r, and made his way into the presence of these two
people. The feat (on the supposition that the trains were going at the
same pace) is by no means so perilous as it might appear.

"Having now got our young man, without his ticket, into the carriage in
which the elder man and the young woman are travelling, it is not
difficult to imagine that a violent scene ensued. It is possible that
the pair were also Americans, which is the more probable as the man
carried a weapon--an unusual thing in England. If our supposition of
incipient mania is correct, the young man is likely to have assaulted
the other. As the upshot of the quarrel the elder man shot the
intruder, and then made his escape from the carriage, taking the young
lady with him. We will suppose that all this happened very rapidly,
and that the train was still going at so slow a pace that it was not
difficult for them to leave it. A woman might leave a train going at
eight miles an hour. As a matter of fact, we know that this woman DID
do so.

"And now we have to fit in the man in the smoking carriage. Presuming
that we have, up to this point, reconstructed the tragedy correctly, we
shall find nothing in this other man to cause us to reconsider our
conclusions. According to my theory, this man saw the young fellow
cross from one train to the other, saw him open the door, heard the
pistol-shot, saw the two fugitives spring out on to the line, realized
that murder had been done, and sprang out himself in pursuit. Why he
has never been heard of since--whether he met his own death in the
pursuit, or whether, as is more likely, he was made to realize that it
was not a case for his interference--is a detail which we have at
present no means of explaining. I acknowledge that there are some
difficulties in the way. At first sight, it might seem improbable that
at such a moment a murderer would burden himself in his flight with a
brown leather bag. My answer is that he was well aware that if the bag
were found his identity would be established. It was absolutely
necessary for him to take it with him. My theory stands or falls upon
one point, and I call upon the railway company to make strict inquiry
as to whether a ticket was found unclaimed in the local train through
Harrow and King's Langley upon the 18th of March. If such a ticket
were found my case is proved. If not, my theory may still be the
correct one, for it is conceivable either that he travelled w