“What does this mean, Wolf?” demanded Waddie blandly, as the Hitaca boat stopped her wheels near the Middleport landing.
“It means that she is not coming to Centreport with her through passengers,” I replied, hardly less chagrined than the president of the steamboat company.
“But she has no right to do that,” protested Waddie, who, like the two great men, had the idea that no one could be justified in acting contrary to his interest and his wishes.
“I suppose the owners of that line have the right to run their boats where they please.”
“But they have not advertised any change in their arrangements.”
“They are responsible for what they do,” I added.
“They must have passengers on board who wish to come to Centreport.”
“Probably the boat will come over here after the Ucayga starts. Of course this is a plan on the part of Major Toppleton to prevent us from taking any of his through passengers. We can’t expect the railroad company, which controls those boats, to play into our hands.”
“But we can expect fair play.”
“Hardly,” I replied.