22 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES 



the roll; and the conductor stood directly beneath me, 

 his lantern shining full in my face as he marked his 

 list. He seemed well satisfied when he got through, 

 and the boys let me down, to my great relief. Soon 

 after I took out my clarinet again, and commenced 

 playing, and the whole car joined in. I never remember 

 to have heard our popular airs sung in a more spirited 

 manner. We kept it up until late at night, and my trip 

 began to assume the aspect of a picnic rather than a 

 long and tedious journey. At length the singing 

 ceased, and we were making preparations for sleep, 

 when with a tremendous bang and crash we were all 

 hurled from our seats in great confusion about the 

 car. I scrambled to my feet, to find the train at a 

 standstill. I had a vague sense that I was badly 

 bruised, and that my nose was bleeding. The lights 

 were all out, and the car was filled with excited soldiers : 

 there was a mingled discord of prayers, oaths, and 

 groans, indescribably ludicrous even under these cir- 

 cumstances. Some one with a strong, clear voice 

 shouted, " Fifteen minutes for refreshments." I groped 

 my way to the end of the car, which was entirely 

 smashed in, jumped on the ground, and went forward. 

 Everything was in confusion : the passenger car just in 

 front of ours was lying partly on one side, and the bag- 

 gage and express cars were little more than shattered 

 frames. We had run into a freight train, and our 

 engine had knocked nearly every car off the track : 



