thing had been seen or heard there of any special. The
Carnstock Iron Works line was blocked all day upon the 3rd of June by
sixteen truckloads of hematite. It is a single line, and nothing could
have passed. As to the Perseverance line, it is a large double line,
which does a considerable traffic, for the output of the mine is very
large. On the 3rd of June this traffic proceeded as usual; hundreds of
men including a gang of railway platelayers were working along the two
miles and a quarter which constitute the total length of the line, and
it is inconceivable that an unexpected train could have come down there
without attracting universal attention. It may be remarked in
conclusion that this branch line is nearer to St. Helens than the point
at which the engine-driver was discovered, so that we have every reason
to believe that the train was past that point before misfortune
overtook her.

"As to John Slater, there is no clue to be gathered from his appearance
or injuries. We can only say that, so far as we can see, he met his
end by falling off his engine, though why he fell, or what became of
the engine after his fall, is a question upon which I do not feel
qualified to offer an opinion." In conclusion, the inspector offered
his resignation to the Board, being much nettled by an accusation of
incompetence in the London papers.

A month elapsed, during which both the police and the company
prosecuted their inquiries without the slightest success. A reward was
offered and a pardon promised in case of crime, but they were both
unclaimed. Every day the public opened their papers with the
conviction that so grotesque a mystery would at last be solved, but
week after week passed by, and a solution remained as far off as ever.
In broad daylight, upon a June afternoon in the most thickly inhabited
portion of England, a train with its occupants had disappeared as
completely as if some master of subtle chemistry had volatilized it
into gas. Indeed, among the various conjectures which were put forward
in the public Press, there were some which seriously asserted that
supernatural, or, at least, preternatural, agencies had been at work,
and that the deformed Monsieur Caratal was probably a person who was
better known under a less polite name. Others fixed upon his swarthy
companion as being the author of the mischief, but what it was exactly
which he had done could never be clearly formulated in words.

Amongst th