uarrelled with his parents in Johnstown and had not
seen them since. He was on the way now to see if anything was left of
them. One moment he was in maudlin tears and the next he was cracking
some miserable joke about the disaster. He went about the car shaking
dice with other inebriated passengers, and in the course of half an hour
had won $6. Over this he exhibited almost the glee of a maniac, and the
fate of his people was lost sight of. Then he would presently forget his
gains and go sobbing up the aisle looking for listeners to his pitiful
story.

There were two sinister looking Hungarians in the smoking car and their
presence excited the anger of a handful of drunken maniacs. They made
loud speeches, denouncing the conduct of Hungarians who robbed the
Johnstown dead, levelling their remarks at the particular two. As they
grew more excited they demanded that the passengers make a move and
lynch the fellows. A great deal of trouble would have ensued, doubtless,
if the train had not at that moment stopped at Sang Hollow, four miles
from Johnstown. The conductor shouted out that the passengers must leave
the car and walk along the track the remainder of the distance.

A Strange Procession.

We started out in the fast gathering darkness and the loiterers who held
back made a long string. The drunken ruffians staggered along the
tracks, howling with glee and talking about corpses, showing what their
object was in coming. The tired out and disheartened women crowded under
the shelter of the more respectable men. There was one member of the
Pennsylvania National Guard in the troop with his bayonet, and he seemed
to be the rallying point for the timid.

[Illustration: MAP OF THE DISTRICT SWEPT BY THE FLOOD.]

When the mob reached the outskirts of Johnstown they came across a
little camp of military with outposts. I had been told that soldiers
were keeping people who had no business there out of the lost city, and
to insure my passage through the lines I had procured an order from Mr.
McCreery, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Committee at Pittsburgh,
stating that I was entitled to go through. I knew that the drunken
lunatics behind me could have no such documents, and I imagined the
soldiers would stop them. Nothing of the kind happened. Whole troops
surged through the line. No passes were asked from them and they showed
none. They only quieted down for a moment when they saw the uniforms of
the National Guard.