So, as we had bought an excellent supper in baskets, such as they
send you on the trains everywhere in England, and wished to eat
it in quiet, we sought out the guard who was lurking near for the
purpose, and bribed him to shut us into that compartment, and not
let any one else in. There we remained in darkness, with our
curtains drawn, and when, near train-time, the bicyclers began to
swarm about the carriages, we heard them demanding admittance to
our compartment from our faithful guard, if that is the right way
to call him. He turned them away with soft answers, answers so
very soft that we could not make out what he said, but he seemed
to be inviting them into other compartments, which he doubtless
pretended were better. The murmurs would die away, and then rise
again, and from time to time we knew that a baffled bicycler was
pulling at our door, or vainly bumping against it. We listened
with our hearts in our mouths; but no one got in, and the train
started, and we opened our baskets and began to eat and to drink,
like two aristocrats or plutocrats.
Pages:
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162