s hands in
satisfaction. "Good!" he said, and closing the door again, but leaving
the window down, he left the compartment, not troubling to pick up his
belongings, and walked along the corridors to another second-class
compartment, towards the front of the train, in which he calmly
installed himself.

"Luck has been with me," he muttered as he stretched himself out on the
seat. "Everything has gone off well; no one has seen me, and those two
fools who might have upset my plans will wake up quite naturally when
they begin to feel the cold; and they will attribute the headache they
will probably feel to their tiring journey."

A train, travelling in the opposite direction, suddenly roared past the
window and made him jump. He started up, and smiled.

"'Gad! I said my friend would miss his train, but he'll catch it in
another five minutes! In another five minutes, luggage and body and the
entire caboodle will be mincemeat!" and as if completely reassured by
the idea he chuckled again. "Nothing could have gone better: I can have
a rest, and in an hour's time I shall be at Juvisy, where, thanks to my
forethought, I shall be able to whitewash myself--literally." One thing,
however, still seemed to worry him: he did not know exactly where on the
line he had thrown his unhappy victim, but he had an idea that the train
had run through a small station shortly afterwards; if that was so, the
body might be found sooner than he would have liked. He tried to dismiss
the notion from his mind, but he caught sight of the telegraph posts
speeding past the windows, and he shook his fist at them malignantly.
"That is the only thing that can harm me now," he muttered.

* * * * *

"Juvisy! Juvisy! Wait here two minutes!"

It was barely half-past six, and the porters hurried along the train,
calling out the name of the station, and rousing sleepy travellers from
their dreams. A man jumped nimbly out of a second-class carriage and
walked towards the exit from the station, holding out his ticket.
"Season," he said, and passed out rapidly.

"Good idea, that season ticket," he said to himself; "much less
dangerous than an ordinary ticket which the police could have traced."

He walked briskly towards the subway, crossed the main road, and took a
side turning that led down towards the Seine. Taking no notice of the
mud, the man went into a field and hid himself in a little thicket on
the river bank. He look