Tales of Terror and Mystery
namely the Carnstock Iron Works, the Big Ben, and the Perseverance. Is
there a secret society of colliers, an English Camorra, which is
capable of destroying both train and passengers? It is improbable, but
it is not impossible. I confess that I am unable to suggest any other
solution. I should certainly advise the company to direct all their
energies towards the observation of those three lines, and of the
workmen at the end of them. A careful supervision of the pawnbrokers'
shops of the district might possibly bring some suggestive facts to
light."
The suggestion coming from a recognized authority upon such matters
created considerable interest, and a fierce opposition from those who
considered such a statement to be a preposterous libel upon an honest
and deserving set of men. The only answer to this criticism was a
challenge to the objectors to lay any more feasible explanations before
the public. In reply to this two others were forthcoming (Times, July
7th and 9th). The first suggested that the train might have run off
the metals and be lying submerged in the Lancashire and Staffordshire
Canal, which runs parallel to the railway for some hundred of yards.
This suggestion was thrown out of court by the published depth of the
canal, which was entirely insufficient to conceal so large an object.
The second correspondent wrote calling attention to the bag which
appeared to be the sole luggage which the travellers had brought with
them, and suggesting that some novel explosive of immense and
pulverizing power might have been concealed in it. The obvious
absurdity, however, of supposing that the whole train might be blown to
dust while the metals remained uninjured reduced any such explanation
to a farce. The investigation had drifted into this hopeless position
when a new and most unexpected incident occurred.
This was nothing less than the receipt by Mrs. McPherson of a letter
from her husband, James McPherson, who had been the guard on the
missing train. The letter, which was dated July 5th, 1890, was posted
from New York and came to hand upon July 14th. Some doubts were
expressed as to its genuine character but Mrs. McPherson was positive
as to the writing, and the fact that it contained a remittance of a
hundred dollars in five-dollar notes was enough in itself to discount
the idea of a hoax. No address was given in the letter, which ran in
this way:
MY DEAR WIFE,--
"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.