The acute detective in whose hands the new clew had
been placed had not only traced the fugitives to Springfield, as
Mrs. Legrange had said, but had ascertained at what hour they left
the hotel for the railway-station. It was impossible, however, to
discover for what point the Italian had purchased tickets, as the
station-master had no recollection of him, and the baggage-master
was sure he had seen "no sich lot" as was described to him.
And, from Springfield, a man may take passage to almost any point in
the Union. One startling fact remained, and upon this fact the whole
report of the detective turned.
The train leaving Springfield for Albany upon the night when
Giovanni left that town, encountered, at a certain point, another
train, which, by some incomprehensible stupidity, was supposed to
have passed that point half an hour before.
Consequences as usual,--frightful loss of life; a game of give and
take in the newspapers, as to who should bear the blame, finally
resulting in a service of plate to one party, and a donation in
money to the other; several lawsuits brought by enterprising
widowers who demand consolation for the loss of their wives; by
other men, who, having skulked the draft, now found themselves minus
both legs and glory; by spinsters whose bandboxes had been crushed,
and by young ladies whose beauty had suffered damage from broken
noses and scattered teeth.
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