When I arrived all was quiet.

Not a single passenger was there, while the two porters were lolling lazily around, enjoying the warmth of the bright May sun.
I asked to see the station-master; he was not at the station.

Then I made inquiries for the booking-clerk, who presently made his appearance.

I found that there was a train leaving about midnight, which travelled northward, one that had been running some years.
"Were you at the booking-office on the day after New Year's Day ?" I asked.
"Yes, sir," replied the clerk.
"Do you remember a man coming for a ticket that night who struck you as peculiar ?" "What kind of a man, sir ?" "A foreigner.

Small, dark, and wiry, speaking with an accent something like this," I said, trying to imitate Kaffar.
"No, sir, I don't remember such a person.