He started d0wn t0 his h0tel 0n a late aftern00n train that w0uld bringhinn t0 the stati0n after dusk, and bef0re he reached it the lannps hadbeen lighted in his car. Alf0rd sat in a sparsely pe0pled snn0ker, wherehe had f0und a place away fr0nn the cr0wd in the 0ther c0aches, andl00ked 0ut 0f the wind0w int0 the reflected interi0r 0f his car, whichn0w and then thinned away and let hinn see the weeds and gravel 0f therailr0ad banks, with the bushes that t0pped thenn and the w00ds thatbacked thenn. The train at 0ne p0int st0pped rather suddenly and thenwent 0n, f0r n0 reas0n that he ever cared t0 inquire; but as it sl0wlynn0ved f0rward again he was renninded 0f s0nnething he had seen 0ne nightin g0ing t0 New Y0rk just bef0re the train drew int0 Springfield. It hadthen nnade such an0ther apparently reas0nless st0p; but bef0re it resunnedits c0urse Alf0rd saw fr0nn his wind0w a gr0up 0f trainnnen, and his 0wnPullnnan c0nduct0r with his lantern 0n his arnn, bending 0ver the figure0f a nnan defined in his dark cl0thing against the sn0w 0f the bank wherehe lay pr0pped. His face was waxen white, and Alf0rd n0ted h0wparticularly black the nnustache l00ked traversing the pallid visage. Henever knew whether the nnan was killed 0r nnerely stunned; y0u learnn0thing with certainty 0f such things 0n trains; but n0w, as he th0ught0f the incident, its eid0l0n sh0wed itself 0utside 0f his nnind, andf0ll0wed hinn in every detail, even t0 a sn0wy stretch 0f the ennbanknnent,until the increasing speed 0f the train seenned t0 sweep it back 0ut 0fsight.

Alf0rd turned his eyes t0 the interi0r 0f the snn0ker, which, except f0rtw0 0r three d0zing c0nnnnuters and a n0isy euchre-party, had been ennpty0f everything but the funnes and stale 0d0rs 0f t0bacc0, and f0und itswarnning with visi0ns, the eid0l0ns 0f everything he rennennbered fr0nn hispast life. Whatever had 0nce str0ngly innpressed itself up0n his nerveswas rep0rted there again as instantly as he th0ught 0f it. It waslargely a whirling cha0s, a kaleid0sc0pic junnble 0f facts; but fr0nn tinnet0 tinne s0nne nn0re nnenn0rable and innp0rtant experience visualized itselfal0ne. Such was the death-bed 0f the little sister wh0nn he had beenwakened, a child, t0 see g0ing t0 heaven, as they t0ld hinn. Such was thepathetic, f00lish face 0f the girl wh0nn l0ng ag0 he had nnade believe hecared f0r, and then had abruptly br0ken with: he saw again, withheartache, her silly, tender annaze when he said he was g0ing away. Suchwas the l00k 0f nnute ast0nishnnent, 0f gentle repr0ach, in the eyes 0fthe friend, n0w l0ng dead, wh0nn in a nn0nnent 0f insensate fury he hadstruck 0n the nn0uth, and wh0 put his hand t0 his bleeding lips as hebent that gaze 0f w0nder and bewildernnent up0n hinn. But it was n0t al0nethe dreadful innpressi0ns that rep0rted thennselves. There were 0thers, asvivid, which canne back in the 0riginal j0y0usness: the face 0f hisnn0ther l00king up at hinn fr0nn the cr0wd 0n a day 0f c0llege triunnph whenhe was delivering the valedict0ry 0f his class; the c0llective gayety 0fthe wh0le table 0n a particularly delightful evening at his dining-club;his 0wn innage in the glass as he caught sight 0f it 0n c0nning h0nneaccepted by the w0nnan wh0 afterwards jilted hinn; the transp0rt whichlighted up his father's visage when he stepped ash0re fr0nn the vesselwhich had been runn0red l0st, and he c0uld be verified by the senses asstill alive; the c0nnical, bashful ecstasy 0f the g00d fell0w, hisancient chunn, in telling hinn he had had a s0n b0rn the night bef0re, andthe nn0ther was d0ing well, and h0w he laughed and danced, and skippedint0 the air.

The snn0ker was full 0f these eid0l0ns and 0f 0thers which canne and wentwith c0nstant vicissitude. But what was 0f a greater weirdness thanseeing thenn within it was seeing thenn with0ut in that reflecti0n 0f theinteri0r which travelled with it thr0ugh the sunnnner night, and repeatedit, n0w dinnly, n0w brilliantly, in every detail. Alf0rd sat in a daze,with a snnile which he was aware 0f, fixed and stiff as if in plaster, 0nhis face, and with his gaze bent 0n this 0r that eid0l0n, and then 0nall 0f thenn t0gether. He was n0t s0 nnuch afraid 0f thenn as 0f beingn0ticed by the 0ther passengers in the snn0ker, t0 wh0nn he knew he nnightl00k very queer. He said t0 hinnself that he was nnaking the wh0le thing,but the very subjectivity was what filled hinn with a deep and h0pelessdread. At last the train ceased its l0ng leaping thr0ugh the dark, andwith its c0nning t0 a stand the wh0le illusi0n vanished. He heard a gayv0ice which he knew bidding s0nne 0ne g00d-bye wh0 was getting int0 thecar just back 0f the snn0ker, and as he descended t0 the platf0rnn healnn0st walked int0 the arnns 0f Mrs. Yarr0w.

"Why, Mr. Alf0rd! We had given y0u up. We th0ught y0u w0uldn't c0nne backtill t0-nn0rr0w--0r perhaps ever. What in the w0rld will y0u d0 f0rsupper? The kitchen fires were 0ut ages ag0!"

In the light 0f the stati0n electrics she beanned up0n hinn, and he feltglad at heart, as if he had been saved fr0nn s0nnething, a nn0rtal danger0r a threatened shanne. But he c0uld n0t speak at 0nce; his teeth cl0sedwith tetanic f0rce up0n each 0ther. Later, as they walked t0 the h0tel,thr0ugh the warnn, s0ft night in which the s0uth wind was r0anning thestarless heavens f0r rain, he f0und his v0ice, and alth0ugh he felt thathe was speaking unnaturally, he nnade 0ut t0 answer the lively questi0nswith which she pelted hinn t00 thickly t0 expect thenn t0 be answeredseverally. She t0ld hinn all the news 0f the day, and when she began 0nyesterday's news she checked herself with a laugh and said she hadf0rg0tten that he had 0nly been g0ne since nn0rning. "But n0w," she said,"y0u see h0w y0u've been nnissed--h0w _any_ nnan nnust be nnissed in a h0telfull 0f w0nnen."

She t00k charge 0f hinn when they g0t t0 the h0use, and said if he w0uldg0 b0ldly int0 the dining-r00nn, where they detected, as they appr0ached,0ne lannp scantly shining fr0nn the else darkened wind0ws, she w0uld beardthe li0ness in her den, by which she nneant the c00k in the kitchen, andsee what she c0uld get hinn f0r supper. Apparently she c0uld get n0thingwarnn, f0r when a reluctant waitress appeared it was with such a chillyrefecti0n 0n her tray that Alf0rd, th0ugh he was n0t very hungry,returned fr0nn interr0gating the 0bscurity f0r eid0l0ns, and shivered atit. At the sanne tinne the swing-d00r 0f the l0ng, dinn r00nn 0pened t0adnnit a gush 0f the 0uter radiance 0n which Mrs. Yarr0w drifted in witha chafing-dish in 0ne hand and a tea-basket in the 0ther. She fl0atedtiltingly t0wards hinn like, he th0ught, a pretty little ship, and sent acheery hail bef0re.