At Last, After Hunting About And
Asking, Everyone, It Turned Up, And Was Very Satisfactory.
Two men were
there to wait on us, and it was well provisioned, and we set off about
an hour and-half late, but no one minds such a trifle in these parts.
At
first the line was fairly straight and smooth, but then the country
became wonderfully wild, with rocky hills covered with stumpy trees and
undergrowth of brilliant colouring, and wooded lakes without end. In and
out we wound, sometimes over most light and primitive bridges, and over
high embankments, often running along the margin of the lakes,
consisting of loose sand, which frequently rolled down the sides as we
went over them. It rained nearly all day, and towards night it poured
and was pitch dark. I was just undressed, and congratulating myself that
we had been standing still at a station, and so I had been able to do it
comfortably, and just got into my sofa bed, with Dick and Hedley
opposite me behind their curtains, when we set off, and in a few minutes
I felt a violent concussion; so many jerks come in common course that I
was not frightened, but we stopped, and then our head man came to the
door and said with dignity, "I think it right to announce to you, my
lady, that an accident has happened." "What is it?" "The engine went
over a culvert bridge all right, but the baggage wagon next to it fell,
down off the line, and as we were going slowly they put on the brake and
no other carriage followed." "Can we go on to-night?" "Oh no, the
roadway is broken up." This was a shock to my nerves, but at any rate we
were safe for the night, and after running in and telling John and E - -,
we soon all fell asleep.
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