"This day fortnight," continued Mr. Bainbridge, "our quiet little
village was horrified by the news that the signalman on duty at the
mouth of the Felwyn Tunnel had been found dead under the most mysterious
circumstances. The tunnel is at the end of a long cutting between
Llanlys and Felwyn stations. It is about a mile long, and the signal-box
is on the Felwyn side. The place is extremely lonely, being six miles
from the village across the mountains. The name of the poor fellow who
met his death in this mysterious fashion was David Pritchard. I have
known him from a boy, and he was quite one of the steadiest and most
trustworthy men on the line. On Tuesday evening he went on duty at six
o'clock; on Wednesday morning the day-man who had come to relieve him
was surprised not to find him in the box. It was just getting daylight,
and the 6.30 local was coming down, so he pulled the signals and let her
through. Then he went out, and, looking up the line towards the tunnel,
saw Pritchard lying beside the line close to the mouth of the tunnel.
Roberts, the day-man, ran up to him and found, to his horror, that he
was quite dead. At first Roberts naturally supposed that he had been cut
down by a train, as there was a wound at the back of the head; but he
was not lying on the metals. Roberts ran back to the box and telegraphed
through to Felwyn Station. The message was sent on to the village, and
at half-past seven o'clock the police inspector came up to my house with
the news. He and I, with the local doctor, went off at once to the
tunnel. We found the dead man lying beside the metals a few yards away
from the mouth of the tunnel, and the doctor immediately gave him a
careful examination. There was a depressed fracture at the back of the
skull, which must have caused his death; but how he came by it was not
so clear. On examining the whole place most carefully, we saw, further,
that there were marks on the rocks at the steep side of the embankment
as if some one had tried to scramble up them. Why the poor fellow had
attempted such a climb, God only knows. In doing so he must have slipped
and fallen back on to the line, thus causing the fracture of the skull.
In no case could he have gone up more than eight or ten feet, as the
banks of the cutting run sheer up, almost perpendicularly, beyond that
point for more than a hundred and fifty feet. There are some sharp
boulders beside the line, and it was possible that he might have fallen
on one of these and so sustained the injury. The affair must have
occurred some time between 11.45 p.m. and 6 a.m., as the engine-driver
of the express at 11.45 p.m. states that the line was signalled clear,
and he also caught sight of Pritchard in his box as he passed."
"This is deeply interesting," I said; "pray proceed."