out the case. "It's frightfully bad luck for me, but it makes a
good story. You see--"

At that moment the conductor and porter ceased their colloquy. The
conductor came directly toward me, tugging as he came at his
bristling gray mustache.

"I would like to talk to you in the car," he said to me, with a
curious glance at the young lady.

"Can't it wait?" I objected. "We are on our way to a cup of coffee
and a slice of bacon. Be merciful, as you are powerful."

"I'm afraid the breakfast will have to wait," he replied. "I won't
keep you long." There was a note of authority in his voice which
I resented; but, after all, the circumstances were unusual.

"We'll have to defer that cup of coffee for a while," I said to the
girl; "but don't despair; there's breakfast somewhere."

As we entered the car, she stood aside, but I felt rather than saw
that she followed us. I was surprised to see a half dozen men
gathered around the berth in which I had wakened, number seven. It
had not yet been made up.

As we passed along the aisle, I was conscious of a new expression
on the faces of the passengers. The tall woman who had fainted was
searching my face with narrowed eyes, while the stout woman of the
kindly heart avoided my gaze, and pretended to look out the window.