OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

THE LODGER 21
He took no thought, but started running. The train was beginning
to draw out. He opened a door, swung himself in and sank on
to the seat of a third-class carriage in which were two women,
drinking coffee from a thermos flask.
All one side of the carriage was empty, and he stretched himself
full-length on the seat, wrapping his camel's-hair coat around him.
When he awoke day had dawned. A railway employee was tugging
at his shoulder.
" Ticket, please."
The two women, who were in black, looked at him smiling. His
ticket? For some moments he was at a loss. Then he remembered the
man at the Brussels booking-office who had asked " Return, sir? "
He felt in his pockets. His fingers groped amongst the wads of
notes. Under them he found a small square of cardboard.
The guard looked at the ticket, then at the passenger.
" This is a first-class ticket," he said.
Obviously. Elie gave him a smile that seemed to say, " How silly
of me! " And the two women understood now why he was wearing
such an expensive-looking greatcoat.
" The third coach, towards the engine," the man said. " If you
stay here you'll have to get out for the Customs inspection. Firstclass
passengers are inspected in the train."
His lips were parched, and he had developed a stiff neck. The
draught, most likely. He stumbled up the swaying corridor, and,
pausing for a moment, saw snowbound fields dotted here and there
with cottages and farmhouses, smoke rising from the chimneys.
As he crossed the metal plates between the coaches he was greeted
by blasts of bitterly cold air. There was an empty first, and the
carriage had a lugubrious, almost sinister appearance in the bleak,
grey light
What could the time be? Were they near the frontier? The words
started running in his head again: " When we get to Compiegne
... When we get to Compiegne ..."
At all costs he must have a drink. He hurried to a lavatory. The
basin was black with soot. He turned the small tap to the right
and there was a gush of boiling water. He turned it to the left and
there came a trickle of tepid, muddy water, which he cupped in his
hand and brought to his lips. It left a taste of grime and fever in his
mouth.
The train stopped and Elie hastened out, afraid of being discovered
in the lavatory, and bumped into a man in a grey overcoat.