I concluded I must have put it in my mouth and swallowed it inadvertently.
"I didn't know what to do.

Would the conductor, I wondered, stop the car and put me off in ignominy and shame?
Was it possible that I could convince him that I was merely the victim of my own absentmindedness, and not an unprincipled creature trying to obtain a ride upon false pretenses?
How I wished that Alec or Alonzo were there.

But they weren't because I wanted them.

If I HADN'T wanted them they would have been there by the dozen.

And I couldn't decide what to say to the conductor when he came around.