She still gazed at him suspiciously. "I never heard of such a thing. I guess this is a free country."
"Yes, ma'am, and the government wants to keep it free. If you get a lot of pauper foreigners here, it'll not be free long."
"This little girl is American, ain't you, sissy?"
"I'm an orphan," said 'Tilda Jane, guardedly. Whatever happened, she was determined not to admit too much.
At this moment the conductor appeared, and the old lady hailed him indignantly. "What does this mean, sir? This little girl offered to pay her passage. I saw her with my own eyes. Now you're going to put her off the train."
"It's all right, ma'am," he said, soothingly, "she'll likely be allowed to go on to-morrow."
"And you'll keep that innocent child here all day, and she too frightened to breathe?" cried the old lady. "I never heard of such doings. I'll write the President! I'll show you up in the papers!"
"She'll be well taken care of, madam," said the conductor. "There's a good hotel here. All detained are lodged and fed at government expense. She'll be put in charge of a chambermaid."
"You're a set of villains!" said the old lady, wrathfully.
"Oh, law!" groaned the conductor, "I'm sick of these fusses. Pick up her traps, Jack."