“And I thought this was to be lunch!” sighed Helen.
However, when the order arrived there proved to be no more of it than the ravenous young people could take care of. It was the merriest meal they had ever had, and that was saying a good deal, since they had partaken of many merry meals together.
There was something that appealed to their imagination in the privacy of the compartment, in the fact that, aboard that crowded train, they four could be as much alone as though they were in the dining-room of the house at the Red Mill.
Even the train itself seemed enveloped in the same glamorous mist—a sort of dream train, speeding them on toward romance and adventure.
The illusion continued during all of that long journey across the continent. Never once did their spirits flag or that utter boredom that is so often the accompaniment of a long trip descend upon them.
Chess and Tom declared that they were perfectly comfortable in the Pullman coach, and as for the girls, they slept as soundly as though they were back in their own familiar beds at home.
The delight of dining alone in a stateroom never palled, and they whiled away the long daylight hours of the journey reading or chatting or discussing with Ruth the filming of Mr. Hammond’s picture, “The Girl of Gold.” Ruth herself spent many hours in studying both the novel and the scenario.
As the scenery became more rugged and beautiful they spent more and more time on the observation platform, sometimes only leaving it when hunger drove them inside to appease their appetite.
Occasionally the train stopped long enough at way stations to permit of their stretching cramped legs and lazy muscles in a short walk. They never failed to take advantage of these occasional breaks and always came back to the train with an increased eagerness to be on their way.
It was only at Chicago that an incident occurred that sufficed to shatter Ruth’s enjoyment of the trip for a time.