Lost in the Fog

CHAPTER I.

In one of the summer months of the year 185-, application was made to a great London Insurance company to insure the life of Mr. Andrew Macfarlane, of Raw Material street Manchester, for a very heavy sum.— Mr. Macfarlane was not a young man, being described as between forty and fifty, and the sum was of such an unusual amount that the company thought it necessary to use more than ordinary caution.— They therefore stipulated upon seeing the gentleman personally, and having him examined by two of their own medical men in their own office in London, in addition to the usual preliminary investigation. Mr. Macfarlane accordingly appeared one morning, looking a most robust and healthy middle aged gentleman, with a fine, broad, ruddy close shaven face and iron gray hair; the examination was pronounced satisfactory in the extreme. Mr. Macfarlane was a more than healthy person, and the policy was granted without delay.

One morning in November of the same year, London was shrouded in one of its densest fogs. The combination of smoke and vapor, to be met with in its full perfection in no other part of the globe, pervaded street and river. Fog had reigned supreme over the metropolis the whole of the previous day, and had become so thick at night that foot passengers had great difficulty in finding their way along the streets, the crossing of a wide street or square looked like diving into some dark and unexplored expanse; all landmarks were swept away, the lamps were scarcely visible  one from another; experienced Londoners found themselves turning the wrong corners, and the cabs and other vehicles had no chance of reaching their destinations, save by adhering to the curbstone.

The November morning newspapers bore witness to the dangers of accidents the previous day. As morning broke the fog seemed likely to rule another day: but as the sun… Read More