Exhausted from its long uphill climb the train came to rest overlooking a small
horseshoe cove. A thin spur of land jetted out to sea like a small oil slick. Rain
swept across the window and sprinkled quietly among the rolling waves. A
lone figure was working its way along a long sand spar increasingly isolated by
the incoming tide.
The figure had on a long yellow slicker and moved with slow deliberation. Just as
Henry Martin cleaned moisture from the windowpane the train kicked up a fuss and
rolled forward; he asked a passing conductor how much longer to Capitol City:
about forty minutes he was told.