She was drawn out from under the débris of the shattered car by an elderly gentleman, who had occupied the section opposite the one she had taken, and who had been irresistibly attracted by the fair, delicate girl who seemed to be traveling alone, and was so overcome by excessive weariness.
For hours he had watched her, strangely fascinated by her beauty and the exquisite picture she made, with her refined face outlined against, and her golden hair contrasting so effectively with, the dark-blue cushion of her seat. His first thought was of her when, after the first terrible shock of the accident, he recovered from his own half-stunned condition to find that, except for some severe bruises and one or two cuts, he was unharmed—a fact which seemed almost a miracle, in view of the demolished condition of that portion of the car.
He drew her from under the seat—which had fallen over and partially protected her—as carefully and tenderly as he was able, and he felt sure, as he observed the peaceful expression on the colorless face, that that cruel blow on her head had come so suddenly that she had not even been aroused from her slumber.
“She was too young and beautiful to die like this,” the man muttered, with something very like a sob, as he gently deposited his burden upon a plot of grass, straightened the graceful figure, and clasped the slender hands upon the pulseless breast, covering the lovely face with a spotless handkerchief of his own.
Then he remembered that he had seen a hand-bag on the seat with her, and he went back to the car to search for it. He finally found it under the forward end of the wreck, which had been driven backward several rods by the fatal shock that had demolished it before it left the track.
The receptacle was crushed, and the articles it had contained were scattered about.
He gathered up what he could find—a purse, a little package of dainty handkerchiefs wrapped in tissue-paper, a golden vinaigrette, and a comb of tortoise-shell.
He then went back and sat down beside his charge, and opened the purse, in the hope of finding some name or address by which he could identify her.
He found a roll of bills amounting to quite a generous sum, some pieces of silver, a key, a gold glove-buttoner, and a baggage-check, but there was no card, not even a scrap of paper, to give him the slightest clue to the unfortunate girl’s identity.