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Page 24
Car Forty-seven was on the track when they drove to the station at noon
next day. It was the end car of a long express train, which, Mr. Dayton
told them, is considered the place of honor, and generally assigned to
private cars. It was of an old-fashioned pattern, and did not compare, as
they were informed, with the palaces on wheels built nowadays for the use
of railroad presidents and directors. But though Katy heard of cars with
French beds, plunge baths, open fireplaces, and other incredible luxuries,
Car Forty-seven still seemed to her inexperienced eyes and Clover's a
marvel of comfort and convenience.
A small kitchen, a store closet, and a sort of baggage-room, fitted with
berths for two servants, occupied the end of the car nearest the engine.
Then came a dressing-closet, with ample marble basins where hot water as
well as cold was always on tap; then a wide state-room, with a bed on
either side, and then a large compartment occupying the middle of the car,
where by day four nice little dining-tables could be set, with a seat on
either side, and by night six sleeping sections made up. The rest of the
car was arranged as a sitting-room, glassed all around, and furnished with
comfortable seats of various kinds, a writing-desk, two or three tables of
different sizes, and various small lockers and receptacles, fitted into
the partitions to serve as catch-alls for loose articles of all sorts.
Bunches of lovely roses and baskets of strawberries stood on the tables;
and quite a number of the Daytons' friends had come down to see them off,
each bringing some sort of good-by gift for the travellers,--flowers,
hothouse grapes, early cherries, or home-made cake. They were all so
cordial and pleasant and so interested in Phil, that Katy and Clover lost
their hearts to each in turn, and forever afterward were ready to stand
up for Chicago as the kindest place that ever was seen.
Then amid farewells and good wishes the train moved slowly out of the
station, and the inmates of Car Forty-seven proceeded to "go to
housekeeping," as Mrs. Dayton expressed it, and to settle themselves and
their belongings in these new quarters. Mrs. Ashe and Amy, it was decided,
should occupy the state-room, and the other ladies were to dress there
when it was convenient. Sections were assigned to everybody,--Clover's
opposite Phil's so that she might hear him if he needed anything in the
night; and Mr. Dayton called for all the bonnets and hats, and amid much
laughter proceeded to pin up each in thick folds of newspaper, and fasten
it on a hook not to be taken down till the end of the journey. Mabel's
feathered turban took its turn with the rest, at Amy's particular request.
Dust was the main thing to be guarded against, and Katy, having been duly
forewarned, had gone out in the morning, and bought for herself and Clover
soft hats of whity-gray felt and veils of the same color, like those
which Mrs. Dayton and Polly had provided for the journey, and which had
the advantage of being light as well as unspoilable.
But there was no dust that first morning, as the train ran smoothly across
the fertile prairies of Illinois first, and then of Iowa, between fields
dazzling with the fresh green of wheat and rye, and waysides studded with
such wild-flowers as none of them had ever seen or dreamed of before. Pink
spikes and white and vivid blue spikes; masses of brown and orange cups,
like low-growing tulips; ranks of beautiful vetches and purple lupines;
escholtzias, like immense sweeps of golden sunlight; wild sweet peas;
trumpet-shaped blossoms whose name no one knew,--all flung broadcast over
the face of the land, and in such stintless quantities that it dazzled the
mind to think of as it did the eyes to behold them. The low-lying horizons
looked infinitely far off; the sense of space was confusing. Here and
there appeared a home-stead, backed with a "break-wind" of thickly-planted
trees; but the general impression was of vast, still distance, endless
reaches of sky, and uncounted flowers growing for their own pleasure and
with no regard for human observation.
In studying Car Forty-seven, Katy was much impressed by the thoroughness
of Mrs. Dayton's preparations for the comfort of her party. Everything
that could possibly be needed seemed to have been thought of,--pins,
cologne, sewing materials, all sorts of softening washes for the skin, to
be used on the alkaline plains, sponges to wet and fasten into the crown
of hats, other sponges to breathe through, medicines of various kinds,
sticking-plaster, witch-hazel and arnica, whisk brooms, piles of magazines
and novels, telegraph blanks, stationery. Nothing seemed forgotten. Clover
said that it reminded her of the mother of the Swiss Family Robinson and
that wonderful bag out of which everything was produced that could be
thought of, from a grand piano to a bottle of pickles; and after that
"Mrs. Robinson" became Mrs. Dayton's pet name among her
fellow-travellers. She adopted it cheerfully; and her "wonderful bag"
proving quite as unfailing and trustworthy as that of her prototype, the
title seemed justified.
Pretty soon after starting came their first dinner on the car. Such a nice
one!--soup, roast chicken and lamb, green peas, new potatoes, stewed
tomato; all as hot and as perfectly served as if they had been "on dry
land," as Amy phrased it. There was fresh curly lettuce too, with
mayonnaise dressing, and a dessert of strawberries and ice-cream,--the
latter made and frozen on the car, whose resources seemed inexhaustible.
The cook had been attached to Car Forty-seven for some years, and had a
celebrity on his own road for the preparation of certain dishes, which no
one else could do as well, however many markets and refrigerators and
kitchen ranges might be at command. One of these dishes was a peculiar
form of cracked wheat, made crisp and savory after some mysterious
fashion, and eaten with thick cream. Like most _chefs_, the cook liked to
do the things in which he excelled, and finding that it was admired, he
gave the party this delicious wheat every morning.
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