"Any one alive here ?" "I'm all right," Gerald muttered, "at least, I suppose I am.

What's it all--what's it all about?
We've had an accident." The porter caught hold of a piece of the wreckage with which to steady himself.
"Your train ran right into three feet of water," he answered.

"The rails had gone--torn up.

The telegraph line's down." "Why didn't you stop the train ?" "We were doing all we could," the man retorted gloomily.

"We weren't expecting anything else through to-night.