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- Артур Конан Дойл
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- Tales of Terror and Mystery
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- Стр. 68/137
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Mr
.
Bland
tore
his
hair
in
his
perplexity
.
"
This
is
rank
lunacy
,
Hood
!
"
he
cried
.
"
Does
a
train
vanish
into
thin
air
in
England
in
broad
daylight
?
The
thing
is
preposterous
.
An
engine
,
a
tender
,
two
carriages
,
a
van
,
five
human
beings
—
and
all
lost
on
a
straight
line
of
railway
!
Unless
we
get
something
positive
within
the
next
hour
I
’
ll
take
Inspector
Collins
,
and
go
down
myself
.
"
And
then
at
last
something
positive
did
occur
.
It
took
the
shape
of
another
telegram
from
Kenyon
Junction
.
"
Regret
to
report
that
the
dead
body
of
John
Slater
,
driver
of
the
special
train
,
has
just
been
found
among
the
gorse
bushes
at
a
point
two
and
a
quarter
miles
from
the
Junction
.
Had
fallen
from
his
engine
,
pitched
down
the
embankment
,
and
rolled
among
the
bushes
.
Injuries
to
his
head
,
from
the
fall
,
appear
to
be
cause
of
death
.
Ground
has
now
been
carefully
examined
,
and
there
is
no
trace
of
the
missing
train
.
"
The
country
was
,
as
has
already
been
stated
,
in
the
throes
of
a
political
crisis
,
and
the
attention
of
the
public
was
further
distracted
by
the
important
and
sensational
developments
in
Paris
,
where
a
huge
scandal
threatened
to
destroy
the
Government
and
to
wreck
the
reputations
of
many
of
the
leading
men
in
France
.
The
papers
were
full
of
these
events
,
and
the
singular
disappearance
of
the
special
train
attracted
less
attention
than
would
have
been
the
case
in
more
peaceful
times
.
The
grotesque
nature
of
the
event
helped
to
detract
from
its
importance
,
for
the
papers
were
disinclined
to
believe
the
facts
as
reported
to
them
.
More
than
one
of
the
London
journals
treated
the
matter
as
an
ingenious
hoax
,
until
the
coroner
’
s
inquest
upon
the
unfortunate
driver
(
an
inquest
which
elicited
nothing
of
importance
)
convinced
them
of
the
tragedy
of
the
incident
.
Mr
.
Bland
,
accompanied
by
Inspector
Collins
,
the
senior
detective
officer
in
the
service
of
the
company
,
went
down
to
Kenyon
Junction
the
same
evening
,
and
their
research
lasted
throughout
the
following
day
,
but
was
attended
with
purely
negative
results
.
Not
only
was
no
trace
found
of
the
missing
train
,
but
no
conjecture
could
be
put
forward
which
could
possibly
explain
the
facts
.
At
the
same
time
,
Inspector
Collins
’
s
official
report
(
which
lies
before
me
as
I
write
)
served
to
show
that
the
possibilities
were
more
numerous
than
might
have
been
expected
.
"
In
the
stretch
of
railway
between
these
two
points
,
"
said
he
,
"
the
country
is
dotted
with
ironworks
and
collieries
.
Of
these
,
some
are
being
worked
and
some
have
been
abandoned
.
There
are
no
fewer
than
twelve
which
have
small
-
gauge
lines
which
run
trolly
-
cars
down
to
the
main
line
.
These
can
,
of
course
,
be
disregarded
.
Besides
these
,
however
,
there
are
seven
which
have
,
or
have
had
,
proper
lines
running
down
and
connecting
with
points
to
the
main
line
,
so
as
to
convey
their
produce
from
the
mouth
of
the
mine
to
the
great
centres
of
distribution
.
In
every
case
these
lines
are
only
a
few
miles
in
length
.
Out
of
the
seven
,
four
belong
to
collieries
which
are
worked
out
,
or
at
least
to
shafts
which
are
no
longer
used
.
These
are
the
Redgauntlet
,
Hero
,
Slough
of
Despond
,
and
Heartsease
mines
,
the
latter
having
ten
years
ago
been
one
of
the
principal
mines
in
Lancashire
.
These
four
side
lines
may
be
eliminated
from
our
inquiry
,
for
,
to
prevent
possible
accidents
,
the
rails
nearest
to
the
main
line
have
been
taken
up
,
and
there
is
no
longer
any
connection
.
There
remain
three
other
side
lines
leading
—
(
a
)
To
the
Carnstock
Iron
Works
;
