THE<br >PASSENGER FROM SCOTLAND YARD.<br >CHAPTER I.<br >Tu~. night mail for the ContinSnt stood ready to glide ou~ of<br >the London terminus， the leave-taking friends assembled in<br >small groups upon the platform before the carriage doors<br >were .reiterating last messages and once more exchanging<br >promises to write， when a hard-featured， thick-set gentle-<br >man who had been peering out of a second-class window<br >drew back with a slight exclamation of annoyance or disap-<br >pointment， and sank into a corner seat. Hardly a moment<br >had passed， when the rattle of the guard s key was again<br >heard in the lock， and the door fell open to admit a fifth<br >.passenger. Just in time， sir ! muttered the guard， bang-<br >mg the door after the new arrival and relocking it. tie<br >immediately signalled with his lamp， a whistle rang out<br >sharply， and the night mail for the Continent started from<br >London.<br > The new-comer installed himself unobtrusively in the<br >nearest vacant place， and at once muffled himself up in a<br >travelling-rug and a voluminous wrapper or two. Presently<br >there was little to be seen of his face but a pair of gray eyes<br >and a Roman nose. He sat with his back to the engine， in<br >the corner opposite the thick-set， rubicund， hard-featured<br >gentleman， and the latter had from the first followed his<br >movements with a singular interest. In fact， the new-comer<br >might have been justified in remarking with some impatience<br ><br >