The Mysteries of the Court of London, Vol. 7 — page 208: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

i 2, eee THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. ' pomerous deaths, as well as frightful injuries, mu- tilations, and contusions, were the consequence. The gentleman whom Lettice found bending ever her, was a surgeon who happened to be in the ill-fated train; and as he was unburt, he bad rendered all possible assistance to those. who, though escaping death, were otherwise fortunate than himeelf. Lettice bed been menxely stunned by the first shook of the accident: she was in all other reapeots completely wninjured ; and in a few minytes after her return to conscious- ness, she was enabled to rise and move about, The scene which presented, itself to her conterm- plation, was a frightful and a sad one. The line was encumbered in one part with the overturned earriages—aryi in another strown with the frag- ments of the ahattered ones. Boxes, trunks, and portmanteaux were heaped pell-mell together,— some having been broken open by the fall, and the articles of apparel, both male and female, dll cast out and mixed together. On the alope of the embankment several wounded persons lay hero and there; and in another part there was a horrible array of mutilated and disfigured corpses. As the eyes of Lettice wandered over thie fearful grouping of the -dead, her heart sickened within her, and she felt her brain reel, on catching sight of the apparel of her travelling-companion, the unfortunate Mrs. Rayner. Yes—bat it wae only by the raiment that the deceased oould be thus recognised : for her countenance was 90 horribly disfigured *that scarcely a lineament, much less a trace of its former beauty, remained. Lettico— though, as the reader is aware, far from possessing any extreme sensibility—was nevertheless shocked and horrified at this tragic occurrence which had thue cut off an amiable lady in the bloom of her youth as wellas in the early summer of her beauty, and at the very time ahe was on her way to re- ceive the inheritance bequeathed by her parents. Lettice staggered back as she averted her eyes from the shocking spectacle, and would have fallen if she had not been caught in the arms of the surgeon who waa etill near her. Those who have been unfortunate enough to witness a ternfie railway accident, ere but too painfully aware of the dread confusion which is euperadded to the horror of the ssene; and those who have been happy enough to escape such a spectacle, may neverthelese grasp with ¢heir imagination the full range of its supervening eir- cumatances. The moans of the wounded sufferers mingling with the shrieks, the cries, and lamentations of relatives who bave survived the dead—the hurrying to and fro of halfdismsayed officials—the process of disencumbering the line as speedily as possible—and the flocking of persons to the spot, when the accident occute in the close vicinage of a town,—theso are the salient characteristics of the scene following upon the | appalling drama. And eo it all was on the pre- sent occasion. But it does not suit the purpose | of our tale to dwell at any greater length thereon ; suffice it to say that the surgeon who had hitherto shown so much attention to Lettice Rodney, now advised her to enter .one of the vebicles which were by this time near the spot, and proceed to the town which was at no great distance. He assured her that she must not think of continuing her journey until the morrow; for that at least a eee rece tape a eA cr PE eS A ES 197 good night's rest was requisite after ¢he shock which she had experienced, and which, unlese she wae careful, might be followed by concussion of the brain. She did indeed feel like une bewildered and whose thoughts were all in confusion. The medical man wea kind and attontive: he gave her his arm, and conducted her towards the piles of luggage that she might select her own boxes. ‘Here again was @ fresh source of bewilderment for Lettice Rodney: for she beheld some of her ‘own dreases and other articles of apparel scattered fabout. The . assistert her to separate them from the rest with which they were mixed up; and on learning from her what her name was, ho took the trouble to search for everything which was marked with the initials L. RB. In shor im, ie ge 1 cee od | after much trouble, perplexity, and confusion, the | good-natured surgeon succeeded in filling a couple of boxes the lide of which were broken off, with those effects which Lettioe had either been enabled to point out, or which he himself conceived to belong to her from the indications already mon- tioned: then, having esan her eafe into a velficle, together with her baggage, be took his leave,— hastening to render bie assistance to the next | sufferer who required it. Lettice Rodney wae borne to the principal hotel in the towm near to the spot where the accident occurred; and feeling exceedingly unwell, she at once retired to bed. It was not antil the third day after the accident that the effects of the shock began to wear off. It had been followed, as the medical man wore than half predicted, by alight concussion, evidenced in a certain ringing in the ears and a continuous droning eound in the brain, as well as by heaviness of the head and confusion of the thoughts. During these three days, there- fore, Lettice kept her bed, and was attended upon by a surgeon living in the town, . When however she began to get better, she felt anxiwus arn aome particulars as to the results of the accident ; and « Jocal newapaper was accordingly furnished her. The partioulars of the tragio occurrence iteelf, as well as of the proceedings before the Coroner, were given with the wonted minuteness uf detail; and in perusing the sad narrative, Lettice obterved that the names of all the killed were given. with the exception of one lady, ‘who was represeuted as being altogether unknown. It ap- pearad, indeed, that she bad no card.case with her ; nor about her person was there discovered any letter or otber ducument affording the slightest clue to the establishment of her identity. Now, as the name of Mrs. Rayner was altogether omitted from the list of killed, Letticee Rodney at once comprehended that it was this very name which ought to fill up the blank left in the esd catalogue, and that the unknown lady thus described was none other than her travelling-companion ! Lettice was g up her mind to give this information to the landlord of the hotel, or to the surgeon who wes attending apon her, with a view to have it conveyed to the proper quarter,— when ahe began the tnepection of her trunks for the first time since she became an inmate of that hotel, She now discovered that there was a variety of articles of linen which did not belong to her, mixed up with those effects which were really her own: but when she perceived that the former were all marked with the initials L. B., she bebeld the COMIC OOO© (C SS CO