“I’m not nearly as attrative a travelling companion as the one who just left.”–Who said this and to whom? Who had just left? What was the response of the person spoken to?

The new co-passenger of the narrator who had entered the compartment at Saharanpur said this in Ruskin Bond’s short story, ‘The Eyes Have It’. He said this to the narrator who was in reverie.
The girl who travelled with the narrator from Rohana to Saharanpur had just left.
The humorous speech of the new traveller jolted him out of his reverie and evoked the narrator’s feeling for the girl. So he wanted to know whether she had her hair long or short. However, the person spoken to made no direct comment on the new companion’s speech, This speech initiated conversation between the narrator and the new companion.