1928 photograph of an empty London Underground carriage.
"In the Tube" is a short ghost story by the British author E.F. Benson. It first appeared in print in Hutchinson's Magazine in December 1922. It was published again in 1923 in the collection of Benson's short stories Visible and Invisible. It is included in the 1983 anthology Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories.
The story concerns a man named Anthony Carling who sees a vision of another man named Sir Henry Payle before he meets Sir Henry himself. Anthony goes on to see a vision of Sir Henry Payle committing suicide a few days before Sir Henry actually kills himself. After Sir Henry dies, his ghost contacts Anthony to ask for help.
The "tube" of the title is a popular nickname for the London Underground railway, where many of the ghostly events of the story take place.
Plot[]
The story's unnamed narrator attends a party at the home of Anthony Carling, an intellectual who is reputed to be somewhat psychic and clairvoyant. The narrator remains to stay the night after all the other guests have left. As midnight approaches, the conversation between Anthony and the narrator turns to the nature of time and when events truly occur. Anthony is of the opinion that a crime really occurs when it is planned and that its actual commission is just a sequel to that. He goes on to say that a man's spirit may be condemned to repeat a crime after his death to make him more aware of an action that he carried out without paying much attention to it while he was alive. To illustrate his point, Anthony tells a story about events that happened a month earlier.
Anthony Carling took the last London Underground train home from Piccadilly Circus. The carriage was almost completely empty. Anthony's attention was drawn towards one middle-aged man who looked as if he were thinking deeply about something and kept clenching and unclenching his fists. The man suddenly stared at Anthony and looked frightened and suspicious. The train stopped at Dover Street station. Both Anthony and the man remained on it. When the train started to move again, however, the man vanished. Anthony was certain that he had seen the astral body projection of a living person who would sit in that carriage in the future. Anthony knew it was not the spirit of a dead person because he had seen ghosts before and seeing a ghost is always accompanied by a sensation of physical shrinking, cold, fear and loneliness.
At lunch the following day, Anthony was introduced to Sir Henry Payle, the man whose image he had seen the night before. Sir Henry asked Anthony, "Haven't we met before, Mr. Carling?" Forgetting the nature of how he had seen Sir Henry, Anthony replied that they had been in the same Underground carriage the night before. Sir Henry said that could not be possible because he had only returned to London that morning. Nevertheless, Sir Henry retained a vague recollection of seeing Anthony before.
That night, Anthony took the last Underground train home from Dover Street station. That time, there were a lot of people on the platform. Anthony saw Sir Henry and was about to approach him. At that moment, Sir Henry suddenly jumped off the platform into the path of an oncoming train that ran over him. Although Anthony was horrified at the sight, nobody else reacted to it. A doctor offered some assistance to the visibly shaken Anthony. He told the doctor what he had seen. The doctor said no such thing had happened. Anthony realized he had seen the "second act" of a "psychical drama". He had seen what most people would consider to be a vision of the future. As far as Anthony was concerned, however, it was something that could not be stopped because it had also already happened. Anthony tells the narrator that now that Sir Henry is "free from the material dusks" he probably knows that too.
The narrator and Anthony both suddenly feel cold. The narrator realizes that he also feels the other sensations that Anthony said accompany seeing a ghost, although he does not see one. He asks Anthony if he saw anything. He replies that he does not think so but is not sure. Looking at the clock, Anthony sees that it is 12:35 AM. He says that the events of his story may not be over yet. He tells the narrator that he can go to bed and hear the rest of the story the following morning. The time of night is approaching when Anthony has previously seen an apparition and one may appear again, although it could not hurt anyone. The narrator says that he wants to hear the rest of the story that night and Anthony continues.
Three days after seeing the vision of Sir Henry's suicide, Anthony read in the newspaper that Sir Henry had thrown himself in front of a train at Dover Street station and was killed when the train ran over him and crushed his chest. An inquest was held. It was determined that Sir Henry and his wife had grown apart and he had fallen in love with another woman. Sir Henry asked Lady Payle for a divorce that she refused to grant him. The enraged Sir Henry tried to strangle his wife and had to be stopped by a manservant. Lady Payle threatened to tell the police her husband had tried to kill her. The following day, Sir Henry committed suicide.
The time is now 12:50 AM. The narrator again feels strangely cold. He is uncertain whether or not he can see a shadow. Anthony thinks he can see something. He says that because he had a feeling the story was not over, he went to Dover Street station the previous night. As the last train approached at 1:00 AM, the ghost of Sir Henry suddenly appeared on the platform. He approached Anthony. His lips moved but Anthony could hear nothing. He raised his hand as if to ask for help. Anthony, however, feels ashamed to say that he was too scared to help. The ghost then threw himself in front of the oncoming train.
The sound of a loud crack comes from above the mantelpiece. The narrator knows there is something in the room but cannot see it. Anthony speaks and can obviously hear responses, although the narrator cannot. Anthony looks at the narrator. The narrator realizes that the presence in the room has turned its attention to him. He begins to see it. He first sees an outline of a man. He then sees a face that looks sadder than any human face has ever looked. A huge blood stain comes from the apparition's crushed chest and broken ribs stick out. The apparition suddenly vanishes, along with the sensation of intense cold.
The narrator asks Anthony who he was talking to. He replies, "A soul in hell", and then says he was referring to the hell of remorse. Anthony says the ghost sought him out as someone who could help him. He told Anthony to pass on a message to his wife. He gave him the address No. 20 Chasemore Street, South Kensington. A look at the phone book confirms that a Lady Payle lives there.