City Crimes; Or, Life in New York and BostonThompson, George
General
City Crimes; Or, Life in New York and Boston
Thompson, George
Boston (Mass.) -- Fiction; Crime -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction
The tightness of the box in which the Dead Man was placed, produced no
small inconvenience to that worthy, who during the passage was nearly
suffocated; however, he consoled himself with the thought that in a
short time he would be free. The box was about six feet in length; and
two in breadth and depth; and in this narrow compass the villain felt as
if he were in a coffin. He was greatly rejoiced when the men who were
unloading the vessel raised the box from the deck and carried it towards
one of the carts.
But oh, horrible! unconscious that there was a man in the box, they
stood it upon one end, and the Dead Man was left _standing upon his
head_. The next moment the cart was driven rapidly over the rough
pavement, towards the warehouse.
There were but two alternatives left for him--either to endure the
torments of that unnatural position until the box was taken from the
cart, or to cry out for some one to rescue him, in which case, clothed
as he was in the garb of the prison, he would be immediately recognized
as an escaped convict, and sent back to his old quarters. This latter
alternative was so dreadful to him that he resolved to endure the
torture if possible; and he could not help shuddering when he thought
that perhaps he might be placed in the same position in the warehouse!
The drive from the wharf to Pearl street occupied scarce five minutes,
yet during that brief period of time, the Dead man endured all the
torments of the damned. The blood settled in his head, and gushed from
his mouth and nostrils; unable to hold out longer, he was about to yell
in his agony for aid, when the cart stopped, and in a few moments he was
relieved by his box being taken down and carried into the warehouse,
where, to his inexpressible joy, it was placed in a position to cause
him no further inconvenience. The warehouse being an extensive one, many
persons were employed in it; and he deemed it prudent to remain in his
box until night, as the clerks and porters were constantly running
about, and they would be sure to observe him if he issued from his place
of concealment then.
As he lay in his narrow quarters, he heard the voices of two persons
conversing near him, one of whom was evidently the proprietor of the
establishment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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