Dr. Dumany's Wife

hom I had previously observed, s

derstand G

sir,

that shepherd

y eyed the scene as something that was of no co

riend" did not impress him at all; but when the Englishman s

e notice of the accident, and return with a relief train for succour. Tel

but who will take care

y goats

ix

he average pri

een f

. I give you one hundred francs-ten more than

his money and turned, when an idea struck him. "Could you

y for his goats, and tried to

lishman, "I will take car

y horn; the goats will get astray

, with admirable patience, and, taking the shepherd's crook a

ged example of phlegm and good sense sat down by the shepherd's fire, on ex

s they fell. The chill, keen, mountain air had become heavy and warm in spite of the winter, and a loathsome, penetrating odour arose and drove us away from the horrible place. No one remained but the Polish Jew. He did not move away. He had risen to his knees on the barricade wall, and his hands, with their prayer-bands, were uplifted to heaven. Louder and louder he chanted his hymns, raising his voice above the thundering roar of

life from such a horrid fate, it was impossible to venture among the falling cinders and rolling stones. All that the few of us who had esca

rn for the goats, and we thought it was the whistling of the expected train. How terribly that disappointment was felt! and what si

mselves before the open gate of Paradise? What had that unhappy mother done? or all these old and young men and women, in full health and spirits, enjoying life and happiness, surrounded by happy relatives, full of happy plans and hopes? What had they done to deserve this fate, those poor servants of the public convenience, the guards, the engineer, and the other officials, who could have saved their own lives easily, and in good time, if they had abandoned their fatal posts, and had not preferred to die in doing their duty? Why had not

nd have a heart for my brethren and a sense of their wrongs, why should I in this fatal instant, although full of pity and commiseration, yet inwardly re

e chosen ward of some guardian angel or tutelary spirit? In what am I different from those lost ones? In what better, wort

rs, arrived upon it. The train stopped at a safe distance, and then the work of rescue began. Wounds were dressed, the insensible restored, watchmen and travellers were interrogated by officials. Ropes and rope-ladders were fastened and suspended, and brave men, magnanim

best way in which a protecting barrier ought to be built so as to shut out every possibility of such an accide

t knowing my name, had described me as wearing an astrachan cap and coat-collar, and accordingly I was called "Monsieur d'Astrachan." Now for the first time I remembered the child

nage in showy uniform was expecting me quite impatiently. "Com

on. "Neither can I, for the boy is deaf and dumb; but I have to correct y

e is talking incessantly, only we can't make anything out of his

ruth of the old proverb, 'It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good.' Assure

it out. It's a language th

e that I shall be cle

d is it, if

ess told me, poor soul! We were thrown together by chance, and the poor woman

in and listen to him; perha

al women passengers were already snugly stowed away in the ambulance carriages and well taken care of. The goats were again under the protection of their l

ace lit up at once. He extended both his little arms in joy.

words, uttered in my own native Hungarian tongue! Just imagine the five-year-old son of a wealthy

ound my neck, and, leaning his soft cheek on my bearded face, he said agai

my child?" I asked.

he clapped his hands in gladness, and the

lver King,' and his name is

him very well. He is an American, and very rich. He lives mostly in Paris. If it is more co

ly to me. "Please, do not give me to him! I want t

case he could not have been deaf at all, but obstinate, hearing and refusing to talk. Was

g to the Englishman. "Ours is not a language generally spoken by f

u will be expected when you arrive in Paris, and have no further trouble. Since you are the only person able to talk to the boy, it will be certainly the best thing