Rooshyan battleship."

It occurred to Leigh that this man might know Emmet well, and when the
car came in, he stood on the back platform for the purpose of engaging
him in talk that might help him in his project. The heavy morning
traffic was over, and as the conductor was comparatively unoccupied, he
accepted his passenger's advances readily. In a few minutes Leigh
became aware that the man knew who he was.

"That's nothing wonderful," he explained. "I've been on this line for
years, and I know everybody that travels this way. I thought you were
the new professor at the Hall, the minute I set eyes on you."

In spite of the trim uniform, the cap and buttons, he seemed cast in a
larger mould than most men of his kind. He was garrulous without
offence, and carried with him some of the atmosphere which only travel
gives. He was more fit, Leigh reflected, to command a ship, or to
crack the whip over six horses from the seat of a stage-coach, than to
pull the bellrope on a Warwick street-car. It was easy enough to
engage him in conversation about the coming election, but more
difficult to arrive at the point he had in mind. He learned that Emmet
had already resigned his place as a conductor to devote his whole time
to the work of the campaign, and he began to appreciate the difficulty
of meeting him naturally. If he went to his boarding-house, he would
doubtless find him away, or not alone. On the whole, considering the
shortness of the time and the different worlds in which they moved, he
decided that he must make his opportunity, rather than wait for it to
come.

"I believe you said that Mr. Emmet boards at your house," he ventured