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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, South Carolina, 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 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 unusual 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 of mister Cornelius Wyatt, a

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young artist for whom I entertained feelings of warm friendship.

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He 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 the 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 state rooms for these four persons.

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I was just at this epoch in one of those

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moody frames of mind which makes 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 state room. It was

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no business of mine, to be sure, But with none

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the less pertinacity did I occupy myself in attempts to

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resolve the enigma. At last I reached a conclusion which

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wrought in me great wonder why I had not arrived

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at 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 it distinctly that

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no servant was to come with the party, although in

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fact it had been the original design to bring one,

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for the words and servant had been first written and

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then overscored, Oh extra baggage. To be sure, I now

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said to myself something he wishes not to be put

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in the hold, something to be kept under his own eye. Ah,

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I have it a painting or so, and this is

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what 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 nonce. Wyatt'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, Wyatt 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 to morrow

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

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was going from my hotel to the wharf when Captain

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Hardy met me and said that owing to circumstances a

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stupid but convenient phrase. He rather thought the Independence would

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not sail for a day or two, and that when

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all 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 return 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 a bustle, attended upon making sail.

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

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

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in one of his customary fits of moody misanthropy. I

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

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any special attention. He did not even introduce me to

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

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a very sweet and intelligent girl, who, in a few

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hurried words made us acquainted. Missus Wyatt had been closely veiled,

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and when she raised her veil in acknowledging my bow,

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I confessed that I was very profoundly astonished. I should

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have been much more so, however, had not long experience

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advised me not to trust with too implicit a reliance

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the enthusiastic description of my friend the artist when indulging

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in comments upon the loveliness of women, when beauty was

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the theme, I well knew with what facility he soared

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into the regions of the purely ideal. The truth is

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I could not help regarding Missus Wyatt as a decidedly

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plain looking woman, If not positively ugly, she was not,

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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 more enduring graces

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of the intellect and soul. She said very few words

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and passed at once into her state room 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 obmong 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 was 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 sooner 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 Nicolino. 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 to

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keep from me any of his artistic secrets. But here

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he evidently intended to steal a march upon me and

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smuggle a fine picture to New York under my very nose,

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expecting me to know nothing of the matter. I resolved

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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 state room. It was deposited in Wyre'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 discovers comfort

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of the artist and his wife. This the more especially

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as the tar or paint with which it was lettered

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in sprawling capitals emitted as 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 Cornelie's

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wiret 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 the contents would never get farther north than the

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

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For 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 behave stiffly, and I could not help thinking uncourteously

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to the rest of the party. Wyatt'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 morose, But in him

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

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could make no excuse. They secluded themselves in their state

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rooms during the greater part of the passage, and absolutely

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refused Although I repeatedly urged them to hold communication with

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any person on board. Missus Wyatt herself was far more agreeable.

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That is to say, she was chatty, and to be

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chatty is no slight recommendation. At sea, she became excessively

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intimate with most of the ladies, and to my profound astonishment,

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evinced no equivocal disposition to coquet with the men. She

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amused us all very much, I say, amused, and scarcely

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know how to explain myself. The truth is, I soon

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found that Missus w was far more often a 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 Wyatt 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 Wyatt

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had told me that she neither brought him a dollar,

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nor had any expectation 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 confess 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 faulty, 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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had been said by her beloved husband, mister Wyatt. The

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word husband seemed forever to use, one of her own

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

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the meantime, it was observed by all on board that

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he avoided her in the most pointed manner, and for

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the most part shut himself up alone in his state room,

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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 fence 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 upon deck,

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and taking his arm, as has been my wont I

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saunted with him back and forward. His gloom, however, which

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I considered quite natural under any 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 in signoryuations 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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a pleasant mystification. My first observation was by the way

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of opening a masked battery. I said something about the

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peculiar shape of that box, And as I spoke the words,

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

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forefinger in the ribs. The manner in which Wyat received

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this 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 proportion, seemed protruding

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

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as if highly amused with what I had insinuated, he

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began 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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appearance 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 to me to say nothing on

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this head to any person on board. Several circumstances occurred

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immediately after this fit of wires, which contributed to heighten

238
00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:57,279
the curiosity which I was already possessed. Among other things

239
00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:00,519
this I had been nervous, drank too much much strong

240
00:15:00,559 --> 00:15:03,720
green tea, and slept ill at night. In fact, for

241
00:15:03,759 --> 00:15:05,960
two nights I could not be properly said to sleep

242
00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,799
at all. Now my stateroom opened into the main cabin

243
00:15:10,039 --> 00:15:12,679
or dining room, as did those of all the single

244
00:15:12,679 --> 00:15:16,799
men on board. Wyatt's three rooms were in the after cabin,

245
00:15:17,039 --> 00:15:19,440
which was separated from the main one by a slight

246
00:15:19,559 --> 00:15:24,080
sliding door never locked even at night. As we were

247
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,720
almost constantly on a wind and the breeze was not

248
00:15:26,799 --> 00:15:30,720
a little stiff, the ship heeled to leeward very considerably

249
00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:35,120
and whenever her starboard side was to leeward, the sliding

250
00:15:35,159 --> 00:15:39,120
door between the cabins slid open, and so remained, nobody

251
00:15:39,159 --> 00:15:42,039
taking the trouble to get up and shut it. But

252
00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,759
my berth was in such a position that when my

253
00:15:44,879 --> 00:15:48,120
own stateroom door was open as well as the sliding

254
00:15:48,159 --> 00:15:51,039
door in question, and my own door was always open

255
00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,720
on account of the heat, I could see into the

256
00:15:53,759 --> 00:15:56,720
after cabin quite distinctly, and just at that portion of

257
00:15:56,759 --> 00:16:00,000
it too, where was situated the staterooms of mister Wyatt.

258
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,679
Well during the two nights not consecutive, while I lay awake,

259
00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,879
I clearly saw missus W about eleven o'clock upon each night,

260
00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,879
steal cautiously from the stateroom of mister W and enter

261
00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,480
the extra room, where she remained until daybreak when she

262
00:16:17,639 --> 00:16:21,080
was called by her husband and went back. That they

263
00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:26,039
were virtually separated was clear they had separate apartments, no doubt,

264
00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,639
in contemplation of a more permanent divorce. And here, after

265
00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,559
all I thought, was the mystery of the ext room.

266
00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:37,960
There was another circumstance too, which interested me much during

267
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,440
the two wakeful nights in question, and immediately after the

268
00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,919
disappearance of missus Wyatt into the extra stateroom. I was

269
00:16:44,919 --> 00:16:49,080
attracted by certain singular, cautious, subdued noises in that of

270
00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:53,320
her husband. After listening to them for some time with

271
00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:58,200
thoughtful attention, I at length succeeded perfectly in translating their

272
00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:02,320
import They were sounds occasioned by the artist in prying

273
00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,200
open the oblong box by means of a chisel and

274
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,720
a mallet, the latter being apparently muffled or deadened by

275
00:17:08,759 --> 00:17:12,200
some soft woolen or cotton substance in which its head

276
00:17:12,279 --> 00:17:16,680
was enveloped. In this manner, I fancied I could distinguish

277
00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:20,880
the precise moment when he fairly disengaged the lid, Also

278
00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,880
that I could determine when he removed it altogether, and

279
00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,440
when he deposited upon the lower berth in his room.

280
00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,240
This latter point I knew, for example, by certain slight

281
00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:32,920
taps which the lid made in striking against the wooden

282
00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,440
edges of the berth, as he endeavored to lay it

283
00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,519
down very gently, there being no room for it on

284
00:17:38,559 --> 00:17:42,440
the floor. After this there was a dead stillness, and

285
00:17:42,519 --> 00:17:47,000
I heard nothing more upon either occasion until nearly daybreak,

286
00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:51,039
unless perhaps I may mention a low sobbing or murmuring sound,

287
00:17:51,319 --> 00:17:54,720
so very much suppressed as to be nearly inaudible, if

288
00:17:54,759 --> 00:17:57,119
indeed the whole of this Latin noise were not rather

289
00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:01,160
produced by my own imagination. I say it seemed to

290
00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,279
resemble sobbing or sighing, but of course it could not

291
00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:07,279
have been either. I rather think it was a ringing

292
00:18:07,319 --> 00:18:11,200
in my own ears. Mister Wyatt, no doubt, according to custom,

293
00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:13,680
was merely giving the rein to one of his hobbies.

294
00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:17,960
Indulging in one of his fits of artistic enthusiasm. He

295
00:18:18,039 --> 00:18:20,720
had opened his oblong box in order to feast his

296
00:18:20,799 --> 00:18:24,880
eyes on the pictureal treasure within. There was nothing in this, however,

297
00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,960
to make him sob I repeat therefore, that it must

298
00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,000
have been simply a freak of my own fancy, distempered

299
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:35,880
by good Captain Hardy's green tea. Just before dawn on

300
00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:38,400
each of the two nights of which I speak, I

301
00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,839
distinctly heard mister Wyatt replace the lid upon the oblong

302
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,039
box and force the nails into their old places by

303
00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:48,680
means of the muffled mallet. Having done this, he issued

304
00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,680
from his stateroom fully dressed, and proceeded to call missus

305
00:18:51,799 --> 00:18:56,440
w from hers. We had been at sea seven days

306
00:18:56,839 --> 00:18:59,720
and were now of Cape Hatteras when there came a

307
00:18:59,759 --> 00:19:04,119
tremendously heavy blow from the southwest. Were were in a

308
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:07,119
measure prepared for it. However, as the weather had been

309
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:11,279
holding out threats for some time, everything was made snug,

310
00:19:11,519 --> 00:19:15,039
a low and aloft, and as the wind steadily freshened,

311
00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,960
we lay too at length under spanker and fore top sail,

312
00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:24,160
both double reefed. In this trim, we rowed safely enough

313
00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,480
for forty eight hours, the ship proving herself an excellent

314
00:19:27,519 --> 00:19:30,559
sea boat in many respects, and shipping no water of

315
00:19:30,599 --> 00:19:35,039
any consequence. At the end of this period, however, the

316
00:19:35,079 --> 00:19:38,799
gale had freshened into a hurricane, and our after sails

317
00:19:38,799 --> 00:19:41,920
split into ribbons, bringing us so much in the trough

318
00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:45,559
of the water that we shipped several prodigious seas, one

319
00:19:45,599 --> 00:19:49,400
immediately after the other. By this accident, we lost three

320
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,440
men overboard with the caboose, and nearly the whole of

321
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:57,359
the larboard bulwarks. Scarcely had we recovered our senses before

322
00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,240
the foretop sail went into shreds. When we we got

323
00:20:00,319 --> 00:20:03,559
up a storm staysail and with this did pretty well

324
00:20:03,599 --> 00:20:06,319
for some hours, the ship heading the sea much more

325
00:20:06,319 --> 00:20:10,640
steadily than before. The gale still held on, however, and

326
00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:13,759
we saw no signs of its abating. The rigging was

327
00:20:13,799 --> 00:20:17,000
found to be ill fitted and greatly strained, and on

328
00:20:17,079 --> 00:20:19,960
the third day of the blow, about five in the afternoon,

329
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,680
our mizen mast, in a heavy lurch to winwood, went

330
00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:26,799
by the board for an hour or more. We tried

331
00:20:26,799 --> 00:20:28,720
in vain to get rid of it on account of

332
00:20:28,759 --> 00:20:32,000
the prodigious rolling of the ship, and before we had succeeded,

333
00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:35,160
the carpenter came aft and announced four feet water in

334
00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,559
the hold. To add toile dilemma, we found the pumps

335
00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:43,000
choked and nearly useless. All was now confusion and despair,

336
00:20:43,599 --> 00:20:45,759
but an effort was made to lighten the ship by

337
00:20:45,799 --> 00:20:48,720
throwing overboard as much of her cargo as could be reached,

338
00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:52,759
and by cutting away the two masts that remained. This

339
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,960
we at last accomplished, but we were still unable to

340
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,480
do anything at the pumps, and in the meantime the

341
00:20:58,559 --> 00:21:02,759
leak gained on us very far. At sundown, the gale

342
00:21:02,799 --> 00:21:05,880
had sensibly diminished in violence, and as the sea went

343
00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:08,960
down with it, we still entertained faint hopes of saving

344
00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:12,039
ourselves in the boats. At eight p m. The clouds

345
00:21:12,079 --> 00:21:14,759
broke away to windward, and we had the advantage of

346
00:21:14,759 --> 00:21:17,599
a full moon, a piece of good fortune, which served

347
00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:23,000
wonderfully to cheer our drooping spirits. After incredible labor, we

348
00:21:23,039 --> 00:21:25,640
succeeded at length in getting the long boat over the

349
00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,200
side without material accident, and into this we crowded the

350
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,880
whole of the crew and most of the passengers. This

351
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:37,519
party made off immediately, and after undergoing much suffering, finally

352
00:21:37,599 --> 00:21:41,519
arrived in safety at Ocracoke Inlet on the third day

353
00:21:41,559 --> 00:21:47,319
after the wreck. Fourteen passengers with the captain, remained on board,

354
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,160
resolving to trust their fortunes to the jolly boat. At

355
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,319
the stern, we lowered it without difficulty, although it was

356
00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:57,000
only by a miracle that we prevented it from swamping

357
00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,359
as it touched the water. It contained when a float.

358
00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,160
The captain and his wife, mister Wyitatt and party, a

359
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:08,960
Mexican officer, wife, four children, and myself with a negro valet.

360
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,920
We had no room, of course, for anything, except a

361
00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:17,759
few positively necessary instruments, some provisions, and the clothes upon

362
00:22:17,799 --> 00:22:21,359
our backs. No one had thought of even attempting to

363
00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:25,319
save anything more. What must have been the astonishment of all. Then,

364
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,960
when having proceeded a few fathoms from the ship, mister

365
00:22:29,039 --> 00:22:32,240
Wyatt stood up in the stern sheets and coolly demanded

366
00:22:32,279 --> 00:22:34,799
of Captain Hardy that the boat should be put back

367
00:22:34,799 --> 00:22:38,839
for the purpose of taking in his oblong box. Sit down,

368
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:43,559
mister Wyatt replied the captain, somewhat sternly. You will capsize

369
00:22:43,599 --> 00:22:46,400
us if you do not sit quite still. Our gunwale

370
00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:51,480
is almost in the water. Now the box, vociferated mister Wyatt,

371
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:55,440
still standing the box, I say, Captain Hardy, you cannot

372
00:22:55,599 --> 00:22:58,359
You will not refuse me. Its weight will be but

373
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:02,240
a trifle. It is nothing, mean nothing by the mother

374
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,079
who bore you, for the love of Heaven, by your

375
00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:07,880
hope of salvation. I implore you to put back for

376
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,839
the box. The captain for a moment seemed touched by

377
00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:14,559
the earnest appeal of the artist, but he regained his

378
00:23:14,599 --> 00:23:18,720
stern composure and merely said, mister Wyatt, you are mad.

379
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,039
I cannot listen to you. Sit down, I say, or

380
00:23:22,079 --> 00:23:26,279
you will swamp the boat. Stay hold him, seize him.

381
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:29,440
He is about to spring overboard. There I knew it.

382
00:23:29,799 --> 00:23:33,720
He is over As the captain said this, mister Wyatt

383
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,519
in fact sprang from the boat, and, as we were

384
00:23:36,599 --> 00:23:39,599
yet in the lee of the wreck, succeeded by almost

385
00:23:39,599 --> 00:23:43,160
superhuman exertion in getting hold of a rope which hung

386
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,079
from the fore chains. In another moment he was on

387
00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:50,559
board and rushing frantically down into the cabin. In the meantime,

388
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:53,160
we had been swept astern of the ship, and being

389
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:55,640
quite out of her lee, were at the mercy of

390
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,119
the tremendous sea, which was still running. We made a

391
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,200
determined effort to put back, but our little boat was

392
00:24:02,319 --> 00:24:04,960
like a feather in the breath of the tempest. We

393
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,319
saw at a glance that the doom of the unfortunate

394
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:12,119
artist was sealed. As our distance from the wreck rapidly increased.

395
00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,680
The madman, for as such only could we regard him,

396
00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,359
was seen to emerge from the companionway up, which, by

397
00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:23,000
dint of strength as it appeared gigantic, he dragged bodily

398
00:24:23,079 --> 00:24:27,359
the oblong box. While we gazed in the extreme of astonishment.

399
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,920
He passed rapidly several turns of a three inch rope,

400
00:24:31,279 --> 00:24:34,960
first around the box and then around his body. In

401
00:24:35,039 --> 00:24:38,039
another instant, both body and the box were in the sea,

402
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:43,759
disappearing suddenly at once and forever. We lingered awhile sadly

403
00:24:43,839 --> 00:24:46,680
upon our oars, with our eyes riveted upon the spot.

404
00:24:47,599 --> 00:24:51,640
At length we pulled away. The silence remained unbroken for

405
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:57,400
an hour. Finally I hazarded a remark, did you observe, Captain,

406
00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:01,279
how suddenly they sank? Was not not that an exceedingly

407
00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:05,640
singular thing. I confess that I entertained some feeble hope

408
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,559
of his final deliverance when I saw him lash himself

409
00:25:08,559 --> 00:25:12,519
to the box and commit himself to the sea. They

410
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:16,319
sank as a matter of course, replied the captain, and

411
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,079
that like a shot, they will soon rise again. However,

412
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:25,920
but not till the salt melts the salt I ejaculated. Hush,

413
00:25:26,279 --> 00:25:28,720
said the captain, pointing to the wife and sister of

414
00:25:28,759 --> 00:25:31,960
the deceased. We must talk of these things at some

415
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:37,319
more appropriate time. We suffered much and made a narrow escape,

416
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,359
but fortune befriended us, as well as our mates in

417
00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:44,559
the longboat. We landed in Fine, more dead than alive.

418
00:25:44,759 --> 00:25:48,680
After four days of intense distress, upon the beach opposite

419
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,960
Roanoke Island. We remained here a week, were not ill

420
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,039
treated by the wreckers, and at length obtained a passage

421
00:25:56,079 --> 00:26:00,240
to New York. About a month after the long of

422
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,519
the Independence, I happened to meet Captain Hardy in Broadway.

423
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:08,720
Our conversation turned naturally upon the disaster, and especially upon

424
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:12,200
the sad fate of poor Wyatt. I thus learned the

425
00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:17,960
following particulars. The artist had engaged passage for himself, wife,

426
00:26:18,079 --> 00:26:22,000
two sisters, and a servant. His wife was, indeed, as

427
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,519
she had been presented, a most lovely and most accomplished woman.

428
00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:29,319
On the morning of the fourteenth of June, the day

429
00:26:29,319 --> 00:26:32,480
in which I first visited the ship, the lady suddenly

430
00:26:32,519 --> 00:26:36,759
sickened and died. The young husband was frantic with grief,

431
00:26:37,279 --> 00:26:41,880
but circumstances imperatively forbade the deferring of his voyage to

432
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,720
New York. It was necessary to take to her mother

433
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,160
the corpse of his adored wife. And on the other hand,

434
00:26:49,319 --> 00:26:53,079
the universal prejudice which would prevent his doing so openly

435
00:26:53,319 --> 00:26:57,039
was well known. Nine tenths of the passengers would have

436
00:26:57,079 --> 00:27:00,960
abandoned the ship rather than take passage with the dead body.

437
00:27:01,319 --> 00:27:04,480
In this dilemma. Captain Hardy arranged that the corpse, being

438
00:27:04,519 --> 00:27:07,559
first partially embalmed and packed with a large quantity of

439
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,359
salt in a box of suitable dimensions, should be conveyed

440
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:15,359
on board as merchandise. Nothing was to be said of

441
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,480
the lady's decease, and as it was well understood that

442
00:27:18,519 --> 00:27:21,880
mister Wyatt had engaged passage for his wife, it became

443
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,720
necessary that some person should personate her during the voyage.

444
00:27:26,599 --> 00:27:29,880
This the deceased lady's maid, was easily prevailed on to

445
00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:34,640
do the extra stateroom originally engaged for this girl during

446
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:39,759
her mistress's life, was now merely retained in this state room.

447
00:27:39,839 --> 00:27:43,200
The pseudo wire slept, of course every night. In the

448
00:27:43,319 --> 00:27:46,519
daytime she performed to the best of her ability. The

449
00:27:46,599 --> 00:27:50,519
part of her mistress, whose person it had been carefully ascertained,

450
00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:54,359
was unknown to any of the passengers on board. My

451
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:59,160
own mistake arose naturally enough through two careless, too inquisitive,

452
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,720
and too impulsive temperament. But of late it is the

453
00:28:02,839 --> 00:28:06,000
rare thing that I sleep soundly at night. There is

454
00:28:06,039 --> 00:28:09,920
a countenance which haunts me. Turn as I will. There

455
00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:13,960
is an hysterical laugh which will forever ring within my ears.

456
00:28:16,759 --> 00:28:18,599
End of the oblong Box