"
"The fair Carlotta? And how is she? And what is she doing at
Plymouth?"
In the middle of my explanation he pulled out his watch.
"By Jove! I must get to the next platform and catch my train to
Ealing. I was just killing time about the station. I like
seeing a train come in--the gleam and smoke and rush and whirr of
the evil-looking thing--and the sudden metamorphosis of its sleek
sides into mouths belching forth humanity. I think of Hades.
This, by the way, isn't a bad representation of it--the up-to-
date Hades. They've got a railway bridge now across the Styx,
and Charon has a gold band around his cap, and this might be the
arrival platform of the damned souls."
"You forget," said I, "that it is the arrival platform of
Carlotta."
He threw back his head and laughed boyishly.
"Well, consider it the Golden Gate terminus of the 'Earth, Hades
and Olympus Railway' if you like. I'm off on a branch line to
meet a beauteous duchessa at Ealing--oh, an authentic one, I
assure you."
"Why should I doubt it?" said I.
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