The box was soon emptied, and its contents carefully stowed in the most convenient s.p.a.ce behind me; and then, with a joyous heart, I mounted into the s.p.a.ce I had cleared out. One more stage nearer to liberty!
I had been less than two hours in accomplishing this great advance.
Such success was ominous of future good fortune. It was a day well begun; and I resolved not to throw away a minute of time, since the fates appeared so propitious.
After going down to refresh myself with a grand draught of water, I returned to the _ci-devant_ depository of the velvet, and there entered upon a new series of explorations. As in the case of the cloth-box, I saw that the end of this, which also ab.u.t.ted against the pianoforte, could be easily _kicked out_; and without waiting to ascertain farther, I set my heels against it, and began playing my old _tattoo_.
This time I did not finish it so soon. I was pinched for want of room, the velvet-box being much smaller than that which contained the cloth; but I effected my purpose at length, and out went the end-boards, one after another, dropping down into the interstices between the cases of goods.
Doubling myself over upon my knees, I leant forward to make a new _reconnaissance_. I expected, or rather dreaded, to find the great wall-like piano-case shutting up the whole s.p.a.ce I had opened.
Certainly, the huge case was there--for I at once laid my hand upon it-- but I could scarce restrain an exclamation of joy, when I found that it extended scarce half-way across the opening! What delighted me still further was, that, in groping around its edge, I observed that opposite the opening in that part to which the piano-case did not extend, there was a large s.p.a.ce entirely empty--a s.p.a.ce almost big enough to have contained another case of velvet!
This was a very joyful surprise, and I at once perceived the advantage thus thrown in my way. It was so much of my tunnel ready made to my hand.
On thrusting my arm outside the end of the box and upward, I became acquainted with a new source of joy. I perceived that the empty s.p.a.ce continued for ten or twelve inches higher than the top of the box--in fact, to the top of the piano-case itself. It also opened about the same distance below where my knees rested. There I perceived that it ended in a sharp angle; for I had already noticed that this little chamber was not of a _square_ shape, as we say, but of the form of a triangle, with its apex pointing downwards. This was caused by the peculiar construction of the piano-case, which resembled a great parallelopipedon, with one corner sawed off. It was standing upon its larger end, and it was where this corner should have been that the place remained empty.
In all likelihood the triangular shape of this s.p.a.ce rendered it inconvenient for any package which there was among the merchandise, and hence was it unoccupied.
So much the better for me, thought I, as I stretched forth my arms, and leant my body over into it, with the design of giving it a more thorough exploration.
CHAPTER SIXTY ONE.
A MILLINER"S BOX.
I was not long about this business. I soon perceived that the back of the empty s.p.a.ce was closed in by a large box, and a similar one blocked up the right side. The left was the diagonal edge of the case itself, about twenty inches or two feet in width.
But I troubled myself very little either about back, left, or right. It was the ceiling of the little chamber that had the greatest interest for me; for it was in that direction I intended, _if possible_, to continue my tunnel.
I knew that I was now far enough in the horizontal direction; for the chief advantage I had gained by the discovery of the empty s.p.a.ce was, that it carried me the thickness of the piano-case--about two feet, as I have said--in this course, besides the distance that was open, upwards.
Neither forward, then, nor to the right or left, did I wish to go, unless forced to do so by an obstacle. Upward was the echo of my thoughts. _Excelsior_! _excelsior_! Two or three stages more--perhaps less, if no obstacle intervened--and I might be free. My heart beat joyfully as the prospect pa.s.sed before my mind.
It was not without a keen anxiety that I raised my hand to the ceiling of the empty chamber. My fingers trembled as they touched what I well knew to be canvas, and involuntarily they recoiled from it. O, mercy!-- once more that hated fabric--a bale of linen!
I was not so sure of this however. I remembered the mistake I had already made in this regard. I must examine farther.
I closed my fist, and gave the bottom of the package a smart rap with my knuckles. Ha! it was a pleasant sound that answered to the blow. It was not a bale of linen, then, but a box, covered, like many others, with several folds of coa.r.s.e cheap canvas. It could not be cloth, either; for instead of the dull report which the cloth-boxes give out when struck, the one in question returned a hollow sound, precisely that of one that was empty!
This appeared strange enough. It could not be empty, else why was it there? and yet if not empty, what did it contain?
I hammered upon it with the haft of my knife--still the same hollow sound!
"Good!" thought I. "If empty, all the better; but if not, surely there is something in it of a light nature--something that may be easily got rid of. Good!"
After making this reflection, I resolved to waste no more time in conjectures, but to satisfy myself of the contents of this new box, by making my way into it; and in a trice I had ripped off the canvas that protected its bottom.
I found the position in which I stood inconvenient. The triangular s.p.a.ce, narrowing acutely towards the bottom, hindered me from standing fairly on my feet; but I soon remedied this defect, by filling the angle with some pieces of cloth and velvet that were near at hand. I then proceeded more comfortably with my work.
I need not detail the mode in which I burrowed through the bottom of the box. It was just as with the others, and succeeded as well. I had to make one cross-cut, and in this my newly-hafted blade behaved admirably; after which, I pulled out the divided pieces.
I was not a little surprised when I arrived at the inside, and ascertained the contents of the box. It was some time before I could make them out by the "feel," but when I had succeeded in getting one separated from its fellows, and ran my fingers over its outline, I at length recognised what they were. They were _bonnets_!
Yes, ladies" bonnets, and nothing but that--all apparently full "trimmed," and garnished with their feathers, flowers, and ribbons.
Had I at that time possessed a more intimate knowledge of the costumes of the Peruvians, I should have been more surprised, perhaps, to find such an odd "item" in the list of their imports. I should have known that such a thing as a bonnet is never seen upon the beautiful head of a Peruvian lady. But I knew nothing of this then, and I was only surprised by the oddity of such an article occurring in the cargo of a great ship.
The explanation was given me afterwards, thus:--that there were English and French ladies living in many of the South American cities--the wives and sisters of English and French merchants resident there, as well as of various representative officials--and that these, although so very far distant from their homes, still obstinately persisted in following the fashions of London and Paris, notwithstanding (it was added) the ridicule with which such an absurd headdress was regarded by their fair sisters of Spanish America.
For these sojourners, then, the box of bonnets had been intended.
I am sorry to add that for that season their expectations must have been disappointed. The bonnets could never have reached them, or, if they did, it must have been in such a state as to render them unfit for any purpose of adornment. Mine was an unmerciful hand; for, once inside that box, it never ceased from wreck and ruin till the whole of those beautiful "ducks" were crumpled up and stowed away in less than a tenth part of the valuable s.p.a.ce they had hitherto occupied.
No doubt many an imprecation was afterwards heaped on my devoted head; and the only apology I can make is to speak the simple truth--that with me it was a matter of life or death, and the bonnets had to go. It was not likely that this would be satisfactory in the quarter where the bonnets were expected. I never heard whether or no. I only know that I was enabled afterwards--but long afterwards--to satisfy my own conscience about the matter, by _paying the damage_ claimed by the Transatlantic milliner.
CHAPTER SIXTY TWO.
HALF SUFFOCATED.
Having disposed of the bonnets, my next step was to climb up into the empty box; and, if possible, get the lid, or part of it, removed. But, first, I endeavoured to ascertain what was on the top of it, and for this purpose I adopted a plan that had already served me more than once--of feeling through the slits with the blade of my knife.
Unfortunately, this was now shorter, and not so suitable for such a service, but it was still long enough to reach through a piece of inch plank, and two inches beyond, and this would no doubt enable me to determine whether the next obstacle to be encountered was a hard or a soft one.
Once within the bonnet-box, I stuck my blade up through the lid. The package above was composed of something soft and yielding. I remembered that there was a canvas cover, but I drove the blade in to its hilt, and still it encountered nothing like wood--nothing that resembled the boarding of a box.
But I was equally certain that it was not linen, for the blade penetrated as freely as it would have done into a ma.s.s of b.u.t.ter, and this would not have been the case had it been a bale of linen. Knowing it could not be this, my mind was easy. I would rather have had to deal with anything else.
I tried in several places--in fact, all over the top--and at every point I could bury my blade as far as the haft would let it go, with a very slight effort used to push it in. Certainly the package consisted of some substance I had not before encountered, but as to what it was I could form no idea.
However, it did not feel as though it would present a serious obstacle to my progress; and under this pleasant impression, I went to work to undermine it, by taking a board out of the lid upon which it lay.
This, of course, required me to go through the tedious and painful process of making a cross-section with my knife--a kind of work that absorbed more of my time, and caused me more labour, than all the rest put together. But it was absolutely necessary, for there was no other plan by which I could tunnel through the tops of the boxes. On each rested the heavy weight of the packages above, and to start one of the planks, with this weight pressing down upon it, was impossible. It was only by cutting them across that they could be removed.
The lid of the bonnet-box did not prove so difficult to cut through. It was of thin deal, and in about a half or three quarters of an hour I had the middle piece of the three--for there were just three boards in it-- cut into twain. The sections were easily bent downwards, and removed.
A patch of the canvas covering was then hacked off, and I could now get my hand upon the unknown package that was resting on the top. I recognised the object at once. I had been enough about my uncle"s barn to know the feel of a sack. This, then, was a _sack_.
It was full of something: of what?--wheat, or barley, or oats? No, it was not grain--something softer and finer: was it a sack of meal?
I should soon ascertain that. My blade entered the sack, and a slit was cut large enough to admit my fist. I had no need to thrust my hand inside, for as I held it under the vent thus opened, I felt a soft, powdery substance streaming downward, with which my palm was instantly filled; and as my fingers closed upon it, I felt satisfied that I had got hold of a fistful of flour. My hand went straight to my lips, and a single taste of the precious dust confirmed my conjecture. It was a sack of flour.
This was a joyous discovery. Here was food, and enough to last me for months! No more danger of starvation--no more rat diet. No. On flour and water I could live like a prince. What matter if it was raw? it was sweet, and palatable, and wholesome.
"Heaven be praised! I am no longer in danger!"
Some such exclamation escaped me, as I arrived at a full appreciation of the importance of my new discovery.
I had now been at work for many hours, and once more needed rest. I was hungry, too, and could not resist the desire to make a grand meal on the new article of diet; and, filling my pockets with the flour, I prepared to return to my old lair behind the water-b.u.t.t. I took the precaution to stanch the wound I had made in the flour-sack, by sticking a piece of loose canvas into the vent, and then I commenced my descent. The rats, bag and all, were chucked into the first convenient corner that offered, with the hope that no necessity would ever require me to draw them out again; and, then, having mixed me a large quant.i.ty of flour paste, I made as hearty a meal upon it as if it had been the nicest hasty _pudding_ that ever was cooked.