Being assured on this point, he began:
“I suppose you boys know what it is to be hungry?”
“I have got a pretty good idea of it after eating one of Tom’s dinners,” remarked Jim. “You see he don’t believe in having anything left over. Thinks it’s wasteful, so he just cooks dabs of things as though we had no more appetites than a group of maiden ladies who were taking afternoon tea.”
There was a general laugh at this, the exaggeration being so manifest that even Tom joined in, still there was some truth in Jim’s jocose remarks, for Tom did have a “close” side to him, which showed even in cooking. It was always evident that Thomas Darlington would become the financier among the Frontier Boys. After the laughter had died down the engineer took up the Russian incident again.
“I venture to say that my hunger on the occasion I am about to speak of was somewhat more real than yours, Skipper. I was traveling first-class from St. Petersburg and heading for the German frontier. Very foolishly I did not provide myself with a hamper of provisions, supposing that I would be able to get food along the way. I never made that particular mistake again.
“I had plenty of money in those days, and was traveling, as I say, first-class. When I got in my compartment at St. Petersburg I supposed at first that I was going to have it all to myself, and I was very well pleased because I could take things easy and sleep undisturbed through the most of what promised to be a very dreary trip.
“It was then about eight o’clock in the morning, and snowing furiously, and I could scarcely see the outlines of the handsome station through the storm of snow. But it was very comfortable in my compartment, which I was pleased to note was of unusual elegance. So I did not mind the delay at first.
“I noticed that the cushions of the seats were of a deep softness and of a rich crimson velvet. There were likewise hangings over the windows, with heavy golden tassels on the same. Then I observed a crest stamped on the embossed leather upon the inside of the door, and it was also repeated in gold upon the back of the seats.
“I must admit that this seemed a good deal of style, but I did not consider it any too much for a representative American citizen traveling abroad. I was a fool in those days, but made up in audacity what I lacked in wit. After a half hour had passed beyond the schedule time set for the train’s starting, I began to get uneasy and was just about to get out of the compartment to help move things along, when I saw a gorgeous sleigh drive up in front of the station.
“There was a splendid ermine robe thrown over the back, and two plumes in front. The horses were fine animals too, driven three abreast after the Russian fashion; over the one in the center was a single arch on which jingled the merry bells. The middle horse was a great black, and his comrades on either side were gray, the very symbols of the snowy landscape.