nine o'clock
About half a mile from Sloperton Station the South Clapham and Medway line crossed a bridge over Sloperton-on-Trent . As the shades of evening were closing , a man in a slouched hat might have been seen , carrying a saw and axe under his arm , hanging about the bridge . From time to time he disappeared in the shadow of its abutments , but the sound of a saw and axe still betrayed his vicinity . At exactly nine o'clock he reappeared , and crossing to the Sloperton side , rested his shoulder against the abutment and gave a shove . The bridge swayed a moment , and then fell with a splash into the water , leaving a space of one hundred feet between the two banks . This done , Burke the Slogger , -- for it was he , -- with a fiendish chuckle seated himself on the divided railway track and awaited the coming of the train . A shriek from the woods announced its approach .