E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries (http://www.archive.org/details/americana) A ROMANCE IN TRANSIT BY FRANCIS LYNDE THIRD EDITION CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK 1899 Copyright, 1897, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Copyright, 1897, by TROW DIRECTORY PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY NEW YORK To the small person who unconsciously provided the motif herein wrought upon, this transitory tale is affectionately attributed by The Author The Author CONTENTS I. P. P. C. Ariadne II. The "Personally Conducted" III. The Private Car IV. The Dinner Station V. At the Meeting-point VI. Regardless Orders VII. A Dinner on Wheels VIII. The Cab of the Ten-wheeler IX. Fifty Miles an Hour X. A Confidence En Route XI. An Arrival in Transit XII. The Ancients and Invalids XIII. Between Stations XIV. With Denver in Sight XV. Yard-limits XVI. The Madding Crowd XVII. On the Narrow-gauge XVIII. Flagged Down XIX. The Foolish Wires XX. Chiefly Scenic XXI. On the Heights XXII. On the Spur-track XXIII. The Land of Heart's Delight XXIV. The End of a Stop-over XXV. Westward Ho! XXVI. A Blind Siding XXVII. The Drumming Wheels THE IVORY SERIES P. P. C. Ariadne The "Personally Conducted" The Private Car The Dinner Station