{"product_id":"2940012986122","title":"The ROME EXPRESS","description":"CHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Rome Express, the _direttissimo_, or most direct, was approaching\u003cbr\u003eParis one morning in March, when it became known to the occupants of the\u003cbr\u003esleeping-car that there was something amiss, very much amiss, in the\u003cbr\u003ecar.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe train was travelling the last stage, between Laroche and Paris, a\u003cbr\u003erun of a hundred miles without a stop. It had halted at Laroche for\u003cbr\u003eearly breakfast, and many, if not all the passengers, had turned out. Of\u003cbr\u003ethose in the sleeping-car, seven in number, six had been seen in the\u003cbr\u003erestaurant, or about the platform; the seventh, a lady, had not stirred.\u003cbr\u003eAll had reëntered their berths to sleep or doze when the train went on,\u003cbr\u003ebut several were on the move as it neared Paris, taking their turn at\u003cbr\u003ethe lavatory, calling for water, towels, making the usual stir of\u003cbr\u003epreparation as the end of a journey was at hand.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere were many calls for the porter, yet no porter appeared. At last\u003cbr\u003ethe attendant was found--lazy villain!--asleep, snoring loudly,\u003cbr\u003estertorously, in his little bunk at the end of the car. He was roused\u003cbr\u003ewith difficulty, and set about his work in a dull, unwilling, lethargic\u003cbr\u003eway, which promised badly for his tips from those he was supposed to\u003cbr\u003eserve.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy degrees all the passengers got dressed, all but two,--the lady in 9\u003cbr\u003eand 10, who had made no sign as yet; and the man who occupied alone a\u003cbr\u003edouble berth next her, numbered 7 and 8.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs it was the porter's duty to call every one, and as he was anxious,\u003cbr\u003elike the rest of his class, to get rid of his travellers as soon as\u003cbr\u003epossible after arrival, he rapped at each of the two closed doors behind\u003cbr\u003ewhich people presumably still slept.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe lady cried \"All right,\" but there was no answer from No. 7 and 8.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAgain and again the porter knocked and called loudly. Still meeting\u003cbr\u003ewith no response, he opened the door of the compartment and went in.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was now broad daylight. No blind was down; indeed, the one narrow\u003cbr\u003ewindow was open, wide; and the whole of the interior of the compartment\u003cbr\u003ewas plainly visible, all and everything in it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe occupant lay on his bed motionless. Sound asleep? No, not merely\u003cbr\u003easleep--the twisted unnatural lie of the limbs, the contorted legs, the\u003cbr\u003eone arm drooping listlessly but stiffly over the side of the berth, told\u003cbr\u003eof a deeper, more eternal sleep.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe man was dead. Dead--and not from natural causes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne glance at the blood-stained bedclothes, one look at the gaping wound\u003cbr\u003ein the breast, at the battered, mangled face, told the terrible story.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47073704509680,"sku":"2940012986122","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012986122_p0.jpg?v=1763574834","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012986122","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}