The Parlor Car

Scene: A Parlor-Car on the New York Central Railroad.  It is late afternoon in the early autumn, with a cloudy sunset threatening rain.  The car is unoccupied save by a gentleman, who sits fronting one of the windows, with his feet in another chair; a newspaper lies across his lap; his hat is drawn down over his eyes, and he is apparently asleep.  The rear door of the car opens, and the conductor enters with a young lady, heavily veiled, the porter coming after with her wraps and travelling-bags.  The lady’s air is of mingled anxiety and desperation, with a certain fierceness of movement.  She casts a careless glance over the empty chairs.