en again, and put
out the fire as before. Again all the men rushed out: even the
half-torpid negro in the corner became excited and followed the
procession of males, while we "womanites" waited in patience for the
sequel of the calamity.

It was now three o'clock in the afternoon, and the short winter day was
drawing near its close. The frequent opening and shutting of the door
had replaced the heavy atmosphere with a stream of cold air, at first
very refreshing, but soon uncomfortably cool, especially as the stove
had for some time ceased to give out heat, the negro, with the
improvidence that characterizes his race, having burned up the fuel as
fast as possible, without taking into account the probability of
detention. We began, too, to be dreadfully hungry, and not one of us had
brought any lunch, as we had fully expected to arrive at the end of the
railway-journey by dinner-time. To crown our miseries, the sky, which
had lowered above us gray and heavy all day, began to relieve itself in
a thick fall of snow.

The widow vented her discomfort in a monotonous grumble; the cheery
little milliner, who knew the road of old, kept up a hopeful prophesying
that we should come out all right; as for myself, I was young enough to
enjoy anything in the shape of an adventure, although this part of our
experience began after a time to seem rather tedious.

At last we heard our fellow-passengers approaching, all talking together
and apparently much excited. They brought bad news. The old engine could
not be properly mended, and it was useless to try to fire up again; we
had come only six miles, and it was twelve miles farther to the nearest
station; the conductor and engineer had decided to go on, to prevent the
evening train from starting, and to obtain another engine to remove our
train; but considering the distance they must go, and the heavy storm
that was coming on, they could not probably get back before morning. So
there we were, on a high ridge of road just wide enough to hold the
track; a mountain on one side of us and a deep river on the other; no
house in sight, and no way of getting at it if there had been one; our
fire gone out; nothing to eat or drink; night coming on, and the snow
falling as it seems to me I never saw it fall before or since.

The hunters made short work of the problem. They decided to follow the
train-hands to the next village, twelve miles off; so they picked up
their guns and knapsacks, and s