Two Boxes of Gold (I)

       Herbert Blamyre was trusted one day with the urgent task of carrying two boxes of gold from London to Naples. On the way he came to know Levison and Major Baxter. Who were the two men? Was Herbert able to fulfill the task? Please read the following story for the answers.

 My name is Herbert Blamyre. I live with my wife, Minnie, in a little house to the south of London. We had only been married for a month, and had returned from a holiday in Ireland. I was a junior partner in a bank in Lombard Street, and had four more days of holiday left. Minnie and I were sitting in the garden, when the maid brought the telegram which was to start my adventures.

    The telegram was from my partner, Mr. Schwarzmoor. It said, "We want you to start for Italy at once on important business. No delay. Be at office by 6.30. Start from London Bridge by 9.15, and catch Dover night boat."

    "Herbert, dear, you won't go, you mustn't go," said Minnie. "Please, don't go!"

    "I must, my dear," I said. "The Bank has no one to send but me. I shall not be gone for long. I must start in ten minutes, and catch the next train."

    Mr. Schwarzmoor met me when at last I reached the bank.

    "I hope your wife is well," he said. "I am sorry to have to ask you to miss some of your holiday, but there was nothing I could do about it. We need you to take some gold to Naples. Here it is," and he pointed to two large boxes. "The boxes are made of iron, but we have covered them with leather, so that they look like samples. They are fastened with letter-locks, and contain a quarter of a million pounds in gold. You must take the money to Pagliavicini and Rossi, No. 172 Toledo, Naples. The king of Naples expects that there will be a war, and he needs the money to buy guns. The names that open the locks are ‘Masinisa', for the one with the white star on the cover, and ‘Cotopaxo' for the one with the black star. You must not forget these two words. Open the boxes at Lyons to make sure all is well. Talk to no one. Do not make any friends on the way."

    "I shall pretend to be a traveling salesman," I said.

    "Please be careful, Blamyre. You have a dangerous journey ahead of you. Do you have a gun?"

    I opened my coat, and showed a special belt with a gun in it.

    "Good," said Mr. Schwarzmoor. "I hope you do not need to use it. You will stop in Paris tomorrow. I have some letters for you to give to Lefebre and Desjeans, and you will go on to Marseilles by the night train. You catch the boat on Friday. We will send you a telegram at Marseilles. Are the letters for Paris ready, Mr. Hargrave?"

    "Yes, sir, nearly ready. Mr. Wilkins is working on them now."

    I reached Dover before midnight, and at once got four porters to carry my chests down the stone steps leading to the Calais boat. The first was taken safely onto the boat, but while the second was being carried down, one of the men slipped. He would have fallen into the water, but he was caught by a large man who, with his wife, was just in front of me.

    "Steady, my man," he said. "Why, what have you got there?"

    "Don't know, sir," replied the porter. "I only know it's heavy enough to break a man's back."

    "These steps cause a lot of trouble when bringing down heavy goods," said a voice behind me. "I see, from your luggage, that we may be in the same business."

    I looked round as we stepped on board. The man who had spoken to me was tall and thin. He had a rather large nose, and a long thin face. He wore an overcoat which was too small for him, a flowered waistcoat, tight trousers, a high shirt collar and a stiff neckcloth.

    I replied that I was a traveling salesman, and that I thought we might be going to have a rough journey across to France.

    "Yes, a very dirty night," he said. "I advise you to find your bed at once. The boat, I see, is very crowded."

    I went straight to my bed, and lay down for an hour. At the end of that time I got up and looked around me. At one of the small tables sat six of the passengers, among them the two I had already met. They were talking and drinking, and I went over to join them. The large man was a Major Baxter, who had been in India for some years. The other was a Mr. Levison.

    "It's getting very hot down here," said the Major. "Why don't we three go up on deck and get some fresh air? My wife is always ill on these crossings. We won't see her again until the boat stops."

    When we got on deck, I saw, to my great surprise, four other boxes exactly like mine. I could hardly believe my eyes, but there they were, leather covers, letter-locks and all.

    "Those are mine, sir," said Mr. Levison. "I am traveling for the House of Mackintosh. Those cases contain waterproof overcoats, the best make in the world. We have used these cases for many years. It is sometimes difficult, this accidental resemblance of luggage. It sometimes leads to mistakes. However, I would think your goods are much heavier than mine. What do you carry? Gas pipes, railway chairs, knives or something else made of iron?"

    I did not reply.

    "Sir, I think you will do very well," said Levison. "Trade secrets should not be discussed in public. Don't you think so, Major?"

    "You're right, sir," replied the Major. "One cannot be too careful."

    "There's the Calais light," cried someone at that moment, and soon we were getting ready to leave the boat.

    I thought no more about my traveling companions. We parted at Paris. I went my way and they went their way. The Major was going to visit Dromont, near Lyons. From there he would go to Marseilles, then on to Alexandria. Mr. Levison was also going to Marseilles, like myself and the Major, but not by my train. He had too much to do in Paris first.

    I had delivered my letters in Paris and was on my way back to my hotel with Mr. Lefebre, a great friend of mine. It was about six o'clock and we were crossing the road, when a carriage passed us. In it was Mr. Levison, and his four boxes were by his side. I waved to him, but he did not seem to notice me. In the same street we met the Major and his wife, on their way to the railway station.

    "Terrible city, this," said the Major. "It smells so of onions. I'd like to wash it out house by house. Julia, this is my pleasant traveling companion of last night." They went on their way.

At midnight, I was standing at the station watching my luggage being put onto the train. A cab drew up and an Englishman got out. He asked the driver, in excellent French, for change for a five-franc piece. It was Levison, but I saw no more of him, for the crowd just then pushed me forward.

    I found a seat in a carriage with two other people. They were so wrapped up in their coats that I could not see what they were like at all.

    Once the train had started, I fell asleep and dreamed of my dear wife, and our home. Then I began to worry, for I dreamed I had forgotten the words which would open the letter locks. I tried hard to remember, but it was no good. Then I was in the bank at No. 172 Toledo, Naples, being ordered to give the words, or be put to death by a row of soldiers. I must give the words, or tell where I had hidden the boxes, for I seemed to have hidden them for some reason. At that moment an earthquake shook the city, a flood of fire rolled past beneath the window. I cried out, "Please God, show me the words," and then I woke up.

    "Dromont, Dromont. Ten minutes to Dromont,”" called the guard.

At Dromont I went to a restaurant and asked for a cup of coffee. Suddenly three or four noisy young Englishmen came hurrying in, with a quiet, elderly traveling salesman. It was Levison again. They led him along, and called for champagne.

    "Yes, yes," the leader said. "You must have some, old man. We have won three games, you know. You will be able to get your own back before we get to Lyons."

    Levison talked cheerfully about the last game of cards and drank the wine. In a few minutes the young men had drunk their champagne, and gone out to smoke. In another moment Levison caught my eye.

    "Why , good gracious," he said. "Well, I am glad to see you. Now, my dear sir, you must have some champagne with me." He called to the waiter, "Another bottle of champagne, if you please." Then, turning to me he said, " I hope to join you before we get to Lyons. I am tired of the noise of those youngsters. Besides, I cannot afford to lose too much money."

    The waiter brought the bottle of champagne. Levison took the bottle at once.

    "No" he said, " I never allow anyone to open wine for me."

    He turned his back on me to remove the cork. He had taken it off, and was filling my glass, when up dashed a man to shake hands with me. He was in such a hurry that he knocked into Mr. Levison and the bottle of champagne was broken.

    It was the Major, hot, as usual, and very eager to talk to us.

    "Oh, I am so sorry. Let me order another bottle. How are you gentlemen? How lucky to meet you again! Julia's with the luggage. We can have a good time here. More champagne here. What's ‘bottle' in French? Such an annoying thing has happened. Those friends of Julia's had gone off on holiday. They'd forgotten we were coming. Very bad, very bad. Ah, there's the bell. We'll all go in the same carriage."

    Levison looked rather angry. "I shall not see you, for a station or two," he said. "I must join those boys, and see if I can win back some of my money. Good-bye, Major Baxter. Good-bye, Mr. Blamyre."

    I found the Major quite pleasant to talk to. He was full of stories about his days in India, always interrupted by his fussy, good-natured, managing wife.

    Soon the train stopped at Charmont, and in came Levison.

    "No more heavy losing for me," he said. "But if you and the Major and Mrs. Baxter would care for a game at a shilling a point, then I'm willing to play."

    We agreed. We cut for partners. I and Mrs. Baxter against the Major and Levison. We won nearly every game. Levison played too carefully, and the Major talked and laughed and always forgot which cards had been played.

    Still, it helped to pass the time. When we had played for long enough we began to talk. Levison started to tell us about his business.

    "I have at last discovered something for which the makers of waterproof clothing have been searching for years," he said. "That is, how to let out the heated air of the body, and yet at the same time to keep out the rain. When I get back to London, I shall offer this secret to the Mackintosh firm for ten thousand pounds. If they refuse the offer, I shall at once open a shop in Paris. I shall call the new material Magentosh, and make a lot of money out of it."

    "Very clever," said the Major.

    Mr. Levison then turned the conversation to the subject of letter-locks.

    "I always use the letter-lock myself," he said. "My two words are Turlurette and Papagayo. Who would guess them? It would take a very clever thief several hours to work out even one of them. Do you find the letter-lock safe, sir?" he asked, turning to me.

    I replied that I did and asked what time our train was due at Lyons.

    "We are due at Lyons at 4.30," said the Major. "It is now five to four. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that something will happen before we get there. I am always unlucky when traveling. How fast we are traveling! See how the carriage rocks. I am sure we shall have a breakdown before we get to Marseilles."

    I began to feel afraid, but did not show it. Could the Major be planning to do something against me?

    "Nonsense, Major, be quiet. That's the way you always spoil a journey," said his wife.

    Then Levison began to talk about his early life. He had been working for a place that made neckcloths. He talked on and on.

    Then the train slowed down, moved on, slowed again and stopped.

    The Major put his head out of the window, and shouted to a passing guard.

   "Where are we?"

    "Thirty-two kilometres from Lyons. This is Fort Rouge, sir."

    "What is the matter? Anything the matter?"

    An English voice answered from the next window.

    "A wheel broken, they tell us. We shall have to wait two hours and take all the luggage off onto another van."

   "Good heavens," I cried.

(2,263 words)

(To be continued.)

TOP