Speaker 1: The Oblong Box by Edgar Allan Poe. Some years ago,
I engaged passage from Charleston, s c. To the City
of New York in the fine packet ship Independence Captain Hardy.
We were to sail on the fifteenth of the month June,
weather permitting, and on the fourteenth I went on board
to arrange some matters in my state room. I found
that we were to have a great many passengers, including
a more than usual number of ladies. On the list
were several of my acquaintances, and among other names, I
was rejoiced to see that mister Cornelius Wyatt, a young
artist for whom I entertained feelings of warm friendship. He
had been with me a fellow student at Sea University,
where we were very much together. He had the ordinary
temperament of genius, and was a compound of misanthropy, sensibility,
and enthusiasm. To these qualities he united the warmest and
truest heart which ever beat in a human bosom. I
observed that his name was carded upon three state rooms,
and upon again referring to the list of passengers, I
found that he had engaged passage for himself, wife, and
two sisters his own. The state rooms were sufficiently roomy,
and each had two berths, one above the other. These berths,
to be sure, were so exceedingly narrow as to be
insufficient for more than one person. Still, I could not
comprehend why there were three staterooms for these four persons.
I was just at that epoch, in one of those
moody frames of mind which make a man abnormally inquisitive
about trifles. And I confess with shame that I busied
myself in a variety of ill bred and preposterous conjectures
about this matter of the supernumery stateroom. It was no
business of mine, to be sure, But with none the
less pertinicity did I occupy myself in attempts to resolve
the enigma. At last I reached a conclusion which wrought
in me great wonder why I had not arrived at
it before. It is a servant, of course, I said,
what a fool, I am not sooner to have thought
of so obvious a solution. And then I again repaired
to the list. But here I saw distinctly that no
serpent was to come with the party, although in fact
it had been the original design to bring one, for
the words and servant had been first written and then overscored,
Oh extra baggage. To be sure, I now said to
myself something he wishes not to be put in hold,
something to be kept under his own eye. Ah, I
have it a painting or so, and this is what
he has been bargaining about with Nicolino, the Italian Jew.
This idea satisfied me, and I dismissed my curiosity for
the nons Whyatt's two sisters I knew very well and
most amiable and clever girls. They were his wife, he
had newly married, and I had never yet seen her.
He had often talked about her in my presence, however,
and in his usual style of enthusiasm, he described her
as of surpassing beauty, wit and accomplishment. I was therefore
quite anxious to make her acquaintance. On the day in
which I visited the ship, the fourteenth Wide and party
were also to visit it, so the captain informed me,
and I waited on board an hour longer than I
had designed, in hope of being presented to the bride.
But then an apology came. Missus w was a little
indisposed and would decline coming on board until tomorrow. At
the hour of sailing. The morrow having arrived, I was
going from my hotel to the wharf when Captain Hardy
met me and said that owing to circumstances a stupid
but convenient phrase. He rather thought the independents would not
sail for a day or two, and that when all
was ready, he would send up and let me know. This.
I thought strange, for there was a stiff southerly breeze.
But as the circumstances were not forthcoming, although I pumped
for them with much perseverance, I had nothing to do
but to rehurn home and digest my impatience at leisure.
I did not receive the expected message from the captain
for nearly a week. It came at length, however, and
I immediately went on board. The ship was crowded with passengers,
and everything was in the bustle attendant upon making sail.
Wyatt's party arrived in about ten minutes after myself. There
were the two sisters, the bride and the artist, the
latter in one of his customary fits of moody misanthropy.
I was too well used to these, however, to pay
them any special attention. He did not even introduce me
to his wife, this courtesy devolving perforce upon his sister,
Mary Anne, a very sweet and intelligent girl, who, in
a few hurried words made us acquainted. Missus Wyatt had
been closely veiled, and when she raised her veil in
acknowledging my bow, I confessed that I was very profoundly astonished.
I should have been much more so, however, had not
long experience advised me not to trust with too implicit
a reliance the enthusiastic descriptions of my friend the artist
when indulging in comments upon the loveliness of women, when
beauty was the theme, I well knew with what facility
he soared into the regions of the purely ideal. The
truth is I could not help regarding Missus Wyatt as
a decidedly plain looking woman. If not positively ugly, she
was not, I think, very far from it. She was dressed, however,
in exquisite taste, and then I had no doubt that
she had captivated my friend's heart by the more enduring
graces of the intellect and soul. She said very few
words and passed at once into her stateroom with mister
w My old inquisitiveness now returned. There was no servant.
That was a settled point. I looked, therefore for the
extra baggage. After some delay, a cart arrived at the
wharf with an oblong pine box, which was everything that
seemed to be expected. Immediately upon its arrival we made sail,
and in a short time were safely over the bar
and standing out to sea. The box in question was,
as I say, oblong. It was about six feet in
length by two and a half in breadth. I observed
it attentively, and liked to be precise. Now this shape
was peculiar, and no longer had I seen it than
I took credit to myself for the accuracy of my guessing.
I had reached the conclusion, it will be remembered, that
the extra baggage of my friend the artist would prove
to be pictures, or at least a picture, for I
knew he had been for several weeks in conference with Nicolino,
and now here was a box which, from its shape
could possibly contain nothing in the world but a copy
of Leonardo's last supper, and a copy of this very
last supper done by Rubini. The younger at Florence, I
had known for some time to be in the possession
of Niccolino. This point, therefore, I considered as sufficiently settled.
I chuckled excessively when I thought of my acumen. It
was the first time I had ever known why it
to keep from me any of his artistical secrets. But
here he evidently intended to steal a march upon me
and smuggle a fine picture to New York under my
very nose, Expecting me to know nothing of the matter.
I resolved to quiz him well now and hereafter. One thing, however,
annoyed me not a little. The box did not go
into the extra stateroom. It was deposited in White's own,
and there too it remained, occupying very nearly the whole
of the floor, no doubt to the exceeding discomfort of
the artist and his wife. This the more especially as
the tar or paint with which it was lettered in
sprawling capitals, emitted a strong, disagreeable and to my fancy,
a peculiarly disgusting odor. On the lid were painted the
words Missus Adelaide Curtis Albany, New York, charge of Cornelius
Wyatt esquire this side up to be handled with care.
Now I was aware that Missus Adelaide Curtis of Albany
was the artist's wife's mother. But then I looked upon
the whole address as a mystification intended especially for myself.
I made up my mind, of course, that the box
and contents would never get farther north than the studio
of my misanthropic friend in Chambers Street, New York. For
the first three or four days we had fine weather,
although the wind was dead ahead, having chopped round to
the northward immediately upon our losing sight of the coast.
The passengers were consequently in high spirits and disposed to
be social. I must accept, however, Wyatt and his sisters,
who behaved stiffly, and I could not help thinking uncourteously
to the rest of the party. Whyite's conduct I did
not so much regard. He was gloomy, even beyond his
usual habit. In fact, he was more rose, But in
him I was prepared for eccentricity. For the sisters, however,
I could make no excuse. They secluded themselves in their
state rooms during the greater part of the passage, and
absolutely refused although I repeatedly urged them to hold communication
with any person on board. Missus Whitet herself was far
more agreeable. That is to say, she was chatty, and
to be chatty is no slight recommendation. At sea, she
became excessively intimate with most of the ladies, and to
my profound astonishment, evinced no equivocal disposition to coquette with
the men. She amused us all very much, I say, amused,
and scarcely know how to explain myself. The truth is,
I soon found that Missus w was far oftener laughed
at than with. The gentleman said little about her, but
the ladies in a little while pronounced her a good
hearted thing, rather indifferent, looking, totally uneducated, and decidedly vulgar.
The great wonder was how Whyae had been entrapped into
such a match. Wealth was the general solution, but this
I knew to be no solution at all, For White
had told me that she neither brought him a dollar,
nor had any expectations from any source. Whatever he had married,
he said, for love and for love only, and his
bride was far more than worthy of his love. When
I thought of these expressions on the part of my friend.
I confessed that I felt indescribably puzzled. Could it be
possible that he was taking leave of his senses? What
else could I think? He so refined, so intellectual, so fastidious,
with so exquisite a perception of the faculty, and so
keen an appreciation of the beautiful. To be sure, the
lady seemed especially fond of him, particularly so in his absence,
when she made herself ridiculous by frequent quotations of what
he had been said by her beloved husband, mister Wyatt.
The word husband seemed forever to use, one of her
own delicate expressions, forever on the tip of her tongue.
In the meantime, it was observed by all on board
that he avoided her in the most pointed manner, and
for the most part shut himself up alone in his stateroom,
where in fact he might have been said to live altogether,
leaving his wife at full liberty to amuse herself as
she thought best in the public society of the main cabin.
My conclusion from what I saw and heard was that
the artist, by some unaccountable freak of fate, or perhaps
in some fit of enthusiastic and fanciful passion had been
induced to unite himself with a person altogether beneath him,
and that the natural result, entire and speedy disgust had ensued.
I pitied him from the bottom of my heart, but
could not for that reason quite forgive his incommunicativeness in
the matter of the Last Supper. For this I resolved
to have my revenge. One day he came up on deck,
and taking his arm, as had been my wont I
sauntered with him backward and forward. His gloom, however, which
I considered quite natural under the circumstances, seemed entirely unabated.
He said little, and that moodily and with evident effort.
I ventured a jest or two, and he made a
sickening attempt at a smile. Poor fellow. As I thought
of his wife, I wondered that he could have heart
to put on even the semblance of mirth. At last,
I ventured a home thrust. I determined to commence a
series of covert insinuations or innuendoes about the oblong box,
just to let him perceive gradually that I was not
altogether the butt or victim of his little bit of
pleasant mystification. My first observation was by way of opening
a masked battery. I said something about the peculiar shape
of that box, and as I spoke the words, I
smiled knowingly, winked, and touched him gently with my forefinger
in the ribs. The manner in which Wyat received this
harmless pleasantry convinced me at once that he was mad.
At first, he stared at me as if he found
it impossible to comprehend the witticism of my remark. But
as its point seemed slowly to make its way into
his brain, his eyes, in the same proportions, seemed protruding
from their sockets. Then he grew very red and hideously pale. Then,
as if highly amused with what I had insinuated, he
began to a loud and boisterous laugh, which, to my astonishment,
he kept up with gradually increasing vigor for ten minutes
or more. In conclusion, he fell flat and heavily upon
the deck. When I ran to uplift him. To all
appearances he was dead. I called assistance, and with much
difficulty we brought him to himself. Upon reviving, he spoke
incoherently for some time. At length we bled him and
put him to bed. The next morning he was quite recovered,
so far as regarded his mere bodily health of his mind,
I say nothing. Of course, I avoided him during the
rest of the passage, by advice of the captain, who
seemed to coincide with me altogether in my views of
his insanity, but cautioned me to say say nothing on
this head to any person on board. Several circumstances occurred
immediately after this fit of whites, which contributed to heighten
the curiosity with which I was already possessed. Among other
things this I had been nervous, drank too much strong
green tea, and slept ill at night. In fact, for
two nights I could not be properly said to sleep
at all. Now my stateroom opened into the main cabin
or dining room, as did those of all the single
men on board. Whye's three rooms were in the after cabin,
which was separated from the main one by a slight
sliding door never locked even at night. As we were
almost certainly on a wind and the breeze was not
a little stiff, the ship heeled to leeward very considerably,
and whenever her starboard side was to leeward, the sliding
door between the cabins slid open, and so remained, nobody
taking the trouble to get up and shut it. But
my berth was in such a position that when my
own stateroom door was open as well as the sliding
door in question, and my own door was always open
on account of the heat, I could see into the
aftercabmin quite distinctly, and just at that portion of it too,
were situated the staterooms of mister Wyatt Well during two
nights not consecutive, while I lay awake, I clearly saw
missus W about eleven o'clock upon each night, still cautiously
from the stateroom of mister W and entered the extra room,
where she remained until daybreak, when she was called by
her husband and went back. That they were virtually separated
was clear they had separate apartments, no doubt in contemplation
of a more permanent divorce. And here after all I thought,
was the mystery of the extra stateroom. There was another
circumstance too, which interested me much during the two wakeful
nights in question, and immediately after the disappearance of missus
Wyatt into the extra stateroom, I was attracted by certain singular, cautious,
subdued noises in that of her husband. After listening to
them for some time with thoughtful attention, I at length
succeeded perfectly in translating their inac They were sounds occasioned
by the artist in prying open the oblong box by
means of a chisel and mallet, the latter being apparently
muffled or deadened by some soft woolen or cotton substance
in which its head was enveloped. In this manner, I
fancied I could distinguish the precise moment when he fairly
disengaged the lid, Also that I could determine when he
removed it altogether, and when he deposited upon the lower
berth in his room. This latter point I knew, for example,
by certain slight taps which the lid made in striking
against the wooden edges of the berth, as he endeavored
to lay it down very gently, there being no room
for it on the floor. After this there was a
dead stillness, and I heard nothing more upon either occasion
until nearly daybreak, unless perhaps I may mention a low
sobbing or murmuring sound so very much suppressed as to
be nearly inaudible, If indeed the whole of this latter
noise were not rather produced by my own imagination. I
say it seemed to resemble sobbing or sighing, but of
course it could not have been either. I rather think
it was a ringing in my own ears. Mister Wyatt,
no doubt, according to custom, was merely giving the rein
to one of his hobbies. Indulging in one of his
fits of artistic enthusiasm. He had opened his oblong box
in order to feast his eyes on the pictorial treasure within.
There was nothing in this, however, to make him sob
I repeat, therefore, that it must have been simply a
freak of my own fancy, distempered by good Captain Hardy's
green tea. Just before dawn on each of the two
nights of which I speak, I distinctly heard mister Wyatt
replace the lid upon the oblong box and force the
nails into their old places by means of the muffled mallet.
Having done this, he issued from his stateroom fully dressed,
and proceeded to call missus w from hers. We had
been at sea seven days and were now off Cape
Hatteras when there came a tremendously heavy blow from the southwest.
We were in a measure prepared for it. However, as
the weather had been holding out threats for some time,
everything was made snow a low and aloft, and as
the wind steadily freshened, we lay too at length under
spanker and foretopsail, both double reefed. In this trim. We
rowed safely enough for forty eight hours, the ship proving
herself an excellent sea boat in many respects, and shipping
no water of any consequence. At the end of this period, however,
the gale had freshened into a hurricane, and our after
sail split into ribbons, bringing us so much in the
trough of the water that we shipped several prodigious seas,
one immediately after the other. By this accident, we lost
three men overboard with the cboos, and nearly the whole
of the larboard bulwarks. Scarcely had we recovered our senses
before the foretopsail went into shreds. When we got up
a storm staysail, and with this did pretty well for
some hours, the ship heading the sea much more steadily
than before. The gale still held on, however, and we
saw no signs of its abating. The rigging was found
to be ill fitted and greatly strained, and on the
third day of the blow, about five in the afternoon,
our mizen mast, in a heavy lurch to windward, went
by the board for an hour or more. We tried
in vain to get rid of it on account of
the prodigious rolling of the ship, and before we had succeeded,
the carpenter came aft and announced four feet of water
in the hold. To add to our dilemma, we found
the pumps choked and nearly useless. All was now confusion
and despair, but an effort was made to lighten the
ship by throwing overboard as much of her cargo as
could be reached, and by cutting away the two masts
that remained. This we at last accomplished, but we were
still unable to do anything at the pumps, and in
the meantime the leak gained on us very fast. At sundown,
the gale had sensibly diminished its violence, and as the
sea went down with it. We still entertained faint hopes
of saving ourselves in the boats. At eight p m.
The clouds broke away to windward, and we had the
advantage of a full moon, a piece of good fortune,
which served wonderfully to cheer our drooping spirits. After incredible labor,
we succeeded at length in getting the longboat over the
side without material accident, and into this we crowded the
whole of the crew and most of the passengers. This
party made off immediately, and after undergoing much suffering, finally
arrived in safety at Okracoke Inlet on the third day
after the wreck. Fourteen passengers with the captain, remained on board,
resolving to trust their fortunes to the jolly boat. At
the stern, we lowered it without difficulty, although it was
only by a miracle that we prevented it from swamping
as it touched the water it contained. When afloat the
captain and his wife, mister Wyan party, a Mexican officer wife,
four children, and myself with a Negro valet. We had
no room, of course, for anything, except a few positively
necessary instruments, some provisions, and the clothes upon our backs.
No one had thought of even attempting to save anything more.
What must have been the astonishment of all. Then, when
having proceeded a few fathoms from the ships, Wyatt stood
up in the stern sheets and coolly demanded of Captain
Hardy that the boat should be put back for the
purpose of taking in his oblong box. Sit down, mister
Wyatt replied the captain, somewhat sternly. You will capsize us
if you do not sit quite still. Our gunwale is
almost in the water. Now the box, vociferated mister Wyatt,
still standing the box, I say, Captain Hardy, you cannot
You will not refuse me. Its weight will be but
a trifle. It is nothing, mere nothing, by the mother
who bore you, for the love of Heaven, by your
hope of salvation. I implore you to put back for
the box. The captain for a moment seemed touched by
the earnest appeal of the artist, but he regained his
stern composure and merely said, mister Wyatt, you are mad.
I cannot listen to you. Sit down, I say, or
you will swamp the boat. Stay hold him, seize him.
He is about to spring overboard. There I knew it.
He is over. As the captain said this, mister Wyatt
in fact sprang from the boat, and, as we were
yet in the lee of the rest, succeeded by almost
in superhuman exertion, in getting hold of a rope which
hung from the fore chains. In another moment he was
on board and rushing frantically down into the cabin. In
the meantime, we had been swept astern of the ship,
and being quite out of her lee, were at the
mercy of the tremendous sea, which was still running. We
made a determined effort to put back, but our little
boat was like a feather in the breath of a tempest.
We saw at a glance that the doom of the
unfortunate artist was sealed. As our distance from the wreck
rapidly increased. The madman, for as such only could we
regard him, was seen to emerge from the companionway up which,
by dint of strength that appeared gigantic. He dragged bodily
the oblong box. While we gazed in the extremity of astonishment.
He passed rapidly several turns of a three inch rope,
first around the box and then about his body. In
another instant, both body and box were in the sea,
disappearing suddenly at once and foreveringered Awhile sadly upon our oars,
with our eyes riveted upon the spot, At length we
pulled away. The silence remained unbroken for an hour. Finally
I hazarded a remark, did you observe, Captain, how suddenly
they sank? Was not that an exceedingly singular thing. I
confess that I entertained some feeble hope of his final
deliverance when I saw him lash himself to the box
and commit himself to the sea. They sank as a
matter of course, replied the captain, and that like a shot,
they will soon rise again, however, but not till the
salt melts the salt I ejaculated. Hush, said the captain,
pointing to the wife and sisters of the deceased. We
must talk of these things at some more appropriate time.
We suffered much and made a narrow escape, but fortune
befriended us, as well as our mates in the long boat.
We landed in Fine, more dead than alive. After four
days of intense distress, upon the beach opposite Roanoke Island.
He remained here a week, were not ill treated by
the wreckers, and at length obtained a passage to New York.
About a month after the loss of the Independence, I
happened to meet Captain Hardway in Broadway. Our conversation turned
naturally upon the disaster, and especially upon the sad fate
of poor Wyatt. I thus learned the following particulars. The
artist had engaged passage for himself, wife, two sisters, and
a servant. His wife was, indeed, as she had been represented,
a most lovely and most accomplished woman. On the morning
of the fourteenth of June, the day in which I
first visited the ship, the lady suddenly sickened and died.
The young husband was frantic with grief, but circumstances imperatively
forbade the deferring his voyage to New York. It was
necessary to take to her mother the corpse of his
adored wife, And on the other hand, the universal prejudice
which would prevent his doing so openly was well known.
Nine tenths of the passengers would have abandoned the ship
rather than take passage with a dead body. In this dilemma,
Captain Hardy arranged that the corpse, being first partially embalmed
and packed with a large quantity of salt in a
box of pudable dimensions, should be conveyed on board as merchandise.
Nothing was to be said of the lady's decease, and
as it was well understood that mister Wyatt had engaged
passage for his wife, it became necessary that some person
should personate her during the voyage. This, the deceased lady's maid,
was easily prevailed on to do. The extra state room
originally engaged for this girl during her mistress's life, was
now merely retained. In this state room. The pseudo wife slept,
of course, every night. In the daytime she performed to
the best of her ability. The part of her mistress,
whose person it had been carefully ascertained, was unknown to
any of the passengers on board. My own mistake arose
naturally enough through too careless, too inquisitive, and too impulsive
a temperament. But of late, it is a rare thing
that I sleep soundly at night. There's a countenance which
haunts me. Turn as I will, There's a hysterical laugh
which will forever ring within my ears. End of the
oblong box