“Then whatever are we going to do about tickets?” asked Marjorie, anxiously, for the trip to the Crystal Palace seemed to afford such an excellent opportunity of getting home again that she was anxious not to miss it.
“He may be back before the train comes in,” said the Archæopteryx; “there doesn’t seem to be one in sight, and we often have to wait weeks and weeks for a train here, you know.”
“But what was he ringing the bell for, then?” inquired Dick, “if the train isn’t coming in.”
“I seed some smoke awhile ago, over yonder,” said the Porter, “and I thought maybe ”tmight be th” train, but like as not it isn’t.”
“Then we have had this long run for nothing,” complained the Dodo, breathlessly.
“Calm yourself, my dear Sir,” said the Doctor, patting him on the back; “excitement of any kind is very bad for you. We will wait here quietly till the train does come.”
“But isn’t there a time-table?” asked Dick, “so that we can tell when to expect it.”
“No, Sir,” said the Porter. “There was a time-table when I fust come here, nine years ago; but it got lost somehow, and we’ve never had another.”
By this time the platform was crowded with a number of other animals, who had apparently come to join the excursion.
“We had better get our tents before they are all gone,” whispered the Palæotherium.