A Romance in Transit Read online

  II

  THE "PERSONALLY CONDUCTED"

  In view of the certain proximity of Miss Gertrude Vennor, Brockwaywanted nothing so much as a quiet opportunity to think his mind clear inthe matter of his love-affair, but time and place were both denied him.Lying in wait for him at the very door of the Tadmor was a thin oldgentleman, with hock-bottle shoulders and penthoused eyes. His voice washigh-pitched and rasping; and his speech was petulance grown old andunreasoning.

  "Mr. ah--Brockway, I protest! Do you consider it fair to us, yourpatrons, to absent yourself for the ah--better part of the morning? HereI've been waiting for you more than an hour, sir, and----"

  "I beg your pardon, Mr. Jordan; I'm sorry," Brockway cut in. "What can Ido for you?"

  "You can attend to your ah--business a little closer, for one thing, Mr.ah--Brockway," quavered the aggrieved one, taking a yard-long couponticket from his breast-pocket; "and for another, you can give me thesixty days going limit on this ticket that I ah--stipulated for when Ibought it, sir."

  Brockway glanced at the ticket and called attention to the conditions inthe contract. "The going limit of thirty days is plainly stated here,Mr. Jordan. Didn't you read the contract before signing it?"

  "Don't make any difference, sir; I ah--stipulated for sixty days, and Irequire you to make the stipulation ah--good, sir."

  "But, my dear sir, I can't. No representative of any one of the linesinterested is authorized to change these conditions."

  "Very well, sir; v-e-r-y well." The irascible one folded the ticket withtremulous fingers and sought to replace it in his pocket-book. "I shallknow what road to ah--patronize next time, and it won't be yours, Mr.ah--Brockway; you may depend upon that, sir."

  The passenger agent's forte was placability. "Don't worry about yourticket, Mr. Jordan," he said. "We'll take good care of you, and if youshould happen to be more than thirty days in reaching Los Angeles----"

  "Thirty days!" gasped the objector. "Great ah--heavens, sir, you told usyou could put us there in ah--four days and a half!"

  "So I did, and so we shall, barring the stop-overs the party may wish tomake; but in that case I don't see why you should require a sixty-daylimit," said Brockway, with an affable smile.

  By this time quite a little group had gathered around them, and anxiousqueries began to beat thick and fast upon Brockway's ears.

  "What's that about our tickets?"

  "Thirty days, did you say?"

  "Can't have stop-overs?"

  Brockway got upon his feet. "One moment, if you please," he protested."There is nothing wrong--nothing different. Mr. Jordan and I were merelydiscussing the question of an extra limit on his own ticket; that wasall."

  "Oh."

  "Ah."

  "Where do we get dinner?"

  "What time do we reach Denver?"

  "Is there a dining-car on this train?"

  Brockway answered the inquiries in sequence, and when the norm of quietwas restored, a soft-spoken little gentleman in a grass-cloth duster anda velvet skull-cap drew him away to the smoking-compartment.

  "Let's go and smoke," he said; and Brockway went willingly, inasmuch asthe little gentleman with the womanish face and the ready cigar-case wasthe only person in the party who seemed to be capable of travellingwithout a guardian.

  "Worry the life out of you, don't they, my boy," said the comforter,when his cigar was alight.

  "Oh, no; I'm well used to it."

  "I presume you are, in a way. Still, some of the complaints are soridiculous. I suppose you've heard the latest?"

  "Nothing later than Mr. Jordan's demand for sixty days in which tocomplete a week's journey."

  "Oh, it isn't that; that's an individual grievance. The other involvesthe entire party. Of course, you are aware that the Tadmor is no longerthe rear car in the train?"

  "Oh, Lord! are they going to fight about that?"

  "Unquestionably. Didn't you promise some of them that this particularchariot should be at the tail-end of the trans-continental procession?"

  "No. It was merely an answer to a question. I said that extra cars wereusually put on behind. Are they going to demand it as a right?"

  "Yes; I believe the deputation is waiting for you now."

  "Heavens--what a lot of cranks!" said Brockway, despairingly. "The thingcan't be done, but I may as well go and fight it out."

  The deputation was in section six, and one of the committee rose andgave him a seat.

  "There is a little matter we should like to have adjusted," began thecourteous one; but Brockway interrupted.

  "Mr. Somers was just telling me about it. I hope you are not going toinsist----"

  There were two elderly ladies on the committee, and they protested asone person.

  "Now, Mr. Brockway! You know we made it a positive condition--so wecould go out on the platform and see the scenery."

  "But, my dear madam, let me explain----"

  "There is nothing to explain; it was an explicit promise, and we insiston its fulfilment."

  "Just one word," Brockway pleaded. "The car behind us is our GeneralManager's private car, lent to President Vennor, of the Colorado andUtah. If we should put it ahead of this, Mr. Vennor's party would becontinually disturbed by the passengers and train-men going back andforth. Don't you see----"

  The fourth member of the deputation put in his word at this.

  "How long has it been since the railway companies began to put theconvenience of their guests before the rights of their patrons, Mr.Brockway? Answer me that, if you please."

  "I should like to know!" declared one of the ladies. "_We_ have paid forour accommodations."

  The courteous one summed up the matter in set phrase.

  "It's no use, Mr. Brockway, as you see. If you don't carry out your partof the agreement, I'm afraid we shall have to telegraph to yoursuperiors."

  For a moment Brockway was tempted to answer four fools according totheir folly. Then he bethought him that he had but now been seeking apretext which would open the door of the private car. Here was amakeshift; a poor one, to be sure, but better than none. Wherefore,instead of quarrelling with the deputation, he rose with placatoryphrases in his mouth.

  "Very well; I'll see what can be done. But you must give me a littletime; the scenery--" pointing to the monotonous landscape circlingslowly with the onward sweep of the train--"is not exactly of therear-platform variety yet."

  After which he retreated to the rear vestibule of the Tadmor and stoodlooking out through the glass panel in the door at the hamper-ladenfront platform of the Naught-fifty, trying to muster courage to take thechilling plunge. For he knew that the year agone episode was notaltogether pleasing to the father of Miss Gertrude Vennor.