Evening star., 1926-09-07
CHAPTER /.
The Dream.
r. T must have had a dream" Caro-
lita tried to persuade herself.
as she withdrew behind the
curtains of her lower berth,

What could have possessed her 10
start up like that, in the dead or the
night. and peer out into the aisle OF
the Pullman car. She had never done
such a thing before.
This long lonely journey into an
unknown land. the haunting terror
Of my future, the whole unsolved mys-
terry Of my birth follows me every
where until I have lost all self-con-
troll" she went on arguing to herself,
and yet | could not have been mis-.
taken in what saw. That white.
white hand, cutching the curtain Of
the berth opposte-the ruby SO
startling in its shape and color-have
watched for it so long that it has
become an obsession? Oh. II / but
dared 20 look once more
She made an effort to obey her i'm
pulse. but her frightened limbs hest
tated to move Her thoughts were
also esca aping her control, for suppose
this extra aordinarN experience had not
been a vision, but a reality? suppose
that after Is years of secluded con
vent life the time had come to learn
her name and her story, unravel the
mystery which had kept her hidden
in farawsy Acentina'
The thought of what might lie re-
vealed behind the curtain opposite
ger and more compelling than fear Of
the strange land in which she was a
lonely traveller. What harm could
come of taking one little look. Draw
ing a long breath. she stepped eau
tiously into the aisle. her glance dart
ing TO the berth on the other side.
She would pull open those curtains
and look within; she would
moments uncertainty. and hand
,al4 el 1~,,
voice directed:
Back into your berth. Girls can
not wander about Pullmans in the
middle of the night
II was the Young American whose
reservation was next to hers. and the
shock Of his touch unnerved her.
oh she whispered, you fright
ened me, Please, did You but now
see something strange out here
You probably had q nightmare, -
his tone was still low. but more friend
ly 'the car is almost empty and no
body Will he the wiser. Don't get up
again
There is somebody in the berth
opposite" she wanted to insist, some
body | must see" But his manner
admitted of no argument Silently
she oheyed him She must wait until
morning-long hours in which to lie
awake and think and wonder all over
again. pondering the never answered
why" when and where" of her
Journey and it's secret.
She lay down. resigned to her fate
She was thankful that no one but
Mr.. Reynolds had seen her in the
aisle, for he would not misundersta nd
her action. He had been so nice and
helpful since their meeting in the
nf hn Tu-n fietI
Limited. 1t had been fortunate that
fate had placed him in this train for
California! Being only IS and quite
unworldlywise Carolita never dreamed
that her wide-awake acquainta nee
had taken pains to examine her ticket,
and subsequently paid a visit to the
Sa nta Fe Pullman window in Chica go.
changing his berth for the one next
to hers. 1t was enough TO know that
he was close at hand. making her trip
so delightful
The thought Of Paul REYNOLDS ex-
cluded, for brief time. the memory
Of the events which had just trans
pired. Later. as she lay calmly think
ing IL over. she reached the conclu-
sion that the whole affair had heen a
dream. She had never looked into
the aisle and seen a white hand on
the curtains opposite. The whole
thing was ridiculous absurd. And
after a time youth and optimism
gained victory over doubt and fear.
and the young traveller from South
America turned over and went to
sleep!
Daylight was strea ming in when a
mans voice awoke Carolita from her
sound nights sleep, comma nding in
slant attention.
Passengers in this car will remain
in their herths. No cause for alarm. "
What a funny country" Carolita
thought. rising on her elbow and
shaking off her drousiness with a
toss of her black curls, something
new to learn each day
Her mind harhored no memory of
last nights events as she raised the
shade and looked ont upon another of
those isolated stations of the great
Southwest. the land in which she
had been horn. but to which she came
now as a stranger. Would California
he as lonely and forlorn as these set,
Elements she had heen observing from
the car window The girl had only a
vague idea of the new world she had
entered. for in the convent the nuns
had not paid much attention to
geography. 1t apparently had never
occurred to them, any more than to
the girl herself. that she would he
coming back to The United States
some day. SO suddenly and SO unex.
rectedlv that there would he only
time TO pack her few belongings and
catch the steamer on which her
guardians letter had ordered her To
sail
The view from her window held
nothing Of interest. and Caroita's at
tention came back To the voices in
the aisle.
'Dey only sehen passengahs in de
cyah las night. sab. Lady and
gen'man in de drawing room got off
at early this mahn 'nc. dat
lady who never took offn her gloves
and acted So ohnery cayse de train
am late
Carohta recognized the quaint dia
lect Of the negro porter. which Paul
Reynolds had told her was ''darky
lingo
Yes. yes. know all that" the
ioud voice which had aroused Caro-
lita cut short the darky's story.
What ! want is to check UP on the
rest of the passengers. The little
lady from South America is here in
loNer .. There's a young fellow
in 4. two Salvation Army lasses
in 6. and the dead man in L.
Dead man Carohta's s luminous
dark ewes opened>v very wide. Her
fresh Young cheeks SO rosy a mo.
n1ent hefor6 blanched with fear. Her
lips ouivered. Dead man? Why. there
was only one man in this car-the one
who had been SO kind 10 her, and i'm
rnediately last night and Its strange