nes
or amusing themselves, not ill-naturedly at the distress of their
grand companions. Something considerable was happening. But they had
so long experienced the ups and downs of things that they were
prepared for what fortune might send. They had not expected to find a
Paradise where they were going, and one place might be as good as
another. They had nothing belonging to them except the clothes they
stood in and their bits of skill in their different trades. Wherever
men were, there would be need of cobblers, and tailors, and smiths,
and carpenters. If not, they might fall on their feet somehow, if
there was work to be done of any sort.

Presently a bell rang, a door was flung open, and we were ordered into
a waiting-room, where we were told that our luggage was to be
examined. It was a large, barely furnished apartment, like the _salle
d'attente_ at the Northern Railway Station at Paris. A rail ran
across, behind which we were all penned; opposite to us was the usual
long table, on which were piled boxes, bags, and portmanteaus, and
behind them stood a row of officials, in a plain uniform with gold
bands round their caps, and the dry peremptory manner which passengers
accustomed to deference so particularly dislike. At their backs was a
screen extending across the room, reaching half-way to the ceiling; in
the rear of it there was apparently an office.

We each looked to see that our particular belongings were safe, but we
were surprised to find that we could recognize none of them. Packages
there were in plenty, alleged to be the property of the passengers who
had come in by the train. They were arranged in the three
classes,--first, second, and third,--but the proportions were
inverted: most of it was labeled as the luggage of the travelers in
fustian, who had brought nothing with them but what they carried in
their hands; a moderate heap stood where the second-class luggage
should have been, and some of superior quality; but none of us could
make out the shapes of our own trunks. As to the grand ladies and
gentlemen, the innumerable articles which I had seen put as theirs
into the van were nowhere to be found. A few shawls and cloaks lay
upon the planks, and that was all. There was a loud outcry; but the
officials were accustomed to it, and took no notice. The
station-master, who was still in charge of us, said briefly that the
saloon luggage would be sent forward in the next train. The late
owners would have