arrived. There I
claimed it in the name of Miss Genevieve Pringle.

"It became apparent to me that I must manage its final disposition
myself. Elmer hired for me the vehicle in which we arrived here, and
we started back to New York.

"But the driver, from the first, was suspicious of the box. His
suspicions were increased when, upon returning to my apartment hotel,
where I now decided to keep the box until I could think out a coherent
plan of action, the manager of the hotel made inquiries. The manager
had seen the box brought in, and taken out again, before. Its return
struck him as odd. He offered to store it for me in the basement. I
took alarm at once. Naturally, he questioned me more closely. I was
unready in my answers. His inquiries excited and alarmed me. I felt
that any instant I might do something to betray myself. I cut the
manager short, paid my bill, got my luggage, and ordered the chauffeur
to drive to the Grand Central Station. But when we had gone three or
four blocks, I said to him: 'Stop!--I do not wish to go to the Grand
Central Station. Drive me to Poughkeepsie!' I wished a chance to
think. I knew Poughkeepsie was not far from New York City, but I
supposed it was far enough to give me a chance to determine what to do
next by the time we arrived there.

"But I could not think coherently. I could only feel and fear. The
drive was longer than I had expected, but when we arrived at
Poughkeepsie and the chauffeur asked me again what disposition to make
of the box, I was unable to answer him. Thereupon he insolently
demanded an enormous fare.

"I could not choose but pay it. For four days we went from place to
place, in and about New York City's suburbs--now in town and now in the
country--crossing rivers again and again on ferryboats--stopping at
hotels, road houses and all manner of places--dashing through Brooklyn
and out among the villages of Long Island--and with the fear on me that
we were being followed.

"Elmer and I were continually on the lookout for some way to dispose of
the box, but nothing presented itself. The driver, who had become more
and more impudent in his attitude and outrageous in his charges, was
now practically a spy upon us. The necessity for ice made frequent
stops imperative; at the same time the increasing fear of pursuit made
it agony for me to stop anywhere.

"Today, at a road house thirty or forty miles from here, I made certain
that I was pursued.