"Very sorry to have disturbed you," apologized the conductor humbly, putting out the light and closing the door. "That nigger must be nutty," he added to the detective. "By Joshua! Perhaps he's got away with some of my stuff!" [Illustration: "Wot do you want?" drawled the fat man, blinking at the lantern.] "Look here, William, what's the matter with you? Have you been swipin' my whisky. There ain't two men in that drawin'-room at all--just one--a swell," hollered the conductor as they reached the platform. "Fo' de Lawd, Cap'n, I ain't teched yo' whisky," cried William in terror. "I swear dey was two of 'em, 'n' de udder was in _dis_guise. It was de fines' _dis_guise I eber saw!" he added reminiscently. "Aw, what yer givin' us!" exclaimed McGinnis, entirely out of patience. "What kind av a disguise was he in?" "Dat's what I axed him," explained William, edging toward the rim of the circle. "I done ax him right away what character he done represent. He had on silk stockin's, an' a colored deglishay shirt, an' a belt an' moccasons, an' a sword an'----" "A sword!" yelled McGinnis, making a jump in William's direction. "I'll break yer black head for ye!" "Hold on!" cried the conductor, who had disappeared into the car and had emerged again with a bottle in his hand. "The stuff's here." "I tell ye the coon is drunk!" shouted the detective in angry tones. "He can't make small av _me_!" "I done tole you the trufe," continued William from a safe distance, his teeth and eyeballs shining in the moonlight. "Well, where did he go?" asked the conductor. "Did you put him in the drawin'-room?" "I seen his ticket," replied William, "an' he said he wanted to smoke, so he went into the Benvolio, the car behin'." "Car behind!" cried McGinnis. "There ain't no car behind. This here is the last car." "Sure," said the conductor, with a laugh; "we dropped the Benvolio at Selma Junction for repairs. Say, McGinnis, you better have that drink!" IV McAllister was awakened by a sense of chill. The compartment was dark, save for the pale light of the moon hanging low over what seemed to be water and the masts of ships, which stole in and picked out sharply the silver buckles on his shoes and the buttons of his doublet. There was no motion, no sound. The train was apparently waiting somewhere, but McAllister could not hear the engine. He put on his ulster and stepped to the door of the car. All the lights had been extinguished and he could hear neither the sound of heavy breathing nor the other customary evidences of the innocent rest of the human animal. He looked across the platform for his own car and found that the train had totally disappeared. The Benvolio was stationary--side-tracked, evidently, on the outskirts of a town, not far from some wharves. "Jiminy!" thought McAllister, looking at his uncheerful surroundings and his picturesque, if somewhat cool, costume.