The lights shed a soft glow over the room;
the bell rope above their heads swayed, tapping its rings with
the regularity of the tick of a watch.
"Who sleeps upstairs, you or I?" asked Teddy.
"I will, if you prefer the lower berth."
"I do. It has springs under it."
"You will wish it had no springs, one of these nights, when you
get bounced out of bed to the floor. Do you know that Pullman
cars have no springs?"
"No; is that so?"
"That is the fact."
"Why?"
"Because, on rough or crooked roads, most of the passengers
would be sleeping in the aisle. All hands would be bounced out.
You are welcome to the lower berth."
"Shall we turn in and try them?"
"No; I am going to wait until we get to our destination. I want
to see that the car is properly placed, in view of the fact that
this is our first night in charge. I want to know how everything
is handled by the railroad. You may go to bed if you wish."
"No; I guess I will sit up. I have a book to read. This is too
fine to spoil by going to bed. I could sit up all night looking
at the place. Why, this is just like being on a private car,
isn't it?"
"It is a private car."
There were delays along the route to the next stand, and the car
was laid over for more than an hour at a junction point, so that
it was well past midnight when they reached their destination.
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