Chapter 28 Chapter 28 Fugitive: Soul Trapped

After the carriage had driven a short distance, Carrie recovered herself, and the night air kept her wide awake. "What happened to him? Was he badly hurt?" "Not very much," said Hurstwood gravely. Distraught by his situation, he wanted nothing more than to get away with it now that Carrie was with him. Therefore, besides obviously helping to achieve his He didn't want to say anything other than what he planned. Carrie had not forgotten that there was unfinished business between her and Hurstwood, but she was too anxious to think about it now. All she wanted was to end this strange journey.

"where is he?" "It's a long way from here in the South End," said Hurstwood. "We must go by train, which is the quickest." Carrie said no more, and the horse continued to gallop. The strange sight of the nighttime city attracted her attention. She looked at the long, receding rows of street lamps, and pondered the dark and silent houses. "How did he get hurt?" she asked . Carrie has any protests. "I don't know exactly," he said. "They just told me to come to you and take you. They said there was no need to panic, but I had to take you."

The man's serious manner convinced Carrie, and she fell silent, muttering to herself. Hurstwood looked at his watch and urged the driver to hurry up. He was surprisingly calm for a man in such a delicate situation. He thought only of, above all, catching the train and getting away quietly. Carrie looked Very meek, he was secretly grateful. They arrived at the station in time, and after he helped her out, he handed the driver a five-dollar bill and hurried into the station. "Wait here," he said to Carrie in the waiting room, "I'll go and buy a ticket." "Can I catch the train to Detroit?" he asked the conductor.

"Four more minutes," said the conductor. He paid carefully for the two tickets. "Is that far off?" said Carrie, as he hurried back. "It's not too far," he said. "We must get into the car at once." At the entrance, he pushed her ahead. When the ticket inspector checked the tickets, he stood between her and the ticket inspector, blocking her view, and then quickly followed. There are a long train of express trains and passenger cars parked in the station, as well as one or two ordinary hard-seat passenger cars. Because this train is newly opened recently, there will not be many passengers, so there are only one or two train operators waiting there. They boarded There was a hard-seat passenger car at the back. As soon as I sat down, I heard a faint shout from outside: "Passengers, please get on the train!" Then, the train started.

Carrie began to feel that there was something strange about it...to come to a railway station in this way...but she said nothing. The whole thing was so out of the ordinary that she didn't care much about what was on her mind. Pay attention. "How are you?" Hurstwood asked softly, now feeling lighter. "Very well," said Carrie. She was very confused, and did not know the proper attitude to take on the matter. She was still impatient to see Drouet, and find out what had happened to him. Hess Waugh looked at her and felt it. But it didn't disturb him. He wasn't bothered by her sympathy and agitation in the matter. It was one of her virtues, and he Appreciate it very much. He was just thinking about how to explain it to her. However, in his mind, even this was not the most serious problem. What he himself committed and the escape before him weighed heavily on his mind. huge shadow.

"How foolish I was to do such a thing," he repeated, "what a mistake it was!" He was sober now, and he could hardly believe that he had done it, he could not imagine himself a criminal who got away with it. He had seen it in the papers so often, and imagined it must be terrible. But now this It's his own head, and he's just sitting here thinking about the past. The future is connected to the Canadian border. He wants to go there. As for other things, he reviewed all the actions tonight, I think it's all part of a big mistake. "Besides," said he, "what can I do?"

He then resolved to redeem the matter as much as he could, and for this reason he considered the whole thing again. But this repeated consideration was still fruitless and disturbing, and made him hesitate to carry out his plan in the face of Carrie. A little nervous. The train rumbled across the yard by the lake and headed slowly toward Twenty-fourth Street. The split gates and signal lights were clearly visible outside the car. The locomotive whistle blew short whines and the bell rang now and then. Several train operators passed by with lights. They locked the doors of the corridor between the carriages and prepared the carriages for the long journey.

Soon, the train began to accelerate, and Carrie saw the quiet streets flash by one after another. The locomotive also began to whistle four intermittently as it passed important crossings, as a danger signal. "Is that far off?" asked Carrie. "Not too far," said Hurstwood. He could not help laughing at her innocence. He wanted to explain to her, to comfort her, but he wanted to get away from Chicago first. After another half hour, Carrie began to see that wherever he was taking her, wherever it was, was a long way off. "Is that place in Chicago?" she asked nervously. They were well out of the city limits by this time, and the train was speeding across the Indiana line.

"No," he said, "we're not going to Chicago." The tone in which he said this immediately alarmed her. Her beautiful forehead began to wrinkle. "We're going to see Charlie, aren't we?" she asked. He felt that the time had come. Sooner or later an explanation was necessary, as well as now. So he shook his head very gently in the negative. "What?" said Carrie, who was momentarily bewildered at the thought that this trip might be different from what she had imagined. He just looked at her with very considerate and reassuring eyes. "Oh, then, where are you taking me?" she asked, with fear in her voice.

"If you can be quiet, Carrie, I'll tell you. I want you to come with me to another city." "Ah," said Carrie, her voice breaking into a weak cry. "Let me go. I don't want to go with you." The guy's audacity terrified her. It never crossed her mind. She had only one thought now, to get out of the car and leave him. If only this speeding train could be stopped. , so that this terrible deception can be undone. She got up and tried to push her way to the passage...anywhere. She knew she had to do something, and Hurstwood put out a hand and pressed her lightly.

"Sit still, Carrie," said he, "sit still, and it won't do you any good to get up now. Listen to me, and I'll tell you what I'm going to do. Just wait a minute." She was pushing his knee, and he just pulled her back. No one noticed the little quarrel, because there were so few people in the carriage and they were all trying to doze off. "I don't want to," said Carrie, but she sat down against her will. "Let me go," she cried. "How dare you?" Big tears began to well up in her eyes. Hurstwood was now so engrossed in the trouble before him that he no longer thought of his own situation. He must first get the girl settled, or she would give him trouble. He tried to persuade her with all his might. "Listen now, Carrie," he said. "You don't have to do this. I didn't mean to make you sad. I don't want to do anything to make you sad." "Ah," sobbed Carrie. "Ah, ah... woo... woo." "Well, well," he said. "You don't have to cry. Listen to me, okay? Just listen to me for a minute, and I'll tell you why I did it. There's nothing else I can do. I promise you , I really can't think of any other way. Will you listen to me?" He was so disturbed by her sobs that he thought she must not have heard a word he said. "Will you listen to me?" he asked. "No, I don't want to listen," said Carrie, furious. "I want you to get me out of here, or I'll call the conductor. I won't go with you. Shameful." Again the sob of terror interrupted what she was about to say. Hurstwood listened to this with some surprise. He felt that she had every reason to be so sad, but he still hoped that the matter could be settled as soon as possible. The conductor was coming to check the ticket in a moment. quiet her down. "You can't get off when the train doesn't stop," said Hurstwood. "We'll be at the next stop in a little while. Then you can get off if you want to. I won't stop you. I Just want you to listen to me. Let me tell you, okay?" Carrie didn't seem to be listening. She just turned her head to the window, which was dark. The train was moving steadily on, over fields and through bushes. The long siren sound is full of sad, musical charm. At this moment the conductor came into the car and examined the tickets of one or two passengers boarding at Chicago. As he approached Hurstwood, Hurstwood handed over two tickets. Carrie, though, was ready to act. , but she didn't move. She didn't even look back. Hurstwood breathed a sigh of relief when the conductor left. "You're angry with me because I lied to you," said he. "I didn't mean to, Carrie. I really didn't mean to. I had to. When I saw you for the first time, I can't live without you." He brushed aside the last deceit, as if it could be ignored. He wanted to convince her that his wife was no longer a barrier between them. The money he stole , he tried to forget all about it. "Don't talk to me," said Carrie. "I hate you. I want you to go away. I'll get off at the next stop." When she spoke, she trembled with excitement and rebellion. "Okay," he said, "but you gotta hear me out first, okay? After all you said you loved me, you better listen to me. I don't want to do anything to hurt you. When you go, I'll will pay you back. I just want to tell you, Carrie, that whatever you think, you can't stop me from loving you." He looked at her tenderly, but heard no answer. "You think I've cheated you basely, but I didn't. I didn't mean to. I'm done with my wife. She can't ask me any more. I won't see you any more. He. That's why I'm here tonight. That's why I've come to take you away." "You said Charlie was hurt," said Carrie viciously. "You lied to me. You've been cheating on me, and now you're forcing me to elope with you." She stood up excitedly, and was going to pass him again. He let her pass, and she took another seat. Then he followed. "Don't leave me, Carrie," he said softly, "let me explain. If you'll hear me out, you'll understand where I stand. I tell you, my wife is nothing to me. That's it, otherwise I wouldn't come to you. I want a divorce as soon as possible. I will never see her again. I'm done with it. You are the only one I want. As long as I can have you, I Never think about any other woman." Carrie listened to this speech with fury. Whatever he had done, it sounded sincere. There was a tension in Hurstwood's voice and manner which had to produce a certain effect. She I don't want to have anything to do with him. He has a wife, he has cheated on her once, and now he is coming to cheat her again. She thinks he is terrible. However, his boldness and boldness are really attractive to a woman. If she can make her If you feel that all this is caused by loving her, it will especially fascinate her. The movement of the train did a great deal to resolve the impasse. Chicago was being thrown farther and farther away by the wheels racing forward and the country disappearing backward. Carrie could feel that she was being carried somewhere far away. ...the locomotive was almost heading straight for some distant city. Sometimes it seemed to her to shout and make a scene so that someone would come to her help; and sometimes it seemed useless to do so. ...no matter what she did, no one would come to her aid. Hurstwood had been making painstaking intercessions, trying to move her into sympathy for him. "I really had to do it." Carrie dismissed it. "When I realized that you wouldn't want to see me unless I married you, I decided to drop everything and take you with me. I'm going to another city now. I want to go to Montreal for a while, Then you can go wherever you want. As long as you say go to New York, we will live in New York." "I don't want anything to do with you," said Carrie, "I want to get off. Where shall we go now?" "To Detroit," said Hurstwood. "Ah!" said Carrie, with a pang of pain in her heart. The destination seemed so remote and so definite that the matter seemed all the more difficult. "Would you come with me?" he said, as if afraid she would not. "You have nothing to do but travel with me. I will never bother you. You can see Montreal and New York later if you don't want to Stay, and you can go back. It's better than you go back tonight." For the first time Carrie heard a reasonable proposal. It seemed feasible, though she dreaded his disapproval if she tried to act on it. Montreal and New York! And at the moment she was going to These great and strange places flew, and she could see them if she wanted to, she thought, without making a sound. Hurstwood, feeling now that he saw a glimmer of hope that she might agree to the proposal, redoubled his enthusiasm. "Think," he said, "of all I've given up. I'll never go back to Chicago. If you don't come with me, I'll be alone now. You won't abandon me, Don't you, Carrie?" "I don't want to hear you," she answered firmly. Hurstwood was silent for a moment. Carrie felt the train slowing down. If she really wanted to act, now was the time to act. She moved restlessly. "Don't try to go, Carrie," he said. "If you ever liked me, come with me, and let us begin now. I will do what you say. I can marry you, or Let you go back. Give yourself a moment to think. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't have called you here. I tell you, Carrie, I can't live without you. I don't want to live without you. gone." The man's plea was so strong that it aroused Carrie's deep sympathy. It was the consuming fire that drove him at the moment. He loved her too much to imagine giving her up at this moment, in his agony. He He grabbed her hand nervously, and held it tightly with earnest pleading. The train was about to stop at this moment. It was passing some cars on the side track. It was dark and desolate outside. A few drops of water began to show on the windows that it was raining. Carrie was in a dilemma. Determined, yet helpless. The train had stopped, and she was still listening to his pleas. The locomotive fell back a few feet, and then everything was still. She was still wavering, unable to act at all. As the minutes passed, she was still hesitating, and he was still begging. "If I want to go back, will you let me go back?" she asked, as if she had now gained the upper hand and completely conquered her companion. "Of course," he answered, "you know I will." Carrie just listened, like one who has temporarily declared amnesty. She began to feel as if the matter were entirely within her grasp. The train sped away again. Hurstwood changed the subject. "Are you tired?" he said. "No," she replied. "May I get you a berth in the sleeper car?" She shook her head, and despite her troubles and his scheming, she was beginning to notice something she had always felt . . . he was considerate. "Take one," he said. "You'll feel better." She shook her head. "Then let me cushion you with my overcoat," he stood up, and placed his light coat comfortably on the back of her head. "Well," he said softly, "now you will see if you can rest." Seeing her resignation, he was tempted to kiss her. He sat down on the seat beside her, and thought for a while. "I see a heavy rain," he said. "It seems so," said Carrie, and her nerves were gradually calmed by the sound of raindrops brought by a gust of wind. The train was speeding away through the darkness toward a newer world. Hurstwood was satisfied that he had calmed Carrie somewhat, but it was only a brief consolation. Now that she had no objection, he could spend all his time thinking about his mistake. He was in a miserable position, for he didn't want the shameful money he had stolen, he didn't want to look like a thief. That money, or anything else, could never compensate for the past situation he had so foolishly left behind. It couldn't give back his crowd of friends, his fame, his house and family, nor the Carrie he imagined he had. He was banished from Chicago... banished Out of his relaxed, comfortable environment. He personally deprived himself of dignity, happy parties and pleasant evenings. And for what? The more he thought about it, the more it became unbearable. He began to think that he would try to restore his original Some circumstances. He's going to give back the ignominious money he stole last night, and explain it. Maybe Moy will understand. Maybe they'll forgive him and let him go back. At noon, as the train rumbled into Detroit, he began to feel very nervous. The police must be after him by now. They may have notified the police in the major cities, and there would be detectives watching him. He thought of some criminals who embezzled public funds An example of being arrested and brought to justice. As a result, he was breathing heavily, his face was a little pale, and his hands were at a loss, as if he was trying to do something. He pretended to be interested in a few scenery outside the car, but in fact he was a little interested No. He tapped his foot on the floor repeatedly. Carrie saw his agitation, but said nothing. She had no idea what it meant or its importance. At this point he wondered why he hadn't asked if the train was going direct to Montreal or somewhere in Canada. Maybe he could save some time. He jumped up and went to the conductor. "Is there a Montreal-bound car on this bus?" he asked. "Yes, there is a sleeper car in the back." He wanted to ask a few more questions, but he felt that it was not wise, so he decided to ask at the station. The train puffed and rumbled into the yard. "I think we'd better go straight to Montreal," he said to Carrie, "and I'll see how we can transfer when we get off." He was very nervous, but he tried to look calm. Carrie just looked at him with wide, uneasy eyes. She was very confused and didn't know what to do. The train stopped, and Hurstwood led her out. He looked round cautiously, pretending to be attending to Carrie. Ascertaining that he was not being watched, he made his way to the box office. "When does the next train to Montreal leave?" he asked. "In twenty minutes," said the conductor. He bought two tickets plus a first-class sleeper ticket. Then he hurried back to Carrie. "We'll be in the car again right away," said he, hardly noticing how tired and weary Carrie looked. "I hope I'm not involved," she cried complainingly. "You'll feel better when you get to Montreal," he said. "I have nothing with me," said Carrie, "not even a handkerchief." "Once there, you can go and buy everything you need, dearest," he explained. "You can send for a tailor." At this moment the people on the platform shouted that the train was about to start, and they got on. The train started, and Hurstwood was relieved, and presently the train reached the river, where they crossed. As soon as the train got off the ferry, he took a breath of relief and sat down. "It won't be long," said he. Relieved, he thought of Carrie again. "We'll be there early in the morning." Carrie dismissed the answer. "I'll see if there's a dining car," he added, "I'm hungry."