of the intended execution. Thus far my dream gave me no intimation
of the horrible scene which next burst on me,--a scene which strained
to their utmost tension every sense of sight, hearing and touch,
in a manner unprecedented in any dream I have previously had.

It was night, dark and starless, and I found myself, together with
the whole company of doomed men and women who knew that they were
soon to die, but not how or where, in a railway train hurrying
through the darkness to some unknown destination. I sat in a
carriage quite at the rear end of the train, in a corner seat, and
was leaning out of the open window, peering into the darkness, when,
suddenly, a voice, which seemed to speak out of the air, said to
me in a low, distinct, in-tense tone, the mere recollection of which
makes me shudder,--"The sentence is being carried out even now.
You are all of you lost. Ahead of the train is a frightful precipice
of monstrous height, and at its base beats a fathomless sea. The
railway ends only with the abyss, Over that will the train hurl
itself into annihilation, There Is No One On The Engine!"

At this I sprang from my seat in horror, and looked round at the
faces of the persons in the carriage with me. No one of them had
spoken, or had heard those awful words. The lamplight from the
dome of the carriage flickered on the forms, about me. I looked
from one to the other, but saw no sign of alarm given by any of them.
Then again the voice out of the air spoke to me,--"There is but
one way to be saved. You must leap out of the train!"

In frantic haste I pushed open the carriage door and stepped out
on the footboard. The train was going at a terrific pace, swaying
to and fro as with the passion of its speed; and the mighty wind