"Was there a train?" he asked, at length.
"Yes--an express."
"It did not stop here on the bridge for anything?"
"No, of course not."
"Of course not," he agreed, absently. "How long ago?"
"Perhaps two minutes," I said.
He examined his watch. After a while he got up, seeming to pull himself together with an effort, and began scraping nervously on his picture. I noticed that the palette-knife trembled in his hand.
"What is the matter?" I asked, finally.
"I feel very much upset," he replied, and sank weakly on the hatch. "I was on that train and--"
I had to jump below to the ice-chest; Auber seemed to have fainted. Jerry, the skipper, and I applied cold water for five minutes, and then Auber revived and asked for whiskey.
"I was on the train," he began again, persistently. "Several p
