Page:Maud Howe - A Newport Aquarelle.djvu/196

 cramped limbs. The English lord was talking to the engineer of the train,—an intelligent Scot; and the stage-driver was introducing his pretty wife to the Pullman-car conductor, an important personage in the society of the Pacific Railroad.

This half-hour's chat with the officials on the train, and those among the passengers who are desirous of deriving information or willing to impart the latest news from either coast, is one of the most important events in the day to many of the dwellers by the iron roadway. This link betwixt them and the civilization in which there was no room for them lessens immeasurably their sense of isolation.

But now the whistle of the engine warned the travellers that the time had come when they must again take up the thread of their journey.

Farwell bade farewell to the commercial gentleman, thanking him for his information. He stepped upon the back platform of the