"I have been thinking a great deal, and I find it very hard to give you
up. The same with Lizzie. I try to fight against it, but it will
always come back to me. I send you some money which will change into
twenty English pounds. This should be enough to bring both Lizzie and
you across the Atlantic, and you will find the Hamburg boats which stop
at Southampton very good boats, and cheaper than Liverpool. If you
could come here and stop at the Johnston House I would try and send you
word how to meet, but things are very difficult with me at present, and
I am not very happy, finding it hard to give you both up. So no more
at present, from your loving husband,
"James McPherson."
For a time it was confidently anticipated that this letter would lead
to the clearing up of the whole matter, the more so as it was
ascertained that a passenger who bore a close resemblance to the
missing guard had travelled from Southampton under the name of Summers
in the Hamburg and New York liner Vistula, which started upon the 7th
of June. Mrs. McPherson and her sister Lizzie Dolton went across to
New York as directed and stayed for three weeks at the Johnston House,
without hearing anything from the missing man. It is probable that
some injudicious comments in the Press may have warned him that the
police were using them as a bait. However, this may be, it is certain
that he neither wrote nor came, and the women were eventually compelled
to return to Liverpool.
And so the matter stood, and has continued to stand up to the present
year of 1898. Incredible as it may seem, nothing has transpired during
these eight years which has shed the least light upon the extraordinary
disappearance of the special train which contained Monsieur Caratal and
his companion. Careful inquiries into the antecedents of the two
travellers have only established the fact that Monsieur Caratal was
well known as a financier and political agent in Central America, and
that during his voyage to Europe he had betrayed extraordinary anxiety
to reach Paris. His companion, whose name was entered upon the
passenger lists as Eduardo Gomez, was a man whose record was a violent
one, and whose reputation was that of a bravo and a bully. There was
evidence to show, however, that he was honestly devoted to the
interests of Monsieur Caratal, and that the latter, being a man of puny
physique, employed the other as a guard and protector. It may be added
that no information came from Paris as to what the objects of Monsieur
Caratal's hurried journey may have been. This comprises all the facts
of the case up to the publication in the Marseilles papers of the
recent confession of Herbert de Lernac, now under sentence of death for
the murder of a merchant named Bonvalot. This statement may be
literally translated as follows:
"It is not out of mere pride or boasting that I give this information,
for, if that were my object, I could tell a dozen actions of mine which
are quite as splendid; but I do it in order that certain gentlemen in
Paris may understand that I, who am able here to tell about the fate of
Monsieur Caratal, can also tell in whose interest and at whose request
the deed was done, unless the reprieve which I am awaiting comes to me
very quickly. Take warning, messieurs, before it is too late! You
know Herbert de Lernac, and you are aware that his deeds are as ready
as his words. Hasten then, or you are lost!
"At present I shall mention no names--if you only heard the names, what
would you not think!--but I shall merely tell you how cleverly I did
it. I was true to my employers then, and no doubt they will be true to
me now. I hope so, and until I am convinced that they have betrayed
me, these names, which would convulse Europe, shall not be divulged.
But on that day ... well, I say no more!
"In a word, then, there was a famous trial in Paris, in the year 1890,
in connection with a monstrous scandal in politics and finance. How
monstrous that scandal was can never be known save by such confidential
agents as myself. The honour and careers of many of the chief men in
France were at stake. You have seen a group of ninepins standing, all
so rigid, and prim, and unbending. Then there comes the ball from far
away and pop, pop, pop--there are your ninepins on the floor. Well,
imagine some of the greatest men in France as these ninepins and then
this Monsieur Caratal was the ball which could be seen coming from far
away. If he arrived, then it was pop, pop, pop for all of them. It
was determined that he should not arrive.
"I do not accuse them all of being conscious of what was to happen.
There were, as I have said, great financial as well as political
interests at stake, and a syndicate was formed to manage the business.
Some subscribed to the syndicate who hardly understood what were its
objects. But others understood very well, and they can rely upon it
that I have not forgotten their names. They had ample warning that
Monsieur Caratal was coming long before he left South America, and they
knew that the evidence which he held would certainly mean ruin to all
of them. The syndicate had the command of an unlimited amount of
money--absolutely unlimited, you understand. They looked round for an
agent who was capable of wielding this gigantic power. The man chosen
must be inventive, resolute, adaptive--a man in a million. They chose
Herbert de Lernac, and I admit that they were right.
"My duties were to choose my subordinates, to use freely the power
which money gives, and to make certain that Monsieur Caratal should
never arrive in Paris. With characteristic energy I set about my
commission within an hour of receiving my instructions, and the steps
which I took were the very best for the purpose which could possibly be
devised.
"A man whom I could trust was dispatched instantly to South America to
travel home with Monsieur Caratal. Had he arrived in time the ship
would never have reached Liverpool; but alas! it had already started
before my agent could reach it. I fitted out a small armed brig to
intercept it, but again I was unfortunate. Like all great organizers I
was, however, prepared for failure, and had a series of alternatives
prepared, one or the other of which must succeed. You must not
underrate the difficulties of my undertaking, or imagine that a mere
commonplace assassination would meet the case. We must destroy not
only Monsieur Caratal, but Monsieur Caratal's documents, and Monsieur
Caratal's companions also, if we had reason to believe that he had
communicated his secrets to them. And you must remember that they were
on the alert, and keenly suspicious of any such attempt. It was a task
which was in every way worthy of me, for I am always most masterful
where another would be appalled.
"I was all ready for Monsieur Caratal's reception in Liverpool, and I
was the more eager because I had reason to believe that he had made
arrangements by which he would have a considerable guard from the
moment that he arrived in London. Anything which was to be done must
be done between the moment of his setting foot upon the Liverpool quay
and that of his arrival at the London and West Coast terminus in
London. We prepared six plans, each more elaborate than the last;
which plan would be used would depend upon his own movements. Do what
he would, we were ready for him. If he had stayed in Liverpool, we
were ready. If he took an ordinary train, an express, or a special,
all was ready. Everything had been foreseen and provided for.
"You may imagine that I could not do all this myself. What could I
know of the English railway lines? But money can procure willing
agents all the world over, and I soon had one of the acutest brains in
England to assist me. I will mention no names, but it would be unjust
to claim all the credit for myself. My English ally was worthy of such
an alliance. He knew the London and West Coast line thoroughly, and he
had the command of a band of workers who were trustworthy and
intelligent. The idea was his, and my own judgement was only required
in the details. We bought over several officials, amongst whom the
most important was James McPherson, whom we had ascertained to be the
guard most likely to be employed upon a special train. Smith, the
stoker, was also in our employ. John Slater, the engine-driver, had
been approached, but had been found to be obstinate and dangerous, so
we desisted. We had no certainty that Monsieur Caratal would take a
special, but we thought it very probable, for it was of the utmost
importance to him that he should reach Paris without delay. It was for
this contingency, therefore, that we made special
preparations--preparations which were complete down to the last detail
long before his steamer had sighted the shores of England. You will be
amused to learn that there was one of my agents in the pilot-boat which
brought that steamer to its moorings.
"The moment that Caratal arrived in Liverpool we knew that he suspected
danger and was on his guard. He had brought with him as an escort a
dangerous fellow, named Gomez, a man who carried weapons, and was
prepared to use them. This fellow carried Caratal's confidential
papers for him, and was ready to protect either them or his master.
The probability was that Caratal had taken him into his counsel, and
that to remove Caratal without removing Gomez would be a mere waste of
energy. It was necessary that they should be involved in a common
fate, and our plans to that end were much facilitated by their request
for a special train. On that special train you will understand that
two out of the three servants of the company were really in our employ,
at a price which would make them independent for a lifetime. I do not
go so far as to say that the English are more honest than any other
nation, but I have found them more expensive to buy.
"I have already spoken of my English agent--who is a man with a
considerable future before him, unless some complaint of the throat
carries him off before his time. He had charge of all arrangements at
Liverpool, whilst I was stationed at the inn at Kenyon, where I awaited
a cipher signal to act. When the special was arranged for, my agent
instantly telegraphed to me and warned me how soon I should have
everything ready. He himself under the name of Horace Moore applied
immediately for a special also, in the hope that he would be sent down
with Monsieur Caratal, which might under certain circumstances have
been helpful to us. If, for example, our great coup had failed, it
would then have become the duty of my agent to have shot them both and
destroyed their papers. Caratal was on his guard, however, and refused
to admit any other traveller. My agent then left the station, returned
by another entrance, entered the guard's van on the side farthest from
the platform, and travelled down with McPherson the guard.
"In the meantime you will be interested to know what my movements were.
Everything had been prepared for days before, and only the finishing
touches were needed. The side line which we had chosen had once joined
the main line, but it had been disconnected. We had only to replace a
few rails to connect it once more. These rails had been laid down as
far as could be done without danger of attracting attention, and now it
was merely a case of completing a juncture with the line, and arranging
the points as they had been before. The sleepers had never been
removed, and the rails, fish-plates and rivets were all ready, for we
had taken them from a siding on the abandoned portion of the line.
With my small but competent band of workers, we had everything ready
long before the special arrived. When it did arrive, it ran off upon
the small side line so easily that the jolting of the points appears to
have been entirely unnoticed by the two travellers.
"Our plan had been that Smith, the stoker, should chloroform John
Slater, the driver, so that he should vanish with the others. In this
respect, and in this respect only, our plans miscarried--I except the
criminal folly of McPherson in writing home to his wife. Our stoker did
his business so clumsily that Slater in his struggles fell off the
engine, and though fortune was with us so far that he broke his neck in
the fall, still he remained as a blot upon that which would otherwise
have been one of those complete masterpieces which are only to be
contemplated in silent admiration. The criminal expert will find in
John Slater the one flaw in all our admirable combinations. A man who
has had as many triumphs as I can afford to be frank, and I therefore
lay my finger upon John Slater, and I proclaim him to be a flaw.
"But now I have got our special train upon the small line two
kilometres, or rather more than one mile, in length, which leads, or
rather used to lead, to the abandoned Heartsease mine, once one of the
largest coal mines in England. You will ask how it is that no one saw
the train upon this unused line. I answer that along its entire length
it runs through a deep cutting, and that, unless someone had been on
the edge of that cutting, he could not have seen it. There WAS someone
on the edge of that cutting. I was there. And now I will tell you
what I saw.
"My assistant had remained at the points in order that he might
superintend the switching off of the train. He had four armed men with
him, so that if the train ran off the line--we thought it probable,
because the points were very rusty--we might still have resources to
fall back upon. Having once seen it safely on the side line, he handed
over the responsibility to me. I was waiting at a point which
overlooks the mouth of the mine, and I was also armed, as were my two
companions. Come what might, you see, I was always ready.
"The moment that the train was fairly on the side line, Smith, the
stoker, slowed-down the engine, and then, having turned it on to the
fullest speed again, he and McPherson, with my English lieutenant,
sprang off before it was too late. It may be that it was this
slowing-down which first attracted the attention of the travellers, but
the train was running at full speed again before their heads appeared
at the open window. It makes me smile to think how bewildered they
must have been. Picture to yourself your own feelings if, on looking
out of your luxurious carriage, you suddenly perceived that the lines
upon which you ran were rusted and corroded, red and yellow with disuse
and decay! What a catch must have come in their breath as in a second
it flashed upon them that it was not Manchester but Death which was
waiting for them at the end of that sinister line. But the train was
running with frantic speed, rolling and rocking over the rotten line,
while the wheels made a frightful screaming sound upon the rusted
surface. I was close to them, and could see their faces. Caratal was
praying, I think--there was something like a rosary dangling out of his
hand. The other roared like a bull who smells the blood of the
slaughter-house. He saw us standing on the bank, and he beckoned to us
like a madman. Then he tore at his wrist and threw his dispatch-box
out of the window in our direction. Of course, his meaning was
obvious. Here was the evidence, and they would promise to be silent if
their lives were spared. It would have been very agreeable if we could
have done so, but business is business. Besides, the train was now as
much beyond our controls as theirs.
"He ceased howling when the train rattled round the curve and they saw
the black mouth of the mine yawning before them. We had removed the
boards which had covered it, and we had cleared the square entrance.
The rails had formerly run very close to the shaft for the convenience
of loading the coal, and we had only to add two or three lengths of
rail in order to lead to the very brink of the shaft. In fact, as the
lengths would not quite fit, our line projected about three feet over
the edge. We saw the two heads at the window: Caratal below, Gomez
above; but they had both been struck silent by what they saw. And yet
they could not withdraw their heads. The sight seemed to have
paralysed them.
"I had wondered how the train running at a great speed would take the
pit into which I had guided it, and I was much interested in watching
it. One of my colleagues thought that it would actually jump it, and
indeed it was not very far from doing so. Fortunately, however, it fell
short, and the buffers of the engine struck the other lip of the shaft
with a tremendous crash. The funnel flew off into the air. The
tender, carriages, and van were all smashed up into one jumble, which,
with the remains of the engine, choked for a minute or so the mouth of
the pit. Then something gave way in the middle, and the whole mass of
green iron, smoking coals, brass fittings, wheels, wood-work, and
cushions all crumbled together and crashed down into the mine. We
heard the rattle, rattle, rattle, as the debris struck against the
walls, and then, quite a long time afterwards, there came a deep roar
as the remains of the train struck the bottom. The boiler may have
burst, for a sharp crash came after the roar, and then a dense cloud of
steam and smoke swirled up out of the black depths, falling in a spray
as thick as rain all round us. Then the vapour shredded off into thin
wisps, which floated away in the summer sunshine, and all was quiet
again in the Heartsease mine.
"And now, having carried out our plans so successfully, it only
remained to leave no trace behind us. Our little band of workers at
the other end had already ripped up the rails and disconnected the side
line, replacing everything as it had been before. We were equally busy
at the mine. The funnel and other fragments were thrown in, the shaft
was planked over as it used to be, and the lines which led to it were
torn up and taken away. Then, without flurry, but without delay, we
all made our way out of the country, most of us to Paris, my English
colleague to Manchester, and McPherson to Southampton, whence he
emigrated to America. Let the English papers of that date tell how
throughly we had done our work, and how completely we had thrown the
cleverest of their detectives off our track.
"You will remember that Gomez threw his bag of papers out of the
window, and I need not say that I secured that bag and brought them to
my employers. It may interest my employers now, however, to learn that
out of that bag I took one or two little papers as a souvenir of the
occasion. I have no wish to publish these papers; but, still, it is
every man for himself in this world, and what else can I do if my
friends will not come to my aid when I want them? Messieurs, you may
believe that Herbert de Lernac is quite as formidable when he is
against you as when he is with you, and that he is not a man to go to
the guillotine until he has seen that every one of you is en route for
New Caledonia. For your own sake, if not for mine, make haste,
Monsieur de ----, and General ----, and Baron ---- (you can fill up the
blanks for yourselves as you read this). I promise you that in the
next edition there will be no blanks to fill.
"P.S.--As I look over my statement there is only one omission which I
can see. It concerns the unfortunate man McPherson, who was foolish
enough to write to his wife and to make an appointment with her in New
York. It can be imagined that when interests like ours were at stake,
we could not leave them to the chance of whether a man in that class of
life would or would not give away his secrets to a woman. Having once
broken his oath by writing to his wife, we could not trust him any
more. We took steps therefore to insure that he should not see his
wife. I have sometimes thought that it would be a kindness to write to
her and to assure her that there is no impediment to her marrying
again."