done before those who take their meals, and can slip back into the cars
again quick and keep your corner seat. There ain't much ceremony in
emigrant trains, and it is first come first served."

"How long shall we be in getting to Denver?"

"It will be fully a week, but there ain't any saying to a day. The
emigrant trains just jog along as they can between the freight trains
and the fast ones, and get shunted off a bit to let the expresses pass
them."

Thanking the official for his advice, Tom took his ticket, registered
his trunk, and then went out and strolled about the streets of New York
until three o'clock. He took the advice as to provisions, and getting a
small hamper laid in a stock of food sufficient for three or four days.
The platform from which the train was to start was already occupied by a
considerable number of emigrants, but when the train came up he was able
to secure a corner seat. The cars were all packed with their full
complement of passengers. They were open from end to end, with a passage
down the middle. Other cars were added as the train filled up, but not
until all the places were already occupied. The majority of the
passengers were men, but there were a considerable number of women, and
still more children; and Tom congratulated himself on learning from the
conversation of those around him that a good many were not going beyond
Chicago, and that almost all would leave the train at stations between
that place and Omaha.

The journey to Chicago was the most unpleasant experience Tom had ever
gone through. The heat, the dust, and the close confinement seemed to
tell on the tempers of everyone. The children fidgeted perpetually, the