said to sleep at all. Now, my state-room opened into the main cabin, or dining-room, as did those of
all the single men on board. Wyatt'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 constantly 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 state-room 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 after-cabin quite distinctly, and just
at that portion of it, too, where were situated the state-rooms of Mr. Wyatt. Well, during two nights
(NOT consecutive) while I lay awake, I clearly saw Mrs. W., about eleven o'clock upon each night,
steal cautiously from the state-room of Mr. W., and enter 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 Mrs. 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 import.
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 woollen 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 it 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. Mr. 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 Mr. 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 state- room, fully
dressed, and proceeded to call Mrs. 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. Every thing was made snug, alow and aloft; and as the wind
steadily freshened, we lay to, at length, under spanker and foretopsail, both double-reefed.
In this trim we rode 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 caboose, 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.