once, and perhaps now would be as good a time to talk as any, for she was
probably alone out on the platform. I got up and made a few little changes
in my dress, for it would soon be time to go into the dining-car. Then I
went out to the observation platform, but she was not there. The chairs
were all empty, so I chose the one next to the railing, away from the car
door, and sat down to wait for her, thinking she would soon be back.

"We were going very fast, through a pretty bit of country. It was dusky
and restful out there, so I leaned back and closed my eyes. Presently I
heard voices approaching, above the rumble of the train, and, peeping
around the doorway, I saw Mrs. Chambray, Richard, and the doctor coming
from the other car. I kept quiet, hoping they would not come out, and they
did not. They settled down near the door, and ordered the porter to put up
a table for them to play cards.

"The train began to slow down, and finally came to a halt for a longer
time on a sidetrack, waiting for another train to pass. I heard Richard
ask where I was. Mrs. Chambray said laughingly that I was safely asleep.
Then, before I realized it, they began to talk about me. It happened there
were no other passengers in the car. Richard asked Mrs. Chambray if she
thought I had any suspicion that I was not on the right train, and she
said, 'Not the slightest,' and then by degrees there floated to me through
the open door the most diabolical plot I had ever heard of. I gathered
from it that we were on the way to Philadelphia, would reach there in a
little while, and would then proceed to a place near Washington, where the
doctor had a private insane asylum, and where I was to be shut up. They
were going to administer some drug that would make me unconscious when I
was taken off the train. If they could not get me to take it for the
headache I had talked about, Mrs. Chambray was to manage to get it into my
food or give it to me when asleep. Mrs. Chambray, it seems, had not known