Eager as Bob was to reach his destination, it seemed to him that they would never start, but when at last the wheels began to squeak as the train got in motion, he gave vent to a sigh of delight.

Of the people about him, he took only passing notice, and busied himself with trying to map out a plan of action after he reached Fairfax.

When the conductor came along collecting the tickets, Bob proudly drew forth his pass and presented it.  As though unable to reconcile the bit of paper with the poorly-clad boy, the conductor scrutinized the official transportation closely, from time to time glancing at Bob.

Unable satisfactorily to solve the incongruity, the official muttered: 

“The pass is all right, but it doesn’t seem right for this boy to have it.”

This voicing of the thoughts, which were evidently passing through the conductor’s mind, scared Bob, and he asked, assuming an air of confidence that he did not feel: 

“What’s the matter with that pass?”

“Nothing, provided you are Bob Chester.  But I don’t see why you should be given one.”

“Well, if it’s all right, and properly made out, I don’t know that it’s any concern of yours why it was given to me.  If you have any doubt about it, why don’t you find out from the people who issued it?”

“That’s a good idea.  It’s just what I was going to do.  I will just keep it until I know it’s all O.K.”

And, putting the piece of official transportation in his pocket, the conductor moved along through the car.

With dismay and a feeling of foreboding, Bob watched the conductor go from his car with the precious pass.  He dared not protest; indeed, the thought of the proper way to make an objection did not occur to him.  In fact, he did not know that he could do so, and his own temerity in calling attention to the fact that it was made out had startled him.  But bitterly did he rue his suggestion that the conductor keep the all-important paper until he was satisfied as to its genuineness.

In a few minutes Bob noticed the brakeman come into the car and stare at him.  But he did not know that the man had done so in obedience to the order of the conductor, who had told the trainman to take a look at Bob, and then to take care that the boy did not try to leave the train until the matter of the pass had been properly cleared up.

As the train whirled through the darkness of the night, Bob occasionally caught a glimpse of light in the scattered houses or towns through which it passed, but so dark was it that he could see nothing of the country.

Dropping his chair back, the boy tried to go to sleep, but his anxiety over the safety of his pass made it impossible, though he dropped into a doze several times only to awake with a start.

In the meantime, the conductor had sent a telegram to the offices in Chicago where Bob had obtained the transportation, asking if a pass had been issued to Bob Chester, and requesting a description of that individual.