terested.

"That good fortune was brought about by one of those ill winds, which,
for the proverb's sake, must blow good to some one. It could not have
been accomplished by any effort of my own, for there was an air of quiet
dignity about the lady that no gentleman could have ventured to ruffle
by too marked observation, far less by presuming to address even a
passing remark. We were about half way between Philadelphia and
Baltimore, when suddenly a terrific shock was felt, followed by a
dashing of all humanity to one side of the cars, and a great crash. We
had run into another train, were thrown off the track, and, in a moment
more, upset."

"Since you were longing for excitement," observed Gaston, "this
agreeable little variety must have gratified you."

"Yes, it was well enough in its way, not being positively fatal to
existence. You may conceive the confusion and the difficulty of getting
upon one's feet. How the people scrambled out of the cars I do not
exactly know; for a short time I was too much stunned to see anything
distinctly. I remember nothing clearly until somebody helped me up, and,
in trying to move my left arm, I discovered that it was broken."

"How unfortunate! And you lost sight of the lady?"

"It would have been unfortunate if I _had_ lost sight of her; but I did
not. The passengers were huddled together in a most primitive inn by the
road-side. There I beheld her, moving about, quite unharmed, quieting a
child here, assisting a young mother there, doing something helpful
everywhere. There chanced to be a surgeon in the cars, who, happily, was
uninjured. He saw my predicament, for I was suffering confoundedly, and,
upon examining my arm, said that it must be set at once. He called upon
several persons to aid him. Some were too much occupied with their own
distress; some too bewildered; and some shrank from the task. But, to my
supreme joy (it was worth breaking an arm for such a piece of good
luck), the lady I just mentioned came forward, and offered her services!
She tore my handkerchief and her own into bandages, produced needle and
thread from her little travelling reticule, and sewed them together. She
assisted the surgeon in the most skilful but the calmest manner. What
could I do but express my gratitude? This was the opening to a
conversation. We were detained several hours at the inn before a train
arrived to take us on our journey. I had always detested these American
cars, where all