About two we heard the
snorting of a locomotive at a time when no train was due, and a
construction train came in view, with the men waving their handkerchiefs
from the windows, and apparently ready for all the fun there was to be in
the thing. Some of them had a small flag in each hand, the American Stars
and Stripes and the white flag of Altruria, in compliment to my guest, I
suppose. A good many of the farmers came over to the hotel to buy tickets,
which they said they expected to get after they came, and Mrs. Makely was
obliged to pacify them with all sorts of lying promises. From moment to
moment she was in consultation with the landlord, who decided to throw
open the dining-room, which connected with the parlor, so as to allow the
help and the neighbors to hear without incommoding the hotel guests. She
said that this took a great burden off her mind, and that now she should
feel perfectly easy, for now no one could complain about being mixed up
with the servants and the natives, and yet every one could hear perfectly.
She could not rest until she had sent for Homos and told him of this
admirable arrangement.
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