The Gilded Age, Part 4. by Charles Dudley Warner;Mark Twain
page 16 of 86 (18%)
page 16 of 86 (18%)
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"Can't help what you thought--you must go into the other car."
"The train is going very fast, let me stand here till we stop." "The lady can have my seat," cried Philip, springing up. The conductor turned towards Philip, and coolly and deliberately surveyed him from head to foot, with contempt in every line of his face, turned his back upon him without a word, and said to the lady, "Come, I've got no time to talk. You must go now." The lady, entirely disconcerted by such rudeness, and frightened, moved towards the door, opened it and stepped out. The train was swinging along at a rapid rate, jarring from side to side; the step was a long one between the cars and there was no protecting grating. The lady attempted it, but lost her balance, in the wind and the motion of the car, and fell! She would inevitably have gone down under the wheels, if Philip, who had swiftly followed her, had not caught her arm and drawn her up. He then assisted her across, found her a seat, received her bewildered thanks, and returned to his car. The conductor was still there, taking his tickets, and growling something about imposition. Philip marched up to him, and burst out with, "You are a brute, an infernal brute, to treat a woman that way." "Perhaps you'd like to make a fuss about it," sneered the conductor. Philip's reply was a blow, given so suddenly and planted so squarely in |
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