true enough, sir; the other side the tunnel it is not half a
mile down the line."

"What length is it?"

"The tunnel, sir? Close upon three miles, and straight as a dart."

There was another pause, then I said, slowly:--

"Nothing more goes down the line until the express has passed?"

"Nothing more, sir."

"Anything on the up line?" was my next inquiry.

"No, sir, not for some hours, except, maybe, some trucks of goods, but I
have had no notice of them yet."

As the station-master made this last answer he looked at me curiously,
no doubt wondering what the object of all these questions could be; but
he certainly had no notion of what was passing in my mind, or he would
not have turned into his office as he did, and left me there alone upon
the platform.

I was young and impetuous, and a sudden wild determination had taken
possession of me. In my intense anxiety to get back to my sick wife, the
delay of so many hours seemed unendurable, and my whole desire was to
catch the express at the junction; but how was that to be accomplished?
One way alone presented itself to me, and that was through the tunnel.
At another time I should have put the notion from me as a mad
impossibility, but now I clung to it as a last resource, reasoning
myself out of all my fears. Where was the danger, since nothing was to
come up or down the line for hours? A good level road, too, of little
more than three miles, and a full hour and a half to do it in. And what
would the darkness matter? There was no fear of missing the way; nothing
to be done but to walk briskly forward. Yes, it could be, and I was
resolved that it should be done.

I gave myself no more time for reflection. I walked to the end of the
platform and stepped down upon the line, not very far from the mouth of
the tunnel. As I entered the gloomy archway I wished devoutly that I had
a lantern to bear me company, but it was out of the question for me to
get anything of the kind at the station; as it was, I was fearful each
moment that my intentions would be discovered, when I knew for a
certainty that my project would be knocked on the head, and, for this
reason, I was glad to leave daylight behind me and to know that I was
unseen.

I walked on, at a smart pace, for fully ten minutes, trying not to
think, but feeling painfully conscious that my courage was ebbing fast.
Then I paused for breath. Ugh! how foul the air smelt! I told myself
that it was worse even than the