ten minutes before one
I caught my breath , and wiped the perspiration from my brow , feeling that good fortune had favored me in the most singular manner . I had certainly given Tom Thornton the slip , and in spite of my habitual modesty , I voted unanimously that I was smart . But it was all luck , in this instance , which favored me ; for I heard some one say that the train was thirty minutes late that day . It was due in Poughkeepsie at ten minutes before one , and left half an hour behind its time . If it had been in season , of course I should have lost it . I was very thankful for the accident which , the conductor said , had delayed the train . From the car window I had frequent views of the river ; and in a short time I saw the steamer in which I had come down , ploughing her way down the stream to her destination .