Dr. Dumany's Wife

some impediment. I heard the jolting of the foremost cars, and had time to prepare for the shock which was

The friction of the wheels made a grating noise, and I leaned out of the window to ascertain the nature of the danger. Was another train approaching, and a collision inevitable? I could see nothing, but suddenly I beheld the figure of the shepherd

instant. From the other carriages passengers were jumping out at

ons, but found them up. "Madam," I said, "I am afraid that w

and I caught the little boy, t

d the ground, although my knees doubled up under me, and I struck the knuckles of my right hand a hard blow. The child had fainted in my arms, but only from fright; otherwise he had received no harm. I laid him on the ground in a safe place, and ran with all my might after the train to hel

shattered, and with that the iron colossus came to a dead stop, the suddenness of which threw the carriages crashing on top of each other. This fearful havoc was not all. Through the breach which the great rock had made in the barricade, an incessant avalanche of stones, from the size of a cannon-ball to that of a wheelbarrow, descended upon the train, crushing everything beneath into fragments, pushing the unhappy train into the chasm below, into the valley of death and destruction. Like a huge serpent it slid

Then I bethought me of the boy. I found him still insensible, but otherwise unharmed, and I took him up, covering him wit

n one corner of the room stood a bed, in the middle was a t

woman looked up, and said

was crumbling, and would soon break down; but they did not listen to him, and now that the accident has come, they will surely visit their own carelessness upon him.

rge in case of need. Only keep quiet now, and come here. You must try to restore thi

t fearful night. But I think that I said the words I am relating, although I was so confused that it is possible I did not utter a word. I had come out of the house aga

d the high pole right in front of him. He gazed up

ning. They cannot blame me; they dare no

lf, and the misfortune of the others touch

ves. Now let us learn what has happened to the others. The whole train has

have mercy o

ould save some of

leave my post, else th

alone," said I, and h

the never-ceasing clatter of the falling stones was heard, nothing else. Awful is the voice of the elements, and dreadful their revenge on their human antagonists! The thundering heavens, the r

death we do not much feel our hurts. These unhappy victims, frightened as they were, had managed to creep and hide behind the untouched portion of the bulwark, and happy to have escaped from immediate death, shelter

ble spectre. A demon with a cloudy head, rising from the darkness below, and with a swift and fearful gro

e. Upon the top of both boiler and tender, the coal-van had been turned upside down, and these had pulled all the carriages one on top of the other in the same way, so that the whole train stood

l who had escaped and hidden behind the bulwark came forth, creeping or running, shrieking and gesticulating, forgetful of their own danger and pitiful condition, thinking only of those dear lost ones there in that abode of hell, and maddened at the impossibility of rescuing them. It was a wild hurly-burly of voices and of tongu

ut of a window, and above them two strong, muscular, masculine arms tried with superhuman force to lift the iron weight above, to break a way at the top, until the blood flowed from the nails, and even these strong arms dropped down exhausted. Half-seen forms, mutilated, bleeding, were tearing with teeth and nails at their dreadful prison. Then for a while

en mètres below us, and we had not even a single rope or cord with which to hazard the experiment of descending. A young man, one of those few who had come forth unharmed, ran up and down the embankment, shouting madly for a rope, offering a

ere in that burning pyre, but horror had overpowered her reason. There she sat, caressing t

and wrists, and encircling his forehead. His forked beard and greasy side-locks dangled as he chanted his hymns, while his eyes, starting almost out of their sockets, were fixed upon one of the carriages. What did that car contain? His wife? His children? Or his

ks, cries, pray

th Mephisto beard and grey eyes. His sketch-book is open, and he is making a vivid sketch of the sens

here is another, a long-legged Englishman, standing with watch in hand, re

m with teeth and nails, biting his hands and tearing at his flesh, as he drags her close to him. At last he succeeds in joining both

n's sake, help me! I cannot bear with her any more. She wants to leap down a

re also uttered in the Polish language. She was his wife; her childr

ing gaze fixed itself in deadly hate upon my face, and her foaming lips cursed me for keeping her away from her children. As her husband carried her away, her curses pierced th

he night was all aglow with the glaring light, and still th

e black pine woods on the rocky wall of the mountain, and that small span of star-lit heaven above; all those frightened, maddened, running, crouching, cre

ar with its pile of stones, and then, with cat-like dexterity and desperate daring, he scrambled downward to the third carriage. Quickly he reached the spot, and the poor little gloved hands of his darling were thrown in ecstasy around his neck. Someone had drawn up the cord on which he had let himself down, fastened a stout iron rod to it, and suspended it carefully. Happily it reached him, and with its aid he made

had changed the scene again, and the you