Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 42).djvu/458

"Presently another man came along and paused close to him." train. In the compartment I was reading the Sussex Daily News, when a paragraph caught my eye. "Tragic Occurrence on the Brighton Line." Late the night before the body of a woman had been found lying on the ballast, as if she might have fallen out of a passing train. It described her costume—she was attired in a pale mauve dress and a big black picture hat in which was an ostrich-feather plume. There were other details—plenty of them—but that was enough for me.

When I read that and thought of the man leaning against the railing I rather caught my breath. Two young men who were facing each other at the other end of the compartment began to talk about the paragraph in tones which were audible to all.

"Do you see that about the lady in the mauve dress who was found on the line? Do you know, I shouldn't wonder a bit if it was Mrs. Farningham—that's her rig-out to a T. And I know she was going up to town yesterday afternoon."

"She did go," replied the other; "and I'm told that when she started she'd had about enough cold tea."

The other grinned—a grin of comprehension.

"If that's so I shouldn't wonder if the poor dear opened the carriage door, thinking it was some other door, and stepped out on to the line. From all I hear, it seems that she was quite capable of doing that sort of thing when she was like that."

"Oh, quite; not a doubt of it. And she was capable of some pretty queer things when she wasn't like that."

I wondered; these young gentlemen