Then the two shot down to the platform level and made their way toward Gate E.
CHAPTER XI
PENDLETON IS VASTLY ENLIGHTENED
The Hammondsville local was taking on its passengers. It was a sooty train, made up of three coaches and a combination baggage and smoking car. The gateman pointed out its conductor, inside, and the two approached him.
He was a spare, elderly man with a wrinkled, shrewd face, and a short, pointed manner of speech.
"Oh, the General Passenger Agent sent you?" said he, examining them. "All right. What's wanted?"
"Your train stops at a station called Cordova, does it not?"
"It stops at every station on the run. Cordova's one of them."
"There is an institution at Cordova, I believe?"