_The Express Train’s Disappearance_
|IT is necessary now for us to relate the extraordinary events which
happened on the railway. At this part of the track, which is double,
there were two stations about four miles apart, through which the
express trains ran quite frequently. In the evening after Théophraste
had been speaking to Mme. Petito, the express train had passed through
the first station, and the station master was waiting for the signal
from the second station, when suddenly a message came through saying
that the train had not arrived yet. The station master could not
understand it. The train had passed through his station fifteen minutes
before, and would not have taken all that time to go the short distance
to the other station. He went out and looked up the track. There was no
sign of the train, and all was quiet. Again the signal came back, and
the second station master said that he would walk along the track to see
if he could find the cause of the delay. The first man said he would
do the same, and they both started running down the track, followed by
other men in the stations. Although it was broad daylight, nothing could
be seen of the train, and the two parties met on the track. The first
station master was greatly agitated, and wrung his hands in despair. He
knew the train had passed through his station. He was sure of it. The
report of his assistant confirmed it. Where could it have disappeared
to? The excitement and fear was too much for him, and without any
warning he fell dead at their feet with heart failure.
The men ran hither, thither, on both sides of the tracks, but no sign
of the train was there. At last they gave up the search, and placing the
dead body of the station master on a rough bier of sticks and leaves,
they made their way sadly back to the station.
They had not gone far when one of the party cried out: “Look ahead,
there’s the train!”
And there, a few yards outside the station, on the very track they had
traveled on, was a wagon and baggage car of the disappeared train!
They were all very astonished, and were running, shouting, toward the
train, when they suddenly stopped. Peering out of the doors of the train
was a peculiar head. It had no ears, and appeared as though the door had
been shut violently, catching the man’s neck. They called to him as
soon as they saw him, but he did not answer. The head just swayed from
one side to the other, rocked by the wind, which was blowing in great
gusts. Upon the head was curly hair, and the cravat around the white
neck was untied, floating in the wind.
On approaching, they saw the door of the coach was covered with blood,
and on examination saw that the man’s head was held to the door by a
piece of rag. He had evidently opened the door and poked his head out,
when somebody must have shut the door again and decapitated him. The
two men who carried the dead body of the station master uttered a cry
of dismay, and placing their burden on the track, made an examination of
the trucks. They found no one in the first one, and opening the door
of the second, found that it was empty save for the dead man’s body,
which had been stripped of all its clothing.
The news of this fantastic horror spread rapidly in the villages on the
road, and an enormous crowd gathered at the little station.
The police were sent for, but they were unable to get any clue as to who
the strange man was, or where the train with all its travelers had gone
to.
They were, however, very quiet about it, and only at the inquest did the
facts become known.
As it has been said, the tracks between these stations contained no
bridge or tunnel, but ran through a flat, desolate country, marked by
no hills. The only thing to break the line of the track was a short
side line which ran into a disused quarry, which had been used as a sand
quarry by a glassmaker. This had been abandoned many years ago, and had
not been used since.
On looking at the plan one would at once think that the presence of this
branch line was an explanation of the train disaster. But this was not
so, as subsequent events will prove. In fact, so simple a solution of
the problem would soon have been discovered by the station men.
Wandering along the road which followed the track, Théophraste had
noticed the little side track, and he had seen that the switch had been
left unlocked. This would have had no significance to him before he had
the interview with Mme. Petito, but now he saw an excellent opportunity
of getting at Signor Petito, who was on the train. He of course could
not get on the train while it was in motion. He would open the switch
and wait for the train to come up. The engineer would be sure to see it
and stop his train. Here was his opportunity.
This was simple enough, and he did as he intended. He turned the switch,
and, going along the track, hid behind the bushes to await the express.
He waited and waited for a long time, but no express came. He became
impatient, and looked up and down the track, hoping to hear it, or see
its smoke.
However, after half an hour, he rose, and, although tired of waiting,
went down the track to see what had happened. He had gone about half the
distance to the station, when he met a train-fitter who was going along
the track to look for the train. Asking him what had become of the
train, he turned back up the line, and arriving at the point where he
had been hiding, he discovered the baggage car and carriage which were
to be found a few minutes later by the trainmen from the station.
In his astonishment he asked how they could have got there without
passing him. He had not left the track, so it could not have passed him.
Suddenly he saw the head of a man at the carriage door; the head had
no ears, and so he quickly recognized it as that of Signor Petito.
He climbed up into the carriage, all excitement, and searching the
carriage, suddenly had an idea. He would disguise himself in Signor
Petito’s clothes! He quickly undressed, and stripping the dead body
of all its clothes put them on, and tied his own up in a bundle. He then
descended from the carriage, and fumbling in the pockets of the dead
man’s clothes, drew out an old pocketbook. He became feverishly
excited as he searched through the papers, seeking some trace of his
treasures. But he found nothing, and he found it difficult to hide his
disappointment, for Signor Petito had carried the secret of the treasure
to the grave.
Mme. Petito was unable to give him any information, for soon after
hearing of her husband’s death she became insane, and remained so to
the end of her days.