His body and feet fell into the water while his head buried itself in the soft clay bed.
The train was speeding on and Belton eventually succeeded in extricating himself from his bed of mud and water.

Covered from head to foot with red clay, the president-elect of Cadeville College walked down to the next station, two miles away.

There he found his satchel, left by the conductor of the train.

He remained at this station until the afternoon, when another train passed.

This time he entered the second-class coach and rode unmolested to Monroe, Louisiana.