"Versailles station!" echoed Louis, with a sudden start. "Well, what has happened?"
"A frightful accident!"
"Great Heavens!" cried Louis, turning deathly pale. "But go on."
"The return train to Paris ran off the track, throwing the cars in a heap; and it is reported that all the passengers have either been crushed or burnt to death, and—"
But Louis stopped to hear no more. Rushing out, bareheaded as he was, he dashed down the street to the first corner, where he leaped into a cab, crying: "Twenty francs if you take me to the Versailles station at breakneck speed—and from there somewhere else—I don't know where; but in mercy, go!"
"Which side of the river, monsieur," asked the coachman, as he lashed his horse.
"What do you mean?"
"There are two stations. One on the right, the other on the left bank."
"I want to go where that terrible accident occurred."
"This is the first I hear of it, monsieur."