Madge darted forward, snatching his suitcase from his hand.
“All right, if you go, you go without your suitcase! And what’s more, we’ll have you arrested at the first stop!”
The man faced Madge with smoldering eyes. He saw that he could not retrieve his suitcase without a struggle and the conductor was not in sufficient sympathy to hold the train a minute. Even now it was slowly pulling from the station.
Frantically, he watched the cars moving by. He seemed undecided what to do. Then with a gesture of angry submission, he abandoned all intention of boarding the train.
“Well, now that you’ve made me miss my train, just what do you want?” he asked unpleasantly, moving toward Madge as if to recover his suitcase.
She backed away.
“Now, John,” Miss Swenster said firmly, “unless you wish me to call the police, you must come without making any fuss.”
“Where do you expect me to go?” he demanded sullenly.
“To my home. We’ll talk matters over there.”
“All right,” he said suddenly. “I’ll check my suitcase and go with you.”