At Waterloo no-one seems to know when
a train is going to start, where it is starting from, or where it is
going to. Madame Frabelle unconsciously assumed an air of embarrassment,
as though she had no responsibility for the queries and excited manner
of her companion. She seemed, indeed, surprised when Bruce asked to see
the station-master. Here things came to a head. There was no train for
Kingston at 11.10; the one at that hour was the Southampton Express; and
it was worse than useless for Bruce and Madame Frabelle.
'Then the ABC and Bradshaw must both be wrong,' said Bruce reproachfully
to Madame Frabelle.
An idea occurred to that resourceful lady. 'Perhaps the 11.10 was only
to start on other days, not on Saturdays.'
She turned out to be right. However, they discovered a train at twenty
minutes to twelve, which would take them where they wanted, though it
was not mentioned, apparently, in any timetable, and could only be
discovered by accident by someone who was looking for something else.
They hung about the station until it arrived, feeling awkward and
uncomfortable, as people do when they have arrived too early for a
train.
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