"And so am I, and that's one comfort," continued Henderson. "That poor
girl, Lucy Ray, although she was to be blamed for her conduct, is much
to be pitied now; and as to poor Wynne himself, he protests his
innocence through thick and thin. He was a wild fellow, but not the sort
to take the life of a fellow-creature. I saw the doctor this afternoon
while I was waiting for you at the inn, Mr. Bell, and also the police
sergeant. They both say they do not know what Davidson died of. There
was not the least sign of violence on the body."
"Well, I am as puzzled as the rest of you," I said. "I have one or two
theories in my mind, but none of them will quite fit the situation."
The night was piercingly cold, and, although there was not a breath of
wind, the keen and frosty air penetrated into the lonely signal-box. We
spoke little, and both of us were doubtless absorbed by our own thoughts
and speculations. As to Henderson, he looked distinctly uncomfortable,
and I cannot say that my own feelings were too pleasant. Never had I
been given a tougher problem to solve, and never had I been so utterly
at my wits' end for a solution.
Now and then the Inspector got up and went to the telegraph instrument,
which intermittently clicked away in its box. As he did so he made some
casual remark and then sat down again. After the 10.40 had gone through,
there followed a period of silence which seemed almost oppressive. All
at once the stillness was broken by the whirr of the electric bell,
which sounded so sharply in our ears that we both started. Henderson
rose.
"That's the 11.45 coming," he said, and, going over to the three long
levers, he pulled two of them down with a loud clang. The next moment,
with a rush and a scream, the express tore down the cutting, the
carriage lights streamed past in a rapid flash, the ground trembled, a
few sparks from the engine whirled up into the darkness, and the train
plunged into the tunnel.
"And now," said Henderson, as he pushed back the levers, "not another
train till daylight. My word, it is cold!"
It was intensely so. I piled some more wood on the fire and, turning up
the collar of my heavy ulster, sat down at one end of the bench and
leant my back against the wall. Henderson did likewise; we were neither
of us inclined to speak. As a rule, whenever I have any night work to
do, I am never troubled with sleepiness, but on this occasion I felt
unaccountably drowsy. I soon perceived that Henderson was in the same
condition.
"Are you sleepy?" I asked of him.
"Dead with it, sir," was his answer; "but there's no fear, I won't drop
off."
I got up and went to the window of the box. I felt certain that if I sat
still any longer I should be in a sound sleep. This would never do.
Already it was becoming a matter of torture to keep my eyes open. I
began to pace up and down; I opened the door of the box and went out on
the little platform.
"What's the matter, sir?" inquired Henderson, jumping up with a start.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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