Mary Roberts Rinehart

“ The trainman went on, lurching like a drunken man, down the track. A volunteer fire company was throwing a feeble, hissing stream into the midst of the fire, without effect.
A man, partly dressed, was coming alone up the track. He passed the trainman with a glance and kept on, but abreast of the man on the bank he stopped suddenly and looked at him. It required a second glance to recognize the altered face; but, apparently satisfied, he touched him on the shoulder. The man on the bank shifted his position uneasily, but without taking his eyes from, the gap in the flames. ”

“ The man on the bank groaned.
“I haven't the faintest hope,” he said drearily, covering his eyes. “I wish you would watch that gap for a while. I've looked for so long that I can't see anything now but dancing specks of fire.”
The big man affected cheerfulness.
“They'll come, sure,” he said, his eyes on the gap between the cars. “There's another old lady now, and a man. There must be doctors working on that side, too; the woman has a bandage on her head.”
The other looked up, then covered his eyes again. Beside them, on the track, a Pullman blanket lay smoking. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1958, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 65 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”