But We Were Nervous Because We Had
Already Suffered From The Delays Of People At The Last Hotel Where Our
Motor-bus stopped to take up passengers; they lingered so long over
lunch that we were sure we should miss
The Sud-Express, and we did not
see how we could live in Escorial till the way-train started; yet for
all their delays we reached the station in time and more. The train
seemed strangely reduced in the number of its cars, but we confidently
started with others to board the nearest of them; there we were waved
violently away, and bidden get into the dining-car at the rear of the
train. In some dudgeon we obeyed, but we were glad to get away from
Escorial on any terms, and the dining-car was not bad, though it had a
somewhat disheveled air. We could only suppose that all the places in
the two other cars were taken, and we resigned ourselves to choosing the
least coffee-stained of the coffee-stained tables and ordered more
coffee at it. The waiter brought it as promptly as the conductor
collected our supplementary fare; he even made a feint of removing the
stains from our table-cloth with a flourish of his napkin, and then he
left us to our conjectures and reflections till he came for his pay and
his fee just before we ran into Madrid.
VI
The mystery persisted and it was only when our train paused in the
station that it was solved.
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