# The Solitary Passenger explained — Simon > Chapter companion for Simon by J. Storer Clouston. ## What happens A mysterious, secretive man travels by train to a small northern town, avoiding fellow passengers and sneaking off the train without a ticket. He wanders the streets until nightfall, then stealthily approaches a house through a dark drive, hiding in the shrubbery as two women hurry past and men's voices are heard in the road. ## Themes in this chapter ### Secrecy and Silence The passenger's elaborate efforts to travel alone, hide from ticket inspectors, and avoid being seen or recognized. ### Suspicion and Rumor The passenger's furtive behavior and nervousness suggest he is hiding something, inviting suspicion. ## Character check-ins ### F. T. Carrington The solitary passenger, who travels secretly and economically, avoiding recognition. ## Key lines > The passenger in the last third class compartment but one, looking out of the window sombrely and intently, saw nothing now but desolate brown hills and a winding lonely river, very northern looking under the autumnal sky. A man in a train car gazed gloomily at the barren hills and river of the northern landscape. _Establishes the setting and the passenger's mood._ > He had no ticket, he confessed, but named the last station as his place of departure and the next as his destination. Being an entirely respectable looking person, his statement was accepted and he slipped the change for half a crown into his pocket; just as he had done a number of times previously in the course of his journey. The man lied about his ticket, claiming he boarded at the previous station, and pocketed the change, having done this trick several times before. _Reveals his economical and deceitful nature._ > Even as they were slowing down, he fell on his knees and then stretched himself at full length on the floor, and when the door was flung open for an instant, the compartment was to all appearances empty. As the train slowed, he hid under the seat so the compartment looked empty when the door was opened. _Shows his extreme measures to avoid detection._ > He glanced out of the window for an instant at the lights of the platform ahead, and the groups under them, and the arch of the station roof against the night sky, and then swiftly stepped across the carriage and gently opened the door on the wrong side. He looked quickly at the station, then crossed the car and quietly opened the door on the side away from the platform. _He exits the train on the opposite side to avoid being seen._ > Under a lamppost a figure appeared to be lingering, and at the sight of this, the man drew his hat still more closely over his face and moved on. Seeing someone under a streetlamp, he pulled his hat lower and hurried away. _He continues to avoid recognition._ > He worked his way round, like one quite familiar with the route he followed, till at length he drew near the same quiet country road whence he had started. He circled back, clearly knowing the area, until he returned to the same road he had first entered. _Indicates he is familiar with the town._ > Under the shade of the trees the drive ahead was pitch dark, but footsteps and voices were certainly coming from the house. In an instant he had vanished into the belt of plantation along one side of the drive. Hearing footsteps and voices from the house, he quickly hid in the trees beside the driveway. _He hides as people approach._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/simon_se/chapters/i-the-solitary-passenger - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/simon_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/simon_se/chapters