Mr. Rockharrt seemed stronger and brighter than he had been since his arrival in New York.
The Sabbath day"s complete rest had certainly refreshed him.
Immediately after breakfast they left the hotel, entered the carriage which had been engaged for them and drove to the Hudson River depot.
"There"s the dean!" exclaimed Mr. Rockharrt, as they entered the waiting room. "He must be going on the same train with us."
Rose Stillwater did not start or change color this time. She had prepared herself for contingencies by taking a dose of morphine just before she left the hotel. But she drew her veil closely over her face, murmuring that the brightness of the sun hurt her eyes.
Cora looked up and saw the tall, thin form of the church dignitary standing with a group of gentlemen near the gate leading to the train.
The waiting room was crowded; a mult.i.tude was moving toward West Point.
"It is well I engaged our rooms a week ago, or we might not have found accommodations," said Mr. Rockharrt, as he pressed with his party behind the crowd.
Among the group of gentlemen surrounding the dean, was a Wall Street broker with whom old Aaron Rockharrt had been doing business for the last few days.
This man was standing beside the dean, and both stood immediately in front of Mr. Rockharrt and his party.
Presently the broker turned and saw the Iron King.
"Oh, Mr. Rockharrt. Happy to meet you here. Going to the Point, as everybody else is? Fine day."
"Yes; a fine day," responded the Iron King.
At this moment the dean happened to turn his head.
"You know the Dean of Olivet, of course, Mr. Rockharrt?"
"No; I have not that pleasure."
"Let me present you. Dean of Olivet, Mr. Rockharrt."
Both gentlemen bowed.
The Iron King held out his hand.
"Happy to welcome you to America, Dean. Went to hear you preach yesterday morning. One of the finest sermons I ever heard in my life, I do a.s.sure you."
The dean bowed very gravely.
"Let me present you to my granddaughter, Mrs. Rothsay," said the old man.
The dean bowed gravely to the young lady, who bent her head.
"And to our friend, Mrs. Stillwater," continued the old gentleman, waving his hand again. "Why, where is she? Why, Cora, where is Mrs.
Stillwater?" demanded the Iron King in amazement.
"I do not know. I have just missed her," said the young lady.
"Well, upon my soul! For the power of vanishing she excels all living creatures. Pray, Cora, does she carry a fairy cap in her pocket, and put it on when she wishes to make herself invisible?"
"I think, sir, that she has been pressed away from us in the crowd. We shall find her when we get through the gate into more s.p.a.ce."
"Well, I hope so."
"She is quite able to take care of herself, sir. Pray do not be alarmed.
She will be sure to find us."
"Well, I hope so. Yes; of course she will."
At this moment the gates were opened.
"Take my arm. Don"t let me lose you in the crowd. I suppose Mrs.
Stillwater cannot fail to join us. Oh! of course not! She knows the train, and there is but one."
He drew Cora"s hand close under his arm, and holding it tightly, followed the mult.i.tude through the gate, looking all around in search of Rose Stillwater.
But she was nowhere to be seen.
"She may have gotten ahead of us, and be on the train. Come on!" said Mr. Rockharrt, as he hurried his granddaughter along and pushed her upon the platform.
The cars were rapidly filling.
Mr. Rockharrt seized upon four seats, in order to secure three. He put Cora in one and told her to put her traveling bag on the other, to hold it for Mrs. Stillwater. Then he took possession of the seat in front of her.
"As soon as this crowd settles itself down and leaves something like a free pa.s.sageway, I will go through the train and find Mrs. Stillwater.
She is bound to be on board. She is no baby to lose herself," said Mr.
Rockharrt, and though his words were confident, his tone seemed anxious.
The people all got seated at last and the long train moved.
Mr. Rockharrt left his seat, and stooping over his granddaughter, he whispered:
"I am going now to look for Mrs. Stillwater and fetch her here."
He pa.s.sed slowly down the car, looking from side to side, and then out through the back door to the rear cars, and so out of Cora"s sight.
He was gone about fifteen minutes. At the end of that time he reappeared, and came up the car and stopped to speak to Cora: "She is not in any of the rear cars. I am going forward to look for her. This comes of traveling in a crowd."
He went on as before, looking carefully from side to side, pa.s.sed out of the front door and again out of Cora"s sight. This time he was gone twenty minutes. When he come back his face wore an expression of the greatest anxiety.
"She is not on the train. She has been left behind! Foolish woman, to let herself be separated from us in this stupid way!" testily exclaimed the Iron King, as he dropped himself heavily into his seat.
"What can be done?" exclaimed Cora, now seriously uneasy about her unwelcome companion, because she feared that Rose might have been seized with one of her sharp and sudden headaches and had stepped away from them as she had done in the church.
"I hope she has had the presence of mind, on finding herself left, to return to the hotel and wait for the next train. This is the express, and does not stop until we reach Garrison"s. But when we get there I will telegraph to her and tell her what train to take. It is all an infernal nuisance--this being jostled about by a crowd."
Cora was consulting a time table. She looked up from it and said: