easing crowd Etienne Rambert had some difficulty in
following the porter. The Gare d'Orsay has little or none of the
attractiveness of the other stations, which cannot fail to have a
certain fascination for any imaginative person, who thinks of the
mystery attaching to all those iron rails reaching out into the distance
of countries unknown to him. It is less noisy than the others also, for
between Austerlitz and Orsay the traction is entirely electric. And
further, there is no clearly defined separation between the main and the
suburban lines.

On the right of the platform was the train which was to take Etienne
Rambert beyond Brives to Verrieres, the slow train to Luchon; and on the
left of the same platform was another train for Juvisy and all the small
stations in the suburbs of Paris.

Very few people were making for the train to Luchon; but a large crowd
was pressing into the suburban train.

The porter who was piloting M. Etienne Rambert, set the baggage he was
carrying down on the footboard of a first-class carriage.

"There is no one for the slow train yet, sir; if you like to get in
first you can choose your own compartment."

M. Etienne Rambert acted on the suggestion, but he had hardly set foot
in the corridor before the guard, also scenting a generous tip, came to
offer his services.

"It really is the 8.50 you want, sir?" was his first enquiry. "You are
sure you are not making a mistake?"

"No," Etienne Rambert replied. "Why?"

"A great many first-class passengers do make a mistake," the man
explained, "and confuse the 8.50 with the 8.45 express."

As he spoke the guard took the baggage from the porter who had remained
on the platform, and the porter, after being generously remunerated for
his trouble by M. Rambert, hurried away to look for other travellers.

"The 8.45 is the express, isn't it?" M. Rambert enquired.

"Yes," the guard answered; "it runs right through without stopping at
all the small stations as this train does. It goes in front of this one
and gets to Luchon three hours earlier. There it is on the side there,"
and he pointed through the window in the door on the far side to another
train on the next rails, in which a number of travellers were already
taking their seats. "If you prefer to go by that one, sir," he went on,
"there is still time for you to change; you are entitled to take your
choice since you have a first-class ticket."

But Etienne Rambert, after a moment's con