So I kept on, as rapidly as I could,
accompanied by the shrieks of those who objected
to witnessing a violent death, and I reached the end
of the trestle just as an express-train thundered on
the beginning of it. The next instant a policeman
had me by the shoulders and was shaking me as if
I had been a bad child.
``If you ever do such a thing again,'' he thundered,
``I'll lock you up!''
As soon as I could speak I assured him fervently
that I never would; one such experience was all I
desired.
Occasionally a flash of humor, conscious or un-
conscious, lit up the gloom of a trying situation.
Thus, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, the train I
was on ran into a coal-car. I was sitting in a sleep-
er, leaning back comfortably with my feet on the
seat in front of me, and the force of the collision lifted
me up, turned me completely over, and deposited
me, head first, two seats beyond. On every side I
heard cries and the crash of human bodies against
unyielding substances as my fellow-passengers flew
through the air, while high and clear above the
tumult rang the voice of the conductor:
``Keep your seats!'' he yelled. ``KEEP YOUR SEATS!''
Nobody in our car was seriously hurt; but, so
great is the power of vested authority, no one smiled
over that order but me.
Many times my medical experience was useful.
Once I was on a train which ran into a buggy and
killed the woman in it.
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