The matter was assuming a most amazing aspect, although in some respects the last telegram was a relief to the authorities at Liverpool.  If an accident had occurred to the special, it seemed hardly possible that the local train could have passed down the same line without observing it.  And yet, what was the alternative?  Where could the train be?  Had it possibly been sidetracked for some reason in order to allow the slower train to go past?  Such an explanation was possible if some small repair had to be effected.  A telegram was dispatched to each of the stations between St. Helens and Manchester, and the superintendent and traffic manager waited in the utmost suspense at the instrument for the series of replies which would enable them to say for certain what had become of the missing train.  The answers came back in the order of questions, which was the order of the stations beginning at the St. Helens end—­

“Special passed here five o’clock.—­Collins Green.”

“Special passed here six past five.—­Earlstown.”

“Special passed here 5:10.—­Newton.”

“Special passed here 5:20.—­Kenyon Junction.”

“No special train has passed here.—­Barton Moss.”

The two officials stared at each other in amazement.

“This is unique in my thirty years of experience,” said Mr. Bland.

“Absolutely unprecedented and inexplicable, sir.  The special has gone wrong between Kenyon Junction and Barton Moss.”

“And yet there is no siding, so far as my memory serves me, between the two stations.  The special must have run off the metals.”

“But how could the four-fifty parliamentary pass over the same line without observing it?”

“There’s no alternative, Mr. Hood.  It must be so.  Possibly the local train may have observed something which may throw some light upon the matter.  We will wire to Manchester for more information, and to Kenyon Junction with instructions that the line be examined instantly as far as Barton Moss.”  The answer from Manchester came within a few minutes.

“No news of missing special.  Driver and guard of slow train positive no accident between Kenyon Junction and Barton Moss.  Line quite clear, and no sign of anything unusual.—­Manchester.”

“That driver and guard will have to go,” said Mr. Bland, grimly.  “There has been a wreck and they have missed it.  The special has obviously run off the metals without disturbing the line—­how it could have done so passes my comprehension—­but so it must be, and we shall have a wire from Kenyon or Barton Moss presently to say that they have found her at the bottom of an embankment.”

But Mr. Bland’s prophecy was not destined to be fulfilled.  Half an hour passed, and then there arrived the following message from the station-master of Kenyon Junction—­

“There are no traces of the missing special.  It is quite certain that she passed here, and that she did not arrive at Barton Moss.  We have detached engine from goods train, and I have myself ridden down the line, but all is clear, and there is no sign of any accident.”