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- Артур Конан Дойл
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- Tales of Terror and Mystery
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- Стр. 72/137
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"
I
have
already
spoken
of
my
English
agent
—
who
is
a
man
with
a
considerable
future
before
him
,
unless
some
complaint
of
the
throat
carries
him
off
before
his
time
.
He
had
charge
of
all
arrangements
at
Liverpool
,
whilst
I
was
stationed
at
the
inn
at
Kenyon
,
where
I
awaited
a
cipher
signal
to
act
.
When
the
special
was
arranged
for
,
my
agent
instantly
telegraphed
to
me
and
warned
me
how
soon
I
should
have
everything
ready
.
He
himself
under
the
name
of
Horace
Moore
applied
immediately
for
a
special
also
,
in
the
hope
that
he
would
be
sent
down
with
Monsieur
Caratal
,
which
might
under
certain
circumstances
have
been
helpful
to
us
.
If
,
for
example
,
our
great
coup
had
failed
,
it
would
then
have
become
the
duty
of
my
agent
to
have
shot
them
both
and
destroyed
their
papers
.
Caratal
was
on
his
guard
,
however
,
and
refused
to
admit
any
other
traveller
.
My
agent
then
left
the
station
,
returned
by
another
entrance
,
entered
the
guard
’
s
van
on
the
side
farthest
from
the
platform
,
and
travelled
down
with
McPherson
the
guard
.
"
In
the
meantime
you
will
be
interested
to
know
what
my
movements
were
.
Everything
had
been
prepared
for
days
before
,
and
only
the
finishing
touches
were
needed
.
The
side
line
which
we
had
chosen
had
once
joined
the
main
line
,
but
it
had
been
disconnected
.
We
had
only
to
replace
a
few
rails
to
connect
it
once
more
.
These
rails
had
been
laid
down
as
far
as
could
be
done
without
danger
of
attracting
attention
,
and
now
it
was
merely
a
case
of
completing
a
juncture
with
the
line
,
and
arranging
the
points
as
they
had
been
before
.
The
sleepers
had
never
been
removed
,
and
the
rails
,
fish
-
plates
and
rivets
were
all
ready
,
for
we
had
taken
them
from
a
siding
on
the
abandoned
portion
of
the
line
.
With
my
small
but
competent
band
of
workers
,
we
had
everything
ready
long
before
the
special
arrived
.
When
it
did
arrive
,
it
ran
off
upon
the
small
side
line
so
easily
that
the
jolting
of
the
points
appears
to
have
been
entirely
unnoticed
by
the
two
travellers
.
"
Our
plan
had
been
that
Smith
,
the
stoker
,
should
chloroform
John
Slater
,
the
driver
,
so
that
he
should
vanish
with
the
others
.
In
this
respect
,
and
in
this
respect
only
,
our
plans
miscarried
—
I
except
the
criminal
folly
of
McPherson
in
writing
home
to
his
wife
.
Our
stoker
did
his
business
so
clumsily
that
Slater
in
his
struggles
fell
off
the
engine
,
and
though
fortune
was
with
us
so
far
that
he
broke
his
neck
in
the
fall
,
still
he
remained
as
a
blot
upon
that
which
would
otherwise
have
been
one
of
those
complete
masterpieces
which
are
only
to
be
contemplated
in
silent
admiration
.
The
criminal
expert
will
find
in
John
Slater
the
one
flaw
in
all
our
admirable
combinations
.
A
man
who
has
had
as
many
triumphs
as
I
can
afford
to
be
frank
,
and
I
therefore
lay
my
finger
upon
John
Slater
,
and
I
proclaim
him
to
be
a
flaw
.
"
But
now
I
have
got
our
special
train
upon
the
small
line
two
kilometres
,
or
rather
more
than
one
mile
,
in
length
,
which
leads
,
or
rather
used
to
lead
,
to
the
abandoned
Heartsease
mine
,
once
one
of
the
largest
coal
mines
in
England
.
You
will
ask
how
it
is
that
no
one
saw
the
train
upon
this
unused
line
.
I
answer
that
along
its
entire
length
it
runs
through
a
deep
cutting
,
and
that
,
unless
someone
had
been
on
the
edge
of
that
cutting
,
he
could
not
have
seen
it
.
There
WAS
someone
on
the
edge
of
that
cutting
.
I
was
there
.
And
now
I
will
tell
you
what
I
saw
.
"
My
assistant
had
remained
at
the
points
in
order
that
he
might
superintend
the
switching
off
of
the
train
.
He
had
four
armed
men
with
him
,
so
that
if
the
train
ran
off
the
line
—
we
thought
it
probable
,
because
the
points
were
very
rusty
—
we
might
still
have
resources
to
fall
back
upon
.
Having
once
seen
it
safely
on
the
side
line
,
he
handed
over
the
responsibility
to
me
.
I
was
waiting
at
a
point
which
overlooks
the
mouth
of
the
mine
,
and
I
was
also
armed
,
as
were
my
two
companions
.
Come
what
might
,
you
see
,
I
was
always
ready
.
"
The
moment
that
the
train
was
fairly
on
the
side
line
,
Smith
,
the
stoker
,
slowed
-
down
the
engine
,
and
then
,
having
turned
it
on
to
the
fullest
speed
again
,
he
and
McPherson
,
with
my
English
lieutenant
,
sprang
off
before
it
was
too
late
.
It
may
be
that
it
was
this
slowing
-
down
which
first
attracted
the
attention
of
the
travellers
,
but
the
train
was
running
at
full
speed
again
before
their
heads
appeared
at
the
open
window
.
It
makes
me
smile
to
think
how
bewildered
they
must
have
been
.
Picture
to
yourself
your
own
feelings
if
,
on
looking
out
of
your
luxurious
carriage
,
you
suddenly
perceived
that
the
lines
upon
which
you
ran
were
rusted
and
corroded
,
red
and
yellow
with
disuse
and
decay
!
What
a
catch
must
have
come
in
their
breath
as
in
a
second
it
flashed
upon
them
that
it
was
not
Manchester
but
Death
which
was
waiting
for
them
at
the
end
of
that
sinister
line
.
But
the
train
was
running
with
frantic
speed
,
rolling
and
rocking
over
the
rotten
line
,
while
the
wheels
made
a
frightful
screaming
sound
upon
the
rusted
surface
.
I
was
close
to
them
,
and
could
see
their
faces
.
Caratal
was
praying
,
I
think
—
there
was
something
like
a
rosary
dangling
out
of
his
hand
.
The
other
roared
like
a
bull
who
smells
the
blood
of
the
slaughter
-
house
.
He
saw
us
standing
on
the
bank
,
and
he
beckoned
to
us
like
a
madman
.
Then
he
tore
at
his
wrist
and
threw
his
dispatch
-
box
out
of
the
window
in
our
direction
.
Of
course
,
his
meaning
was
obvious
.
Here
was
the
evidence
,
and
they
would
promise
to
be
silent
if
their
lives
were
spared
.
It
would
have
been
very
agreeable
if
we
could
have
done
so
,
but
business
is
business
.
Besides
,
the
train
was
now
as
much
beyond
our
controls
as
theirs
.
