nd so the matter stood, and has continued to stand up to the present
year of 1898. Incredible as it may seem, nothing has transpired during
these eight years which has shed the least light upon the extraordinary
disappearance of the special train which contained Monsieur Caratal and
his companion. Careful inquiries into the antecedents of the two
travellers have only established the fact that Monsieur Caratal was
well known as a financier and political agent in Central America, and
that during his voyage to Europe he had betrayed extraordinary anxiety
to reach Paris. His companion, whose name was entered upon the
passenger lists as Eduardo Gomez, was a man whose record was a violent
one, and whose reputation was that of a bravo and a bully. There was
evidence to show, however, that he was honestly devoted to the
interests of Monsieur Caratal, and that the latter, being a man of puny
physique, employed the other as a guard and protector. It may be added
that no information came from Paris as to what the objects of Monsieur
Caratal's hurried journey may have been. This comprises all the facts
of the case up to the publication in the Marseilles papers of the
recent confession of Herbert de Lernac, now under sentence of death for
the murder of a merchant named Bonvalot. This statement may be
literally translated as follows:

"It is not out of mere pride or boasting that I give this information,
for, if that were my object, I could tell a dozen actions of mine which
are quite as splendid; but I do it in order that certain gentlemen in
Paris may understand that I, who am able here to tell about the fate of
Monsieur Caratal, can also tell in whose interest and at whose request
the deed was done, unless the reprieve which I am awaiting comes to me
very quickly. Take warning, messieurs, before it is too late! You
know Herbert de Lernac, and you are aware that his deeds are as ready
as his words. Hasten then, or you are lost!

"At present I shall mention no names--if you only heard the names, what
would you not think!--but I shall merely tell you how cleverly I did
it. I was true to my employers then, and no doubt they will be true to
me now. I hope so, and until I am convinced that they have betrayed
me, these names, which would convulse Europe, shall not be divulged.
But on that day ... well, I say no more!

"In a word, then, there was a famous trial in Paris, in the year 1890,
in connection with a monstrous scand