THE TRAMPS' RETREAT
The boys needed no second invitation. Even Pee Wee shook off his usual
laziness. With a single impulse they sprang from their chairs and
trooped out into the dining room.
It seemed to the hungry boys as though nothing had ever looked so good
as the meal that their hostess had provided for them. There was a huge
dish of bacon and eggs, plates piled high with snowy, puffy biscuit,
which, as Mrs. Wilson told them, she had "knocked together" in a hurry,
smoking hot from the oven, a great platter of fried potatoes, and, to
crown the feast, mince and apple and pumpkin pies whose flaky crusts
seemed to fairly beg to be eaten.
A simultaneous "ah-h" came from the boys, as they looked at the store of
good things set before them, and the way they plunged into the meal was
the sincerest tribute that could be paid to the cookery of their
hostess. It brought a glow of pleasure into her kindly eyes and a happy
flush to her cheeks. She fluttered about them like a hen over her
chicks, renewing the dishes, pressing them to take more--a thing which
was wholly unnecessary--and joining in their jokes and laughter. It is
safe to say that a merrier meal had not been enjoyed in that old
farmhouse for many a day.
But even a meal like that had to come to an end at last, and it was with
a sigh of perfect satisfaction that the boys finally sat back in their
chairs and looked about at the complete wreck they had made of the
viands.
"Looks as if a whirlwind had passed this way," remarked Mouser.
"I never enjoyed a meal so much," said Pee Wee.
"Well, you're certainly a judge," laughed Fred. "When you say a meal's
the limit you know what you're talking about. And this time I agree with
you."
"I'm glad you liked things," put in Mrs. Wilson. "It does me good to see
the way you boys eat."
"I'm afraid you wouldn't make much money if you had us as steady
boarders," smiled Bobby.
"Come right back to the living room and get yourselves warm as toast
before you start out again in this wind," urged their hostess.
"We'd like to ever so much," replied Bobby. "But I guess we'd better be
getting along. Perhaps that snow plough will get down sooner than we
thought, and everything's been so good here that I'm afraid perhaps
we've stayed too long already."
They wrapped themselves up warmly, and then Bobby as spokesman turned to
their hostess.
"How much do we owe you?" he asked, taking out his pocketbook, while the
others prepared to do the same.
"You don't owe me a cent!" declared Mrs. Wilson with emphasis.
"Oh, but yes," rejoined Bobby, somewhat startled. "We couldn't think of
letting you go to all that trouble and expense without paying for it."
"I won't take a penny, bless your hearts," Mrs. Wilson repeated. "It's
been a real joy to have you here. I haven't any children of my own, and
the old place gets a bit lonesome at times. I haven't had such a good
time for years as I've had this morning, seeing you eat so hearty and
listening to your fun. I feel that I owe you a good deal more than you
do me."
She was firm in her determination, although the boys pressed the matter
as far as they could without offending her. So they were forced at last
to yield to her wishes and return the money to their pockets.
It was with the warmest thanks that they left their kind-hearted hostess
and went down the steps, Tiger accompanying them to the gate. He seemed
to want to go further and whined softly when Mouser patted him good-bye.
"Isn't she a prince?" said Pee Wee admiringly, as they waved their hands
in farewell.
"A princess you mean," corrected Mouser.
"Have it your own way," retorted Pee Wee. "Whichever name's the best,
she's that."
They were in a high state of elation as they ploughed their way across
the snowy fields. They were blissfully conscious of being, as Mouser put
it, "full to the chin," and little else was needed at their age to make
their happiness complete.
But they were sharply awakened by the sound of a whistle.
"That must be our train," cried Fred in alarm.
"That's what it is," assented Bobby, quickening his pace. "We stayed a
long time at the table, and the snow-plough must have come along sooner
than they thought it would. Hurry, fellows, hurry!" and he tried to
break into a run.
The others followed his example, but the snow was too deep for that. It
clung about their feet and legs until they felt that they were moving in
a nightmare.
"She's going, fellows!" shouted Mouser in despair, as a stream of smoke
began to stretch out behind the moving train.
"And all our bags and things are on board!" wailed Fred.
"Now we're in a pretty mess," gasped Pee Wee, slumping down in the snow.
There was no use in hurrying now, and they looked blankly at each other
as they came to a full stop.
"Scubbity-_yow_!" howled Fred as the only way to relieve his feelings.
"Well, I'll be jiggered!" exclaimed Mouser.
Pee Wee was too tired out from his exertion to say anything, and Bobby,
too, kept silent, though for a different reason. He was busy thinking of
the best way to get out of the tangle.
"There's no use in worrying about our baggage, fellows," he said at
last. "Probably the conductor will take good care of that. And we may be
able to send a telegram from some place telling the conductor to put our
things off at Rockledge and leave them in care of the station agent
there. What we've got to worry about is ourselves. We can't stay here,
and we've got to find some way to get another train as soon as we can.
Have any of you fellows got a time table?"
"I had one," replied Mouser, "but it's in my bag on the train."
None of the others had one and Bobby came to a quick decision.
"There's no other way," he announced. "We'll have to go back and ask
Mrs. Wilson. She'll know all about the trains and what's the best
station for us to go to."
They trudged back rather forlornly and explained their plight to Mrs.
Wilson, who was full of sympathy.
"I'd like to have you stay here all night," she volunteered, "and Mr.
Wilson will take you over to the station in a rig to-morrow morning."
They thanked her heartily, but explained that this was out of the
question. They would be missed from the train, telegrams would be flying
back and forth and their parents would be anxious and excited. They must
get to some place where they could either telegraph or, better yet, get
a train that would land them in Rockledge that afternoon or evening.
"I'll tell you what to do," she suggested, as a thought struck her. "You
can't get a train on this line you've been traveling on until very late
to-night. But there's another road that crosses this at a junction about
two miles from here and connects with the main line that goes on to
Rockledge. There's an afternoon train on that line that you'll have
plenty of time to make, and it will land you in Rockledge before night.
There's a telegraph office there too, and you can send any messages you
like before you board the train."
"That's just the very thing," cried Bobby with enthusiasm.
"Just what the doctor ordered," chuckled Mouser.
She gave them very careful directions for finding the station, and as
there was none too much time and the walking was bound to be slow they
set out at once, after thanking their friend for having come a second
time to their relief.
Their path led for the most part through a wood and they passed no other
houses on their way. Even in summer it was evident that the locality was
wild and deserted. Now with the snow over everything it was especially
desolate.
"You might almost think you were up in the Big Woods," commented Mouser.
"That's what," agreed Fred. "It would be a dandy place for train robbers
and that kind of fellows."
"I'd hate to be wandering around here at night," remarked Pee Wee, who
was panting with the exertion of keeping up with the others.
"It would give one a sort of creepy feeling, like being in a cemetery,"
assented Bobby.
Suddenly Fred uttered an exclamation.
"There's a little house right over in that hollow," he cried, pointing
to the right.
"More like a hut or a shack than a regular house, seems to me," grunted
Mouser.
"I don't believe there's any one living there," commented Pee Wee.
"Yes, there must be," declared Bobby. "I can see the light of a fire
shining through the window."
The hut in question was a dilapidated structure of only one story that
stood in a little hollow just off the road. It was in the last stages of
decay and looked as though a strong wind would blow it to pieces. There
were no fences nor barn nor any wagon or farm implement in sight.
Yet that some one lived in the crazy shack was evident, as Bobby had
said, by the red light that came flickeringly through the only window
that the cabin possessed.
"Let's stop there for a minute and get warm," suggested Fred. "Then,
too, we can make sure that we're still on the right road to the
station."
"What's the use?" cautioned Bobby. "We got left once to-day by stopping
too long."
"It will only take a minute," urged Fred.
As the others also wanted to stop, and Bobby did not wish to insist too
much, they all went down into the hollow together.
The snow of course deadened their footsteps, so that whoever was in the
cabin had no notice of their approach.
Fred, who was in advance, rapped on the door.
There was silence for a moment and then the door swung open and a rough
looking man appeared on the sill.
"What do you want?" he asked gruffly.
"We wanted to ask directions about the road," said Fred, a little
dismayed by the fellow's surly manner.
The man looked them over for a moment, noticed that they were well
dressed and hesitated no longer.
"Come in," he said briefly, and stood aside for them to pass.