to the bride.

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But then an apology came. Missus w was a little

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indisposed and would decline coming on board until tomorrow. At

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the hour of sailing. The morrow having arrived, I was

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going from my hotel to the wharf when Captain Hardy

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met me and said that owing to circumstances a stupid

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but convenient phrase. He rather thought the independents would not

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sail for a day or two, and that when all

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was ready, he would send up and let me know. This.

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I thought strange, for there was a stiff southerly breeze.

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But as the circumstances were not forthcoming, although I pumped

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for them with much perseverance, I had nothing to do

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but to rehurn home and digest my impatience at leisure.

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I did not receive the expected message from the captain

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for nearly a week. It came at length, however, and

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I immediately went on board. The ship was crowded with passengers,

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and everything was in the bustle attendant upon making sail.

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Wyatt's party arrived in about ten minutes after myself. There

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were the two sisters, the bride and the artist, the

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latter in one of his customary fits of moody misanthropy.

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I was too well used to these, however, to pay

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them any special attention. He did not even introduce me

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to his wife, this courtesy devolving perforce upon his sister,

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Mary Anne, a very sweet and intelligent girl, who, in

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a few hurried words made us acquainted. Missus Wyatt had

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been closely veiled, and when she raised her veil in

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acknowledging my bow, I confessed that I was very profoundly astonished.

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I should have been much more so, however, had not

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long experience advised me not to trust with too implicit

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a reliance the enthusiastic descriptions of my friend the artist

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when indulging in comments upon the loveliness of women, when

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beauty was the theme, I well knew with what facility

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he soared into the regions of the purely ideal. The

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truth is I could not help regarding Missus Wyatt as

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a decidedly plain looking woman. If not positively ugly, she

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was not, I think, very far from it. She was dressed, however,

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in exquisite taste, and then I had no doubt that

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she had captivated my friend's heart by the more enduring

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graces of the intellect and soul. She said very few

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words and passed at once into her stateroom with mister

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w My old inquisitiveness now returned. There was no servant.

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That was a settled point. I looked, therefore for the

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extra baggage. After some delay, a cart arrived at the

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wharf with an oblong pine box, which was everything that

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seemed to be expected. Immediately upon its arrival we made sail,

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and in a short time were safely over the bar

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and standing out to sea. The box in question was,

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as I say, oblong. It was about six feet in

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length by two and a half in breadth. I observed

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it attentively, and liked to be precise. Now this shape

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was peculiar, and no longer had I seen it than

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I took credit to myself for the accuracy of my guessing.

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I had reached the conclusion, it will be remembered, that

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the extra baggage of my friend the artist would prove

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to be pictures, or at least a picture, for I

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knew he had been for several weeks in conference with Nicolino,

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and now here was a box which, from its shape

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could possibly contain nothing in the world but a copy

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of Leonardo's last supper, and a copy of this very

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last supper done by Rubini. The younger at Florence, I

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had known for some time to be in the possession

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of Niccolino. This point, therefore, I considered as sufficiently settled.

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I chuckled excessively when I thought of my acumen. It

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was the first time I had ever known why it

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to keep from me any of his artistical secrets. But

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here he evidently intended to steal a march upon me

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and smuggle a fine picture to New York under my

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very nose, Expecting me to know nothing of the matter.

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I resolved to quiz him well now and hereafter. One thing, however,

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annoyed me not a little. The box did not go

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into the extra stateroom. It was deposited in White's own,

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and there too it remained, occupying very nearly the whole

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of the floor, no doubt to the exceeding discomfort of

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the artist and his wife. This the more especially as

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the tar or paint with which it was lettered in

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sprawling capitals, emitted a strong, disagreeable and to my fancy,

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a peculiarly disgusting odor. On the lid were painted the

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words Missus Adelaide Curtis Albany, New York, charge of Cornelius

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Wyatt esquire this side up to be handled with care.

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Now I was aware that Missus Adelaide Curtis of Albany

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was the artist's wife's mother. But then I looked upon

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the whole address as a mystification intended especially for myself.

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I made up my mind, of course, that the box

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and contents would never get farther north than the studio

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of my misanthropic friend in Chambers Street, New York. For

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the first three or four days we had fine weather,

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although the wind was dead ahead, having chopped round to

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the northward immediately upon our losing sight of the coast.

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The passengers were consequently in high spirits and disposed to

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be social. I must accept, however, Wyatt and his sisters,

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who behaved stiffly, and I could not help thinking uncourteously

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to the rest of the party. Whyite's conduct I did

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not so much regard. He was gloomy, even beyond his

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usual habit. In fact, he was more rose, But in

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him I was prepared for eccentricity. For the sisters, however,

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I could make no excuse. They secluded themselves in their

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state rooms during the greater part of the passage, and

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absolutely refused although I repeatedly urged them to hold communication

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with any person on board. Missus Whitet herself was far

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more agreeable. That is to say, she was chatty, and

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to be chatty is no slight recommendation. At sea, she

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became excessively intimate with most of the ladies, and to

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my profound astonishment, evinced no equivocal disposition to coquette with

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the men. She amused us all very much, I say, amused,

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and scarcely know how to explain myself. The truth is,

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I soon found that Missus w was far oftener laughed

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at than with. The gentleman said little about her, but

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the ladies in a little while pronounced her a good

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hearted thing, rather indifferent, looking, totally uneducated, and decidedly vulgar.

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The great wonder was how Whyae had been entrapped into

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such a match. Wealth was the general solution, but this

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I knew to be no solution at all, For White

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had told me that she neither brought him a dollar,

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nor had any expectations from any source. Whatever he had married,

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he said, for love and for love only, and his

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bride was far more than worthy of his love. When

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I thought of these expressions on the part of my friend.

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I confessed that I felt indescribably puzzled. Could it be

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possible that he was taking leave of his senses? What

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else could I think? He so refined, so intellectual, so fastidious,

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with so exquisite a perception of the faculty, and so

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keen an appreciation of the beautiful. To be sure, the

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lady seemed especially fond of him, particularly so in his absence,

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when she made herself ridiculous by frequent quotations of what

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he had been said by her beloved husband, mister Wyatt.

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The word husband seemed forever to use, one of her

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own delicate expressions, forever on the tip of her tongue.

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In the meantime, it was observed by all on board

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that he avoided her in the most pointed manner, and

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for the most part shut himself up alone in his stateroom,

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where in fact he might have been said to live altogether,

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leaving his wife at full liberty to amuse herself as

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she thought best in the public society of the main cabin.

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My conclusion from what I saw and heard was that

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the artist, by some unaccountable freak of fate, or perhaps

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in some fit of enthusiastic and fanciful passion had been

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induced to unite himself with a person altogether beneath him,

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and that the natural result, entire and speedy disgust had ensued.

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I pitied him from the bottom of my heart, but

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could not for that reason quite forgive his incommunicativeness in

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the matter of the Last Supper. For this I resolved

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to have my revenge. One day he came up on deck,

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and taking his arm, as had been my wont I

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sauntered with him backward and forward. His gloom, however, which

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I considered quite natural under the circumstances, seemed entirely unabated.

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He said little, and that moodily and with evident effort.

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I ventured a jest or two, and he made a

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sickening attempt at a smile. Poor fellow. As I thought

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of his wife, I wondered that he could have heart

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to put on even the semblance of mirth. At last,

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I ventured a home thrust. I determined to commence a

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series of covert insinuations or innuendoes about the oblong box,

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just to let him perceive gradually that I was not

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altogether the butt or victim of his little bit of

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pleasant mystification. My first observation was by way of opening

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a masked battery. I said something about the peculiar shape

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of that box, and as I spoke the words, I

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smiled knowingly, winked, and touched him gently with my forefinger

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in the ribs. The manner in which Wyat received this

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harmless pleasantry convinced me at once that he was mad.

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At first, he stared at me as if he found

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it impossible to comprehend the witticism of my remark. But

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as its point seemed slowly to make its way into

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his brain, his eyes, in the same proportions, seemed protruding

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from their sockets. Then he grew very red and hideously pale. Then,

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as if highly amused with what I had insinuated, he

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began to a loud and boisterous laugh, which, to my astonishment,

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he kept up with gradually increasing vigor for ten minutes

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or more. In conclusion, he fell flat and heavily upon

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the deck. When I ran to uplift him. To all

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appearances he was dead. I called assistance, and with much

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difficulty we brought him to himself. Upon reviving, he spoke

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incoherently for some time. At length we bled him and

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put him to bed. The next morning he was quite recovered,

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so far as regarded his mere bodily health of his mind,

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I say nothing. Of course, I avoided him during the

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rest of the passage, by advice of the captain, who

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seemed to coincide with me altogether in my views of

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his insanity, but cautioned me to say say nothing on

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this head to any person on board. Several circumstances occurred

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00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,159
immediately after this fit of whites, which contributed to heighten

238
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,919
the curiosity with which I was already possessed. Among other

239
00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,399
things this I had been nervous, drank too much strong

240
00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,159
green tea, and slept ill at night. In fact, for

241
00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,440
two nights I could not be properly said to sleep

242
00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:24,720
at all. Now my stateroom opened into the main cabin

243
00:13:24,799 --> 00:13:27,240
or dining room, as did those of all the single

244
00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,720
men on board. Whye's three rooms were in the after cabin,

245
00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:33,000
which was separated from the main one by a slight

246
00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,679
sliding door never locked even at night. As we were

247
00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:39,000
almost certainly on a wind and the breeze was not

248
00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,440
a little stiff, the ship heeled to leeward very considerably,

249
00:13:42,519 --> 00:13:45,759
and whenever her starboard side was to leeward, the sliding

250
00:13:45,759 --> 00:13:49,039
door between the cabins slid open, and so remained, nobody

251
00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:51,720
taking the trouble to get up and shut it. But

252
00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:53,720
my berth was in such a position that when my

253
00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:56,799
own stateroom door was open as well as the sliding

254
00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:59,399
door in question, and my own door was always open

255
00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:01,600
on account of the heat, I could see into the

256
00:14:01,639 --> 00:14:05,519
aftercabmin quite distinctly, and just at that portion of it too,

257
00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:10,600
were situated the staterooms of mister Wyatt Well during two

258
00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:14,039
nights not consecutive, while I lay awake, I clearly saw

259
00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:18,639
missus W about eleven o'clock upon each night, still cautiously

260
00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:21,519
from the stateroom of mister W and entered the extra room,

261
00:14:21,799 --> 00:14:24,480
where she remained until daybreak, when she was called by

262
00:14:24,519 --> 00:14:28,120
her husband and went back. That they were virtually separated

263
00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:32,039
was clear they had separate apartments, no doubt in contemplation

264
00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:35,399
of a more permanent divorce. And here after all I thought,

265
00:14:35,559 --> 00:14:39,360
was the mystery of the extra stateroom. There was another

266
00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:43,480
circumstance too, which interested me much during the two wakeful

267
00:14:43,559 --> 00:14:46,639
nights in question, and immediately after the disappearance of missus

268
00:14:46,679 --> 00:14:51,200
Wyatt into the extra stateroom, I was attracted by certain singular, cautious,

269
00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,639
subdued noises in that of her husband. After listening to

270
00:14:54,679 --> 00:14:57,519
them for some time with thoughtful attention, I at length

271
00:14:57,559 --> 00:15:02,159
succeeded perfectly in translating their inac They were sounds occasioned

272
00:15:02,159 --> 00:15:04,840
by the artist in prying open the oblong box by

273
00:15:04,879 --> 00:15:07,679
means of a chisel and mallet, the latter being apparently

274
00:15:07,799 --> 00:15:11,120
muffled or deadened by some soft woolen or cotton substance

275
00:15:11,159 --> 00:15:14,759
in which its head was enveloped. In this manner, I

276
00:15:14,799 --> 00:15:18,200
fancied I could distinguish the precise moment when he fairly

277
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,320
disengaged the lid, Also that I could determine when he

278
00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,320
removed it altogether, and when he deposited upon the lower

279
00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:27,440
berth in his room. This latter point I knew, for example,

280
00:15:27,559 --> 00:15:30,559
by certain slight taps which the lid made in striking

281
00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,480
against the wooden edges of the berth, as he endeavored

282
00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:35,919
to lay it down very gently, there being no room

283
00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,360
for it on the floor. After this there was a

284
00:15:39,399 --> 00:15:42,840
dead stillness, and I heard nothing more upon either occasion

285
00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,840
until nearly daybreak, unless perhaps I may mention a low

286
00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,240
sobbing or murmuring sound so very much suppressed as to

287
00:15:50,279 --> 00:15:53,440
be nearly inaudible, If indeed the whole of this latter

288
00:15:53,559 --> 00:15:57,159
noise were not rather produced by my own imagination. I

289
00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,080
say it seemed to resemble sobbing or sighing, but of

290
00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,039
course it could not have been either. I rather think

291
00:16:03,039 --> 00:16:06,039
it was a ringing in my own ears. Mister Wyatt,

292
00:16:06,039 --> 00:16:08,679
no doubt, according to custom, was merely giving the rein

293
00:16:08,759 --> 00:16:10,919
to one of his hobbies. Indulging in one of his

294
00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,879
fits of artistic enthusiasm. He had opened his oblong box

295
00:16:14,919 --> 00:16:17,600
in order to feast his eyes on the pictorial treasure within.

296
00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,519
There was nothing in this, however, to make him sob

297
00:16:21,039 --> 00:16:23,200
I repeat, therefore, that it must have been simply a

298
00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,399
freak of my own fancy, distempered by good Captain Hardy's

299
00:16:26,399 --> 00:16:29,600
green tea. Just before dawn on each of the two

300
00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,679
nights of which I speak, I distinctly heard mister Wyatt

301
00:16:32,679 --> 00:16:35,480
replace the lid upon the oblong box and force the

302
00:16:35,559 --> 00:16:38,519
nails into their old places by means of the muffled mallet.

303
00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,039
Having done this, he issued from his stateroom fully dressed,

304
00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:46,000
and proceeded to call missus w from hers. We had

305
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,440
been at sea seven days and were now off Cape

306
00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:52,639
Hatteras when there came a tremendously heavy blow from the southwest.

307
00:16:53,279 --> 00:16:55,840
We were in a measure prepared for it. However, as

308
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,120
the weather had been holding out threats for some time,

309
00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,200
everything was made snow a low and aloft, and as

310
00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,200
the wind steadily freshened, we lay too at length under

311
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:10,119
spanker and foretopsail, both double reefed. In this trim. We

312
00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:13,039
rowed safely enough for forty eight hours, the ship proving

313
00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:16,039
herself an excellent sea boat in many respects, and shipping

314
00:17:16,039 --> 00:17:19,720
no water of any consequence. At the end of this period, however,

315
00:17:19,759 --> 00:17:22,519
the gale had freshened into a hurricane, and our after

316
00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:25,039
sail split into ribbons, bringing us so much in the

317
00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,519
trough of the water that we shipped several prodigious seas,

318
00:17:28,599 --> 00:17:32,279
one immediately after the other. By this accident, we lost

319
00:17:32,319 --> 00:17:35,359
three men overboard with the cboos, and nearly the whole

320
00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:39,680
of the larboard bulwarks. Scarcely had we recovered our senses

321
00:17:39,759 --> 00:17:43,000
before the foretopsail went into shreds. When we got up

322
00:17:43,039 --> 00:17:46,480
a storm staysail, and with this did pretty well for

323
00:17:46,519 --> 00:17:49,480
some hours, the ship heading the sea much more steadily

324
00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,319
than before. The gale still held on, however, and we

325
00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:56,319
saw no signs of its abating. The rigging was found

326
00:17:56,359 --> 00:17:58,640
to be ill fitted and greatly strained, and on the

327
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,160
third day of the blow, about five in the afternoon,

328
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,240
our mizen mast, in a heavy lurch to windward, went

329
00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:07,279
by the board for an hour or more. We tried

330
00:18:07,319 --> 00:18:09,119
in vain to get rid of it on account of

331
00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:12,759
the prodigious rolling of the ship, and before we had succeeded,

332
00:18:12,799 --> 00:18:15,480
the carpenter came aft and announced four feet of water

333
00:18:15,599 --> 00:18:18,599
in the hold. To add to our dilemma, we found

334
00:18:18,599 --> 00:18:23,079
the pumps choked and nearly useless. All was now confusion

335
00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:25,680
and despair, but an effort was made to lighten the

336
00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,079
ship by throwing overboard as much of her cargo as

337
00:18:28,079 --> 00:18:30,839
could be reached, and by cutting away the two masts

338
00:18:31,279 --> 00:18:34,759
that remained. This we at last accomplished, but we were

339
00:18:34,799 --> 00:18:37,319
still unable to do anything at the pumps, and in

340
00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:41,640
the meantime the leak gained on us very fast. At sundown,

341
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,599
the gale had sensibly diminished its violence, and as the

342
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,240
sea went down with it. We still entertained faint hopes

343
00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,000
of saving ourselves in the boats. At eight p m.

344
00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:52,400
The clouds broke away to windward, and we had the

345
00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,119
advantage of a full moon, a piece of good fortune,

346
00:18:55,119 --> 00:19:00,440
which served wonderfully to cheer our drooping spirits. After incredible labor,

347
00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,240
we succeeded at length in getting the longboat over the

348
00:19:03,279 --> 00:19:06,559
side without material accident, and into this we crowded the

349
00:19:06,559 --> 00:19:09,200
whole of the crew and most of the passengers. This

350
00:19:09,279 --> 00:19:12,839
party made off immediately, and after undergoing much suffering, finally

351
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,559
arrived in safety at Okracoke Inlet on the third day

352
00:19:16,599 --> 00:19:21,279
after the wreck. Fourteen passengers with the captain, remained on board,

353
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,039
resolving to trust their fortunes to the jolly boat. At

354
00:19:24,079 --> 00:19:27,400
the stern, we lowered it without difficulty, although it was

355
00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:30,079
only by a miracle that we prevented it from swamping

356
00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:33,319
as it touched the water it contained. When afloat the

357
00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:37,759
captain and his wife, mister Wyan party, a Mexican officer wife,

358
00:19:37,799 --> 00:19:42,960
four children, and myself with a Negro valet. We had

359
00:19:43,039 --> 00:19:46,000
no room, of course, for anything, except a few positively

360
00:19:46,079 --> 00:19:49,599
necessary instruments, some provisions, and the clothes upon our backs.

361
00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:53,880
No one had thought of even attempting to save anything more.

362
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,319
What must have been the astonishment of all. Then, when

363
00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,720
having proceeded a few fathoms from the ships, Wyatt stood

364
00:20:00,799 --> 00:20:03,200
up in the stern sheets and coolly demanded of Captain

365
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,200
Hardy that the boat should be put back for the

366
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:09,400
purpose of taking in his oblong box. Sit down, mister

367
00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,880
Wyatt replied the captain, somewhat sternly. You will capsize us

368
00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,599
if you do not sit quite still. Our gunwale is

369
00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:19,920
almost in the water. Now the box, vociferated mister Wyatt,

370
00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,359
still standing the box, I say, Captain Hardy, you cannot

371
00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:25,640
You will not refuse me. Its weight will be but

372
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,960
a trifle. It is nothing, mere nothing, by the mother

373
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,240
who bore you, for the love of Heaven, by your

374
00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,480
hope of salvation. I implore you to put back for

375
00:20:33,519 --> 00:20:37,160
the box. The captain for a moment seemed touched by

376
00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:39,720
the earnest appeal of the artist, but he regained his

377
00:20:39,759 --> 00:20:43,920
stern composure and merely said, mister Wyatt, you are mad.

378
00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:46,720
I cannot listen to you. Sit down, I say, or

379
00:20:46,759 --> 00:20:49,880
you will swamp the boat. Stay hold him, seize him.

380
00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:52,759
He is about to spring overboard. There I knew it.

381
00:20:52,839 --> 00:20:56,440
He is over. As the captain said this, mister Wyatt

382
00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:58,960
in fact sprang from the boat, and, as we were

383
00:20:59,039 --> 00:21:01,319
yet in the lee of the rest, succeeded by almost

384
00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,559
in superhuman exertion, in getting hold of a rope which

385
00:21:04,599 --> 00:21:07,400
hung from the fore chains. In another moment he was

386
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:11,599
on board and rushing frantically down into the cabin. In

387
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:13,960
the meantime, we had been swept astern of the ship,

388
00:21:14,079 --> 00:21:15,839
and being quite out of her lee, were at the

389
00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,200
mercy of the tremendous sea, which was still running. We

390
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,519
made a determined effort to put back, but our little

391
00:21:21,519 --> 00:21:23,960
boat was like a feather in the breath of a tempest.

392
00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:26,640
We saw at a glance that the doom of the

393
00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:31,200
unfortunate artist was sealed. As our distance from the wreck

394
00:21:31,319 --> 00:21:35,079
rapidly increased. The madman, for as such only could we

395
00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:38,880
regard him, was seen to emerge from the companionway up which,

396
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,759
by dint of strength that appeared gigantic. He dragged bodily

397
00:21:42,839 --> 00:21:46,920
the oblong box. While we gazed in the extremity of astonishment.

398
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,920
He passed rapidly several turns of a three inch rope,

399
00:21:50,079 --> 00:21:53,359
first around the box and then about his body. In

400
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,079
another instant, both body and box were in the sea,

401
00:21:56,119 --> 00:22:02,000
disappearing suddenly at once and foreveringered Awhile sadly upon our oars,

402
00:22:02,039 --> 00:22:04,920
with our eyes riveted upon the spot, At length we

403
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,799
pulled away. The silence remained unbroken for an hour. Finally

404
00:22:09,839 --> 00:22:14,480
I hazarded a remark, did you observe, Captain, how suddenly

405
00:22:14,519 --> 00:22:18,680
they sank? Was not that an exceedingly singular thing. I

406
00:22:18,759 --> 00:22:21,880
confess that I entertained some feeble hope of his final

407
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,319
deliverance when I saw him lash himself to the box

408
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:27,720
and commit himself to the sea. They sank as a

409
00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,839
matter of course, replied the captain, and that like a shot,

410
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,839
they will soon rise again, however, but not till the

411
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:39,400
salt melts the salt I ejaculated. Hush, said the captain,

412
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,400
pointing to the wife and sisters of the deceased. We

413
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:44,960
must talk of these things at some more appropriate time.

414
00:22:46,519 --> 00:22:49,559
We suffered much and made a narrow escape, but fortune

415
00:22:49,599 --> 00:22:52,240
befriended us, as well as our mates in the long boat.

416
00:22:52,799 --> 00:22:55,480
We landed in Fine, more dead than alive. After four

417
00:22:55,559 --> 00:22:59,279
days of intense distress, upon the beach opposite Roanoke Island.

418
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,160
He remained here a week, were not ill treated by

419
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,240
the wreckers, and at length obtained a passage to New York.

420
00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,200
About a month after the loss of the Independence, I

421
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:13,240
happened to meet Captain Hardway in Broadway. Our conversation turned

422
00:23:13,319 --> 00:23:17,000
naturally upon the disaster, and especially upon the sad fate

423
00:23:17,039 --> 00:23:21,680
of poor Wyatt. I thus learned the following particulars. The

424
00:23:21,839 --> 00:23:25,079
artist had engaged passage for himself, wife, two sisters, and

425
00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,720
a servant. His wife was, indeed, as she had been represented,

426
00:23:28,799 --> 00:23:32,279
a most lovely and most accomplished woman. On the morning

427
00:23:32,319 --> 00:23:34,680
of the fourteenth of June, the day in which I

428
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:38,160
first visited the ship, the lady suddenly sickened and died.

429
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,880
The young husband was frantic with grief, but circumstances imperatively

430
00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,960
forbade the deferring his voyage to New York. It was

431
00:23:46,039 --> 00:23:48,200
necessary to take to her mother the corpse of his

432
00:23:48,279 --> 00:23:52,240
adored wife, And on the other hand, the universal prejudice

433
00:23:52,279 --> 00:23:55,680
which would prevent his doing so openly was well known.

434
00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:59,039
Nine tenths of the passengers would have abandoned the ship

435
00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:03,000
rather than take passage with a dead body. In this dilemma,

436
00:24:03,039 --> 00:24:06,440
Captain Hardy arranged that the corpse, being first partially embalmed

437
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:08,960
and packed with a large quantity of salt in a

438
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,839
box of pudable dimensions, should be conveyed on board as merchandise.

439
00:24:13,559 --> 00:24:16,319
Nothing was to be said of the lady's decease, and

440
00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:19,079
as it was well understood that mister Wyatt had engaged

441
00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:22,319
passage for his wife, it became necessary that some person

442
00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:26,880
should personate her during the voyage. This, the deceased lady's maid,

443
00:24:27,039 --> 00:24:30,119
was easily prevailed on to do. The extra state room

444
00:24:30,279 --> 00:24:33,839
originally engaged for this girl during her mistress's life, was

445
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,640
now merely retained. In this state room. The pseudo wife slept,

446
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,440
of course, every night. In the daytime she performed to

447
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,039
the best of her ability. The part of her mistress,

448
00:24:44,079 --> 00:24:47,519
whose person it had been carefully ascertained, was unknown to

449
00:24:47,559 --> 00:24:51,160
any of the passengers on board. My own mistake arose

450
00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:55,400
naturally enough through too careless, too inquisitive, and too impulsive

451
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,200
a temperament. But of late, it is a rare thing

452
00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:01,519
that I sleep soundly at night. There's a countenance which

453
00:25:01,519 --> 00:25:04,920
haunts me. Turn as I will, There's a hysterical laugh

454
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:11,119
which will forever ring within my ears. End of the

455
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:12,160
oblong box