Tales of Terror and Mystery

           Thisfriendorcompanion,whosenamedidnottranspire,wascertainlyaforeigner,andprobablyfromhisswarthycomplexion,eitheraSpaniardoraSouthAmerican.Onepeculiaritywasobservedinhim.Hecarriedinhislefthandasmallblack,leatherdispatchbox,anditwasnoticedbyasharp-eyedclerkintheCentralofficethatthisboxwasfastenedtohiswristbyastrap.Noimportancewasattachedtothefactatthetime,butsubsequenteventsendoweditwithsomesignificance.MonsieurCaratalwasshownuptoMr.Bland’soffice,whilehiscompanionremainedoutside.

           MonsieurCaratal’sbusinesswasquicklydispatched.HehadarrivedthatafternoonfromCentralAmerica.AffairsoftheutmostimportancedemandedthatheshouldbeinPariswithoutthelossofanunnecessaryhour.HehadmissedtheLondonexpress.Aspecialmustbeprovided.Moneywasofnoimportance.Timewaseverything.Ifthecompanywouldspeedhimonhisway,theymightmaketheirownterms.

           Mr.Blandstrucktheelectricbell,summonedMr.PotterHood,thetrafficmanager,andhadthematterarrangedinfiveminutes.Thetrainwouldstartinthree-quartersofanhour.Itwouldtakethattimetoinsurethatthelineshouldbeclear.ThepowerfulenginecalledRochdale(No.247onthecompany’sregister)wasattachedtotwocarriages,withaguard’svanbehind.Thefirstcarriagewassolelyforthepurposeofdecreasingtheinconveniencearisingfromtheoscillation.Thesecondwasdivided,asusual,intofourcompartments,afirst-class,afirst-classsmoking,asecond-class,andasecond-classsmoking.