It seemed that there was a hot-box on the next car, and that not only were we late, but we were delaying the second section, just behind.  I was beginning to feel pleasantly drowsy, and the air was growing cooler as we got into the mountains.  I said good night to the brakeman and went back to my berth.  To my surprise, lower ten was already occupied—­a suit-case projected from beneath, a pair of shoes stood on the floor, and from behind the curtains came the heavy, unmistakable breathing of deep sleep.  I hunted out the porter and together we investigated.

“Are you asleep, sir?” asked the porter, leaning over deferentially.  No answer forthcoming, he opened the curtains and looked in.  Yes, the intruder was asleep—­very much asleep—­and an overwhelming odor of whisky proclaimed that he would probably remain asleep until morning.  I was irritated.  The car was full, and I was not disposed to take an upper in order to allow this drunken interloper to sleep comfortably in my berth.

“You’ll have to get out of this,” I said, shaking him angrily.  But he merely grunted and turned over.  As he did so, I saw his features for the first time.  It was the quarrelsome man of the restaurant.

I was less disposed than ever to relinquish my claim, but the porter, after a little quiet investigation, offered a solution of the difficulty.  “There’s no one in lower nine,” he suggested, pulling open the curtains just across.  “It’s likely nine’s his berth, and he’s made a mistake, owing to his condition.  You’d better take nine, sir.”

I did, with a firm resolution that if nine’s rightful owner turned up later I should be just as unwakable as the man opposite.  I undressed leisurely, making sure of the safety of the forged notes, and placing my grip as before between myself and the window.

Being a man of systematic habits, I arranged my clothes carefully, putting my shoes out for the porter to polish, and stowing my collar and scarf in the little hammock swung for the purpose.

At last, with my pillows so arranged that I could see out comfortably, and with the unhygienic-looking blanket turned back—­I have always a distrust of those much-used affairs—­I prepared to wait gradually for sleep.

But sleep did not visit me.  The train came to frequent, grating stops, and I surmised the hot box again.  I am not a nervous man, but there was something chilling in the thought of the second section pounding along behind us.  Once, as I was dozing, our locomotive whistled a shrill warning—­“You keep back where you belong,” it screamed to my drowsy ears, and from somewhere behind came a chastened “All-right-I-will.”