How funny the Pullman looked, all green curtains already down, berths all made up. As it had suddenly turned cold, Betty’s father asked the porter for extra blankets, showed Betty where to put her things and advised her to know which berth was hers when she came back from the dressing room. But Betty decided to mark hers in some way and finally tucked up the curtain in a certain fashion before she explored the dressing room. It was more private, she decided, to undress in her berth. Also, she would wear her silk kimona all night! It was cold enough.
For a long time Betty could not sleep, but finally Nature overcame unaccustomed nerves and she fell into a sound sleep, not to waken till her father called her. She decided that she liked traveling and would like to go into a “diner” often, to eat the sort of pancakes that were brought on in covered silver dishes, and to help her father decide what would make a good breakfast.
The scenery was interesting. It was new to pass through the different states. She would never forget it. And New York! Was this really Betty Lee, riding in a taxi up Broadway and along Fifth Avenue?
Owing to her father’s different errands, which he accomplished by taxi for the most part, to expedite matters, Betty was taken to various parts of the city, even to the docks.
They crossed the Hudson on a ferry boat without getting out of their taxi. Birds flew about. Different kinds of crafts floated upon the river. A great liner was just entering a space between piers. “Will Mr. Murchison’s sister come in on a boat like that?” asked Betty.
“Something like that,” answered Mr. Lee. “How do you like this incidental sight-seeing?”
“Ever so much, especially since you bought me the map. I look it all up, and I’m glad to go over the same streets more than once, especially Fifth Avenue and Broadway. I know Madison Square Park and the City Hall Square already.”
Betty had one rather lonesome day at the hotel when her father could not let her accompany him, but after that he took her on regular sight-seeing trips, during which she saw more than most strangers because of her father’s familiarity with the city. She decided that she could find her way by herself, but her father preferred not to have her attempt any “solo flights,” he said.
Business was completed in comparatively short order. Mr. Lee sent telegrams to his firm; but then they were held, as Betty, at least, could not regret, by the non-arrival of the expected countess. Day by day the reports of the incoming ships were changed somewhat. There had been storms and fog. Sea traffic was held up, said Betty, and her father said that if the ships all came in safely they would do well. At the same time, he was rather restless. It did not look as if they would be able to carry out their plans. “Oh, what if we can’t get there before Mother?” Betty asked.
“In that case, I shall merely telegraph her. The key is with the people upstairs, you know. Your mother will understand. But I’d rather meet my own wife than any countess!”