“We had been sitting on the observation platform, and it was late in the afternoon, when I said I was going to lie down, and the two men got up to go into the smoker.  In spite of my protests, Mrs. Chambray insisted upon following me in, to see that I was perfectly comfortable.  She fussed around me, covering me up and offering smelling salts and eau de cologne for my head.  I let her fuss, thinking that was the quickest way to get rid of her.  I closed my eyes, and she said she would go out to the observation platform.  I lay still for awhile, thinking about her and how much I wanted to get rid of her.  She acted as if she had been engaged to stay with me forever, and it suddenly became very plain to me that I ought to have a talk with her and tell her that I should need her services no longer after this journey was over.  It might make a difference to her if she knew it at once, and perhaps now would be as good a time to talk as any, for she was probably alone out on the platform.  I got up and made a few little changes in my dress, for it would soon be time to go into the dining-car.  Then I went out to the observation platform, but she was not there.  The chairs were all empty, so I chose the one next to the railing, away from the car door, and sat down to wait for her, thinking she would soon be back.

“We were going very fast, through a pretty bit of country.  It was dusky and restful out there, so I leaned back and closed my eyes.  Presently I heard voices approaching, above the rumble of the train, and, peeping around the doorway, I saw Mrs. Chambray, Richard, and the doctor coming from the other car.  I kept quiet, hoping they would not come out, and they did not.  They settled down near the door, and ordered the porter to put up a table for them to play cards.

“The train began to slow down, and finally came to a halt for a longer time on a sidetrack, waiting for another train to pass.  I heard Richard ask where I was.  Mrs. Chambray said laughingly that I was safely asleep.  Then, before I realized it, they began to talk about me.  It happened there were no other passengers in the car.  Richard asked Mrs. Chambray if she thought I had any suspicion that I was not on the right train, and she said, ‘Not the slightest,’ and then by degrees there floated to me through the open door the most diabolical plot I had ever heard of.  I gathered from it that we were on the way to Philadelphia, would reach there in a little while, and would then proceed to a place near Washington, where the doctor had a private insane asylum, and where I was to be shut up.  They were going to administer some drug that would make me unconscious when I was taken off the train.  If they could not get me to take it for the headache I had talked about, Mrs. Chambray was to manage to get it into my food or give it to me when asleep.  Mrs. Chambray, it seems, had not known the entire plot before leaving Europe, and this was their first chance of telling her.  They thought I was safely in my compartment, asleep, and she had gone into the other car to give the signal as soon as she thought she had me where I would not get up again for a while.