Dave shook his head. “It won’t do, Roger. I know Laura and Jessie too well. They would want to make sure that the folks at home knew where they were. And they would send us word too. Besides that, they wouldn’t go off on any extended trip, such as you mention, unless they had permission from my father and Mrs. Wadsworth.”
All through the morning the two young civil engineers discussed the situation from every possible angle, but without arriving at any satisfactory conclusion. At noon they partook of lunch in the dining-car, making this repast last as long as possible, “just to kill time,” as Roger expressed it.
“It’s going to be a long-winded trip,” sighed the senator’s son, after they had finished their meal and had walked back to the end of the observation car.
“Well, we’ve got to make the best of it, Roger,” was Dave’s reply. “Ordinarily such a trip as this would be fine. Think of what grand scenery there is to look at!” and he pointed out with a sweep of his hand.
The long train rumbled onward hour after hour, and the two youths passed the time as best they could, talking, looking at the scenery, and reading the various papers and magazines contained in the car library. At seven o’clock they had dinner, and then sat outside once again until it grew so dark that nothing could be seen.
“Well, we might as well go to bed,” remarked Dave finally. “Which berth do you want, Roger—the upper or the lower?”
“It is immaterial to me, Dave,” was the answer. “To tell the truth, I don’t think I’m going to do much sleeping.”
“We’ll toss up for it,” was the answer. And the toss of the coin gave Dave the lower berth.
It proved to be a long, wearisome night for both of them. Dave tumbled and tossed on his pillow, trying in a hundred ways to account for the mysterious disappearance of his sister and Jessie. Were they captives of the gypsies? Or had some other dreadful fate overtaken them? Then, at a sudden thought, Dave sat up in his berth so quickly that he hit his head on the bottom of the berth above.
“I wonder if it’s possible,” he murmured to himself.