第2章
“Noidea，sir，“hereplied。“Hedroveupjusttwominutesafterthetrainhadgone，camestraightintotheofficeandorderedaspecial。Paidforit，too，inBankofEnglandnotesbeforehewentout。Ifancyhe’sanAmerican，andhegavehisnameasJohnP。Dunster。“
Theyoungmanpausedtolightacigarette。
“Ifhe’sanAmerican，Isupposethataccountsforit，“heobserved。
“Hemustbeinaprecioushurrytogetsomewhere，though。“
“Anightlikethis，too！“theinspectorremarked，withashiver。
“Iwouldn’tleaveLondonmyselfunlessIhadto。Theysaythere’satremendousstormblowingontheeastcoast。Herecomesthetrain，sir-justonesaloonandtheguard’svan。“
Thelittletrainbackedslowlyalongtheplatformside。Theenginewassplashedwithmudandsoakingwet。Thefacesoftheengine-driverandhiscompanionshonefromthedrippingrain。Thestation-masterheldopenthedoorofthesaloon。
“You’vearoughjourneybeforeyou，sir，“hesaid。“You’llcatchtheboatallright，though-ifitgoes。Themailtrainwasveryheavyto-night。YoushouldcatchherupthissideofColehester。“
Mr。Dunsternodded。
“Iamtakingthisyounggentlemanwithme，“heannouncedshortly。
“Itseemsthathe，too，missedthetrain。Iammuchobligedtoyou，station-master，foryourattention。Goodnight！“
TheywereabouttostartwhenMr。Dunsteroncemoreletdownthewindow。
“Bytheway，“hesaid，“asitissuchawildnight，youwillobligemeverymuchifyouwilltelltheengine-driverthattherewillbeafivepoundnoteforhimselfandhiscompanionifwecatchthemail。Inspector！“
Theinspectortouchedhishat。Thestation-masterhadturneddiscreetlyaway。Hehadbeenaninspectorhimselfonce，andsovereignshadbeenusefultohim，too。Thenthetrainglidedfromtheplatformside，plungedwithascreamthroughasuccessionofblacktunnels，andwithrapidlyincreasingspeedfacedthestorm。
TheyoungmansatononesideofthesaloonandMr。JohnP。Dunsterontheother。Althoughbothofthemwereprovidedwithacertainamountofrailwayliterature，neitherofthemmadeanypretenceatreading。Theolderman，withhisfeetupontheoppositeseatandhisarmsfolded，waslookingpensivelythroughtherain-splashedwindow-paneintotheimpenetrabledarkness。Theyoungman，althoughhecouldnotignorehiscompanion’sunsociableinstincts，wasfidgety。
“Therewillbesomefloodsoutto-morrow，“heremarked。
Mr。Dunsterturnedhisheadandlookedacrossthesaloon。Therewassomethinginthedeliberatemannerofhisdoingso，andhishesitationbeforehespoke，whichseemedintendedtofurtherimpressupontheyoungmanthefactthathewasnotdisposedforconversation。
“Verylikely，“washissolereply。
GeraldFentolinsighedasthoughheregrettedhiscompanion’staciturnityandafewminuteslaterstrolledtothefartherendofthesaloon。Hespentsometimetryingtopeerthroughthestreamingwindowintothedarkness。Hechattedforafewminuteswiththeguard，whowas，however，inabadtemperathavinghadtoturnoutandwhofoundlittletosay。Thenhetookoneofhisgolfclubsfromthebagandindulgedinseveralhalfswings。Finallyhestretchedhimselfoutupononeoftheseatsandclosedhiseyes。
“Mayaswelltrytogetanap，“heyawned。“Therewon’tbemuchchanceonthesteamer，ifitblowslikethis。“
Mr。Dunstersaidnothing。Hisfacewasset，hiseyeswerelookingsomewherebeyondtheconfinesofthesalooninwhichhewasseated。
Sotheytravelledforoveranhour。Theyoungmanseemedtobedozinginearnestwhen，withasuccessionofjerks，thetrainrapidlyslackenedspeed。Mr。Dunsterletdownthewindow。Theinteriorofthecarriagewasatoncethrownintoconfusion。A
coupleofnewspaperswerecaughtupandwhirledaround，atorrentofrainbeatin。Mr。Dunsterrapidlyclosedthewindowandrangthebell。Theguardcameinafteramomentortwo。Hisclotheswereshinyfromthewet；raindropshungfromhisbeard。
“Whatisthematter？“Mr。Dunsterdemanded。“Whyarewewaitinghere？“
“There’sablockonthelinesomewhere，themanreplied。“Can’ttellwhereexactly。Thesignalsareagainstus；that’sallweknowatpresent。“
Theycrawledonagaininabouttenminutes，stopped，andresumedtheirprogressatanevenslowerrate。Mr。Dunsteroncemoresummonedtheguard。
“Whyarewetravellinglikethis？“heaskedimpatiently。“Weshallnevercatchtheboat。“
“Weshallcatchtheboatallrightifitruns，sir，“themanassuredhim。“Themailisonlyamileortwoaheadofus；that’sonereasonwhywehavetogososlowly。Thenthewaterisrightoverthelinewherewearenow，andwecan’tgetanynewsatallfromtheothersideofIpswich。Ifitgoesonlikethis，someofthebridgeswillbedown；that’swhatI’mafraidof。“
Mr。Dunsterfrowned。Forthefirsttimeheshowedsomesignsofuneasiness。
“Perhaps，“hemuttered，halftohimself，“amotorcarwouldhavebeenbetter。“
“Notonyourlife，“hisyoungcompanionintervened。“Alltheroadstothecoastherecrossnoendofsmallbridges-muchweakeraffairsthantherailwaybridges。Ibettherearesomeofthosedownalready。Besides，youwouldn’tbeabletoseewhereyouweregoing，onanightlikethis。“
“Thereappearstobeachance，“Mr。Dunsterremarkeddrily，“thatyouwillhavetoscratchforyourcompetitionto-morrow。“
“Also，“theyoungmanobserved，“thatyouwillhavetakenthisspecialtrainfornothing。Ican’tfancytheHarwichboatgoingoutanightlikethis。“
Mr。Dunsterrelapsedintostonybutanxioussilence。Thetraincontinueditserraticprogress，sometimesstoppingaltogetherforatime，withwhistleblowingrepeatedly；sometimescreepingalongthemetalsasthoughfeelingitswaytosafety。Atlast，afterasomewhatprolongedwait，theguard，whosehoarsevoicetheyhadheardontheplatformofthesmallstationinwhichtheywerestanding，enteredthecarriage。Withhimcameagustofwind，oncemoresendingthepapersflyingaroundthecompartment。Theraindrippedfromhisclothesontothecarpet。Hehadlosthishat，hishairwastossedwiththewind，hisfacewasbleedingfromaslightwoundonthetemple。
“Theboattrain’sjustaheadofus，sir，“heannounced。“Shecan’tgetonanybetterthanwecan。We’vejustheardthatthere’sabridgedownonthelinebetweenIpswichandHarwich。“
“Whatarewegoingtodo，then？“Mr。Dunsterdemanded。
“That’sjustwhatI’vecometoaskyou，sir，“theguardreplied。
“Themail’sgoingslowlyonasfarasIpswich。Ifancythey’llliebythereuntilthemorning。ThebestthingthatIcanseeis，ifyou’reagreeable，totakeyoubacktoLondon。Wecanverylikelydothatallright，ifwestartatonce。“
Mr。Dunster，ignoringtheman’ssuggestion，drewfromoneofthevoluminouspocketsofhisulsterasmallmap。Hespreaditopenuponthetablebeforehimandstudieditattentively。
“IfIcannotgettoHarwich，“heasked，“isthereanypossibilityofkeepingstraightonandreachingYarmouth？“
Theguardhesitated。
“Wehaven’theardanythingaboutthelinefromIpswichtoNorwich，sir，“hereplied，“butwecan’tverywellchangeourcoursewithoutdefiniteinstructions。“
“Yourdefiniteinstructions，“Mr。Dunsterremindedhimdrily，“weretotakemetoHarwich。Youhavebeenforcedtodepartfromthem。
IseenoharminyouradoptinganysuggestionsImayhavetomakeconcerningouraltereddestination。Iwillpaytheextramileage，naturally。“
“Howfardidyouwishtogo，sir？“theguardenquired。
“ToYarmouth，“Mr。Dunsterrepliedfirmly。“Iftherearebridgesdown，andcommunicationwithHarwichisblocked，Yarmouthwouldsuitmebetterthananywhere。“
Theguardshookhishead。
“Icouldn’tgoonthatway，sir，withoutinstructions。“
“Isthereatelegraphofficeatthisstation？“Mr。Dunsterinquired。
“Wecanspeakanywhereontheline，“theguardreplied。
“Thenwiretothestation-masteratLiverpoolStreet，“Mr。Dunsterinstructed。“Youcangetareplyfromhiminthecourseofafewminutes。Explainthesituationandtellhimwhatmywishesare。“
Theguardhesitated。
“It’sagoodishwayfromheretoNorwich，“heobserved，“andforallweknow-“
“WhenweleftLiverpoolStreetStation，“Mr。Dunsterinterrupted，“Ipromisedfivepoundseachtoyou，theengine-driver，andhismate。
Thatfivepoundsshallbemadetwenty-fiveifyousucceedingettingmetothecoast。Doyourbestforme。“
Theguardraisedhishatanddepartedwithoutanotherword。
“Itwillprobablysuityoubetter，“Mr。Dunstercontinued，turningtohiscompanion，“toleavemeatIpswichandjointhemail。“
Thelattershookhishead。