"Hark ye! serve my purpose, and I may yet save you. The 5.30 train
from Clapham will be due at Sloperton at 9.25. IT MUST NOT
ARRIVE!"
The villain's eyes sparkled as he nodded at Edgardo.
"Enough,--you understand; leave me!"
CHAPTER IV.
About half a mile from Sloperton Station the South Clapham and
Medway line crossed a bridge over Sloperton-on-Trent. As the
shades of evening were closing, a man in a slouched hat might have
been seen carrying a saw and axe under his arm, hanging about the
bridge. From time to time he disappeared in the shadow of its
abutments, but the sound of a saw and axe still betrayed his
vicinity. At exactly nine o'clock he reappeared, and, crossing to
the Sloperton side, rested his shoulder against the abutment and
gave a shove. The bridge swayed a moment, and then fell with a
splash into the water, leaving a space of one hundred feet between
the two banks. This done, Burke the Slogger,--for it was he,--with
a fiendish chuckle seated himself on the divided railway track and
awaited the coming of the train.
A shriek from the woods announced its approach. For an instant
Burke the Slogger saw the glaring of a red lamp.
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