Page:Burnett - Two Little Pilgrims' Progress A Story of the City Beautiful.djvu/101

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Two Little Pilgrims' Progress
89

He passed them once without seeming to see them at all. He was explaining something to his companion. The second time he drew near he chanced to look up, and his eye fell on them. It did not rest on them more than a second, and he went on speaking. The next time he neared their part of the platform, he turned his glance towards them as they stood close together. It was as if involuntarily he glanced to see if they were still where they had been before.

"A pair of children," they heard him say, as if the fleeting impression of their presence arrested his train of thought for a second. "Looks as if no one was with them."

He merely made the comment in passing, and returned to his subject the next second; but Meg and Robin heard him, and drew farther back into the shadow.

But it was not necessary to stand there much longer. They heard a familiar sound in the distance, the shrill cry of the incoming train, the beloved giant who was to carry them to fairyland. The people began to flock out of the waiting-rooms with packages and valises and umbrellas in hand; the porters suddenly became alert, and hurried about attending to their duties; the delightful roar drew nearer and