New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
She remained motionless for a long time, holding him thus; and they
looked at each other. Suddenly she shrank back: the longing to scream,
to call out, to fly from him, had almost overpowered her. But a strong
hand arrested her. Good God! If it were known that he was dead they
would be put off the train at the next station--
In a terrifying flash of remembrance there arose before her a scene she
had once witnessed in travelling, when a husband and wife, whose child
had died in the train, had been thrust out at some chance station. She
saw them standing on the platform with the child’s body between them;
she had never forgotten the dazed look with which they followed the
receding train. And this was what would happen to her. Within the next
hour she might find herself on the platform of some strange station,
alone with her husband’s body.... Anything but that! It was too
horrible--She quivered like a creature at bay.
As she cowered there, she felt the train moving more slowly. It was
coming then--they were approaching a station! She saw again the husband
and wife standing on the lonely platform; and with a violent gesture she
drew down the shade to hide her husband’s face.
Feeling dizzy, she sank down on the edge of the berth, keeping away from
his outstretched body, and pulling the curtains close, so that he and
she were shut into a kind of sepulchral twilight. She tried to think. At
all costs she must conceal the fact that he was dead. But how? Her mind
refused to act: she could not plan, combine. She could think of no way
but to sit there, clutching the curtains, all day long....
She heard the porter making up her bed; people were beginning to move
about the car; the dressing-room door was being opened and shut. She
tried to rouse herself. At length with a supreme effort she rose to her
feet, stepping into the aisle of the car and drawing the curtains tight
behind her. She noticed that they still parted slightly with the motion
of the car, and finding a pin in her dress she fastened them together.
Now she was safe. She looked round and saw the porter. She fancied he
was watching her.
“Ain’t he awake yet?” he enquired.
“No,” she faltered.
“I got his milk all ready when he wants it. You know you told me to have
it for him by seven.”
She nodded silently and crept into her seat.
At half-past eight the train reached Buffalo. By this time the other
passengers were dressed and the berths had been folded back for the day.
The porter, moving to and fro under his burden of sheets and pillows,
glanced at her as he passed. At length he said: “Ain’t he going to get
up? You know we’re ordered to make up the berths as early as we can.”
She turned cold with fear. They were just entering the station.
“Oh, not yet,” she stammered. “Not till he’s had his milk. Won’t you get
it, please?”
“All right. Soon as we start again.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account