'I'll tell you all about that after, old man,' said Dick, leaning forward and pretending to whisper confidentially.
This satisfied the tippler, who, after pulling his silky whiskers and serving Kate to another drunken stare, hurried off, black bag in hand.
'Confounded nuisance to have to deal with a fellow like that; he thinks he's a dab at business, and goes about with the black bag for show.'
Two minutes passed, maybe three; it seemed to her an eternity, and then she heard Montgomery's voice crying:
'It's all right, I'm sure.'
'Then get out, dear,' said Dick, 'we haven't a moment to lose.'
She jumped out, but hadn't walked a dozen yards before she stopped panic-stricken.
'Mrs. Ede—my mother-in-law—perhaps she's there! Oh, Dick, what shall I do?'
'She isn't there,' Montgomery answered; 'I know her by sight,' and that Montgomery should know her mother-in-law by sight meant to Kate as much as a footprint does to a lost one in a desert. For the sight of the company on the asphalt, and all the luggage, portmanteaux, and huge white baskets labelled 'Morton and Cox's Operatic Company,' and the train waiting to carry them away to an unknown destination, made her feel more intensely than ever that she was adrift in a current that would carry her she knew not whither. All these strange people collected together were henceforth her world. She was not unnaturally frightened, but the baggage man especially filled her with alarm, so all-powerful did he seem, rushing up and down the platform, shouting at the porters, and throwing out bits of information to the ladies of the company as he passed them by.
'We shall be off in a minute, dear,' whispered Dick softly in her ear, 'and then——'