75 лучших рассказов / 75 Best Short Stories

I suppose it was about the size of a cubic foot. It reminded me of a pistol-case, only it was decidedly higher. There was an appendage to it, however, on which my eyes were riveted, and which suggested the pistol itself rather than its receptacle. This was a trigger-like arrangement upon the lid, to which a coil of string was attached. Beside this trigger there was a small square aperture through the wood. The tall man, Flannigan, as his companion called him, applied his eye to this and peered in for several minutes with an expression of intense anxiety upon his face.

�It seems right enough,’ he said at last.

�I tried not to shake it,’ said his companion.

�Such delicate things need delicate treatment. Put in some of the needful, Muller.’

The shorter man fumbled in his pocket for some time, and then produced a small paper packet. He opened this, and took out of it half a handful of whitish granules, which he poured down through the hole. A curious clicking noise followed from the inside of the box, and both the men smiled in a satisfied way.

�Nothing much wrong there,’ said Flannigan.

�Right as a trivet,’ answered his companion.

�Look out! here’s some one coming. Take it down to our berth. It wouldn’t do to have any one suspecting what our game is, or, worse still, have them fumbling with it, and letting it off by mistake.’

�Well, it would come to the same, whoever let it off,’ said Muller.

�They’d be rather astonished if they pulled the trigger,’ said the taller, with a sinister laugh.

�No,’ said Muller. �I hear it is your own design, every bit of it, isn’t it?’

�Yes, the spring and the sliding shutter are my own.’

�We should take out a patent.’

And the two men laughed again with a cold, harsh laugh, as they took up the little brass-bound package and concealed it in Muller’s voluminous overcoat.

�Come down, and we’ll stow it in our berth,’ said Flannigan. �We won’t need it until tonight, and it will be safe there.’

His companion assented, and the two went arm-in-arm along the deck and disappeared down the hatchway, bearing the mysterious little box away with them. The last words I heard were a muttered injunction from Flannigan to carry it carefully, and avoid knocking it against the bulwarks.