The train stops at Framingham, and THE PORTER comes in with a passenger whom he shows to the seat opposite MR.and MRS.ROBERTS.
THE PORTER.You can sit here, sah.We'll be in in about an hour now.Hang up your bag for you, sah?
THE PASSENGER.No, leave it on the seat here.
[THE PORTER goes out, and the ROBERTSES maintain a dejected silence.
The bottom of the bag, thrown carelessly on the seat, is toward the ROBERTSES, who regard it listlessly.]
MRS.ROBERTS (suddenly clutching her husband's arm, and hissing in his ear).See! [She points to the white lettering on the bag, where the name "Willis Campbell, San Francisco," is distinctly legible.]
But it can't be; it must be some other Campbell.I can't risk it.
MR.ROBERTS.But there's the name.It would be very strange if there were two people from San Francisco of exactly the same name.
_I_ will speak.
MRS.ROBERTS (as wildly as one can in whisper).No, no, I can't let you.We've made ourselves the laughing-stock of the whole car already with our mistakes, and I can't go on.I would rather perish than ask him.You don't suppose it COULD be? No, it couldn't.
There may be twenty Willis Campbells in San Francisco, and there probably are.Do you think he looks like me! He has a straight nose; but you can't tell anything about the lower part of his face, the beard covers it so; and I can't make out the color of his eyes by this light.But of course it's all nonsense.Still if it SHOULD be!
It would be very stupid of us to ride all the way from Framingham to Boston with that name staring one in the eyes.I wish he would turn it away.If it really turned out to BE Willis, he would think we were awfully stiff and cold.But I can't help it; I CAN'T go attacking every stranger I see, and accusing him of being my brother.
No, no, I can't, and I WON'T, and that's all about it.[She leans forward and addresses the stranger with sudden sweetness.] Excuse me, sir, but I AM very much interested by the name on your bag.Not that I think you are even acquainted with him, and there are probably a great many of them there; but your coming from the same city and all DOES seem a little queer, and I hope you won't think me intrusive in speaking to you, because if you SHOULD happen, by the thousandth of a chance, to be the right one, I should be SO happy!
CAMPBELL.The right what, madam?
MRS.ROBERTS.The right Willis Campbell.
CAMPBELL.I hope I'm not the wrong one; though after a week's pull on the railroad it's pretty hard for a man to tell which Willis Campbell he is.May I ask if your Willis Campbell had friends in Boston?
MRS.ROBERTS (eagerly).He had a sister and a brother-in-law and a nephew.
CAMPBELL.Name of Roberts?
MRS.ROBERTS.Every one.
CAMPBELL.Then you're -
MRS.ROBERTS (ecstatically).Agnes!
CAMPBELL.And he's -
MRS.ROBERTS.Mr.Roberts!
CAMPBELL.And the baby's -
MRS.ROBERTS.Asleep!
CAMPBELL.Then _I_ am the right one.
MRS.ROBERTS.Oh, Willis! Willis! Willis! To think of our meeting in this way! [She kisses and embraces him, while MR.ROBERTS shakes one of his hands which he finds disengaged.] HOW in the world did it happen?
CAMPBELL.Ah, I found myself a little ahead of time, and I stopped off with an old friend of mine at Framingham; I didn't want to disappoint you when you came to meet this train, or get you up last night at midnight.
MRS.ROBERTS.And I was in Albany, and I've been moving heaven and earth to get home before you arrived; and Edward came aboard at Worcester to surprise me, and--Oh, you've never seen the baby! I'll run right and get him this instant, just as he is, and bring him.
Edward, you be explaining to Willis--Oh, my goodness! [Looking wildly about.] I don't remember the berth, and I shall be sure to wake up that poor California gentleman again.WHAT shall I do?
CAMPBELL.What California gentleman?
MRS.ROBERTS.Oh, somebody we've been stirring up the whole blessed night.First I took him for baby, and then Edward took him for me, and then I took him for baby again, and then we both took him for you.
CAMPBELL.Did he look like any of us?
MRS.ROBERTS.Like US? He's eight feet tall, if he's an inch, in his stockings--and he's always in them--and he has a long black beard and mustaches, and he's very lanky, and stoops over a good deal; but he's just as lovely as he can be and live, and he's been as kind and patient as twenty Jobs.
CAMPBELL.Speaks in a sort of soft, slow grind?
MRS.ROBERTS.Yes.
CAMPBELL.Gentle and deferential to ladies?
MRS.ROBERTS.As pie.
CAMPBELL.It's Tom Goodall.I'll have him out of there in half a second.I want you to take him home with you, Agnes.He's the best fellow in the world.WHICH is his berth?
MRS.ROBERTS.Don't ask me, Willis.But if you'd go for baby, you'll be sure to find him.
MR.ROBERTS (timidly indicating a berth).I think that's the one.
CAMPBELL (plunging at it, and pulling the curtains open).You old Tom Goodall!
THE CALIFORNIAN (appearing).I ain't any Tom Goodall.My name's Abram Sawyer.
CAMPBELL (falling back).Well, sir, you're right.I'm awfully sorry to disturb you; but, from my sister's description here, I felt certain you must be my old friend Tom Goodall.
THE CALIFORNIAN.I ain't surprised at it.I'm only surprised IAIN'T Tom Goodall.I've been a baby twice, and I've been a man's wife once, and once I've been a long-lost brother.
CAMPBELL (laughing).Oh, they've found HIM.I'M the long-lost brother.
THE CALIFORNIAN (sleepily).Has she found the other one?
CAMPBELL.Yes; all right, I believe.
THE CALIFORNIAN.Has HE found what HE wanted?
CAMPBELL.Yes; we're all together here.[THE CALIFORNIAN makes a movement to get into bed again.] Oh, don't! You'd better make a night of it now.It's almost morning anyway.We want you to go home with us, and Mrs.Roberts will give you a bed at her house, and let you sleep a week.
THE CALIFORNIAN.Well, I reckon you're right, stranger.I seem to be in the hands of Providence to-night anyhow.[He pulls on his boots and coat, and takes his seat beside CAMPBELL.] I reckon there ain't any use in fighting against Providence.
