The train was speeding along and Belton was quietly reading a newspaper.

Now and then he would look out of a window at the pine tree forest near the track.

The bed of the railway had been elevated some two or three feet above the ground, and to get the dirt necessary to elevate it a sort of trench had been dug, and ran along beside the track.

The rain had been falling very copiously for the two or three days previous, and the ditch was full of muddy water.

Belton's eyes would now and then fall on this water as they sped along.
In the meanwhile the train began to get full, passengers getting on at each station.