LEFT ALONE
Some thought of where the train might be taking them must have come into
the minds of Bunny and Sue for, after they had eaten as many of the nuts
as they wanted and had had another drink of water from Nutty's bottle,
Bunny asked the tramp:
"Do you know where we are going, Mr. Nutty?"
"Why, no, I can't exactly say I do," answered the old tramp, with a
smile on his face. Bunny and Sue could see him smile, for the candle
gave a good light. "Where do you want to go?" he asked.
"I want to go to my mother and daddy," answered Sue. "I want to go with
them to Florida so I can pick oranges."
"And I want to see alligators," added Bunny. "Do you think daddy and
mother will come along on the next train?" he asked.
Nutty, the tramp, shook his head.
"I don't know what to think about you children," he said. "It's plain to
me that your mother doesn't know where you are, or your father, either.
And by this time your mother must be worried because you haven't come
back to her where she's waiting on the station platform. About how long
ago was it you climbed into the freight car to get my kitten?"
"About an hour," answered Bunny, after a little thought.
"Oh, it was five hours," said Sue, who did not have so good an idea of
time as had her brother. "It was maybe six hours and I want my mother!"
She seemed on the verge of tears, and Nutty, understanding this, quickly
said:
"Let's give Toddle some more milk!"
"Oh, let me feed him!" begged Sue. And as she poured some milk from the
bottle into the sardine tin and watched pussy lap it up, the little girl
forgot her tears.
"When do you think the train will stop?" asked Bunny, after he had
watched Sue feed the little kitten.
"Oh, pretty soon now, I guess," answered the old man. "Are you getting
tired?"
"A little," Bunny answered. "I don't like this car."
"I don't, either!" joined in Sue. "It hasn't any nice seats, and there
isn't any carpet on the floor."
"And you can't look out any windows," added her brother.
"No," agreed Nutty, with a laugh. "Freight cars aren't very good places
from which to see scenery when you travel. But I'm glad there aren't any
windows. If there were the railroad men could look in and see us, and
then they'd put me off."
"What for?" Bunny wanted to know.
"Well, because I'm a tramp, for one thing. And because I haven't any
ticket for another. I'm sort of stealing a ride, you know, and the
railroad men don't like that. If they saw me they'd put me off."
Without saying anything Bunny arose and started across the swaying car
toward the partly opened door--the door which showed a crack of light,
though the crack was not big enough to let Bunny or Sue squeeze through.
"Where are you going, Bunny?" asked Nutty.
"I'm going to stand by this door," answered the little boy, "and maybe a
railroad man will see me and put me off. That's what I want to do--I
want to get off this train!"
"Yes," said Nutty, in a kind voice, "I suppose that is what you want to
do--get off. And you ought to be sent back to your mother. I wish I
could help you. But I'm afraid."
"What you 'fraid of?" asked Sue, petting Toddle.
"Well, I'm afraid of what the railroad men, and maybe a policeman, might
do to me if they found me in here with you two children," went on the
tramp. "They'd think I was trying to kidnap you, and they might send me
to jail."
"We could tell them you were good to us," said Bunny. "And that you gave
us nuts and water to eat."
"And I'd tell the men about how you took care of the pussy," said Sue.
"Yes, I know you would be kind," the old man remarked. "But, for all
that, the railroad men might think I was a bad man and arrest me. You'd
better come away from that door, Bunny. You might fall out. And besides,
I'd rather a railroad man wouldn't see you--just yet."
"But can't we ever go back to our mother and daddy?" asked Bunny, as he
walked over and sat down beside his sister and Nutty.
"Oh, yes, I'm just trying to think of a way to help you," the old tramp
answered. "Let me think a minute."
Bunny and Sue had often heard their mother say this, and they knew she
wanted to be quiet and not have them talk when she was trying to make up
her mind about something they had asked her. Thinking Nutty would want
the same silence, Bunny and Sue talked only in whispers while Nutty was
"thinking."
At last Nutty said:
"I think I have it now. This train ought to stop pretty soon at a water
tank to give the engine a drink. When it does then you children can get
off."
"That'll be nice!" exclaimed Sue.
"Will our mother be there?" Bunny wanted to know.
"Well, yes, maybe," answered Nutty, though, really, he did not think so.
Still it might be that Mrs. Brown had seen the children climb into the
freight car, and she may have had a glimpse of the engine backing down,
coupling to the string of cars and starting off with them.
From the station agent Mrs. Brown could find out where the freight train
would first stop, and, by taking a fast express train, she could arrive
ahead of the freight. So it was possible for her to be waiting to greet
Bunny and Sue when they got off the freight. But, for all that, Nutty
did not believe this. He just said it to make Bunny and Sue feel better.
And while this was not just right and honest, Nutty, who was only a poor
tramp, probably did not know any better.
"I wish the train would stop pretty soon," sighed Sue. "I'm getting
tired and I want my mother. But you have been good," she quickly said.
"And I like Toddle."
"And the nuts were dandy!" exclaimed Bunny.
"I'm glad I had plenty," said the old man. "Now," he went on, "you
children sit here quietly with Toddle, and I'll go to that door and look
out. When I see a place where I think the train's going to stop I'll
call you. But don't come until I do, and keep well back away from the
crack in the door, so no train men will see you."
Bunny and Sue did not want to get their friend in trouble, so moved back
into the corner, taking the kitten with them. The little animal seemed
to like Sue very much, and purred contentedly in her lap.
Nutty arose and walked over to the partly opened door of the freight
car. Bunny and Sue, seated in a distant corner, could not see the tramp
very well, but, if they could have watched him they would have seen
Nutty opening the door wider, inch by inch.
It had slid shut, as I have told you, when the engine suddenly pulled
the freight car along, and though a small crack remained open Bunny was
not strong enough to slide the door all the way back and make the
opening wider. But Nutty, being stronger, had no trouble in making the
door slide.
The old tramp had made up his mind to run away from the children. He was
really afraid of being arrested and having it said that he had tried to
kidnap them, and as he knew he had no such idea he did not care to be
punished for something he had not done.
So he had made up his mind to jump off the train when it slowed up,
leaving Bunny and Sue alone. And that is why he sent the children to the
dark corner, so they could not see him open the door. He thought if they
saw him they would want to follow.
"If I can get away," said Nutty to himself, "I'll tell some of the
railroad men that I saw two kids in one of the empty cars, and the
railroad men will look after them. But I don't want them to find _me_
here."
Slowly and carefully Nutty slid back the door, inch by inch, in order to
make the crack wide enough for him to jump out when the train slowed
up. He glanced toward the dark corner where Bunny and Sue were sitting,
playing with the cat. The candle was still burning, but the children
were some distance from it.
"I'll have to leave all my things behind," thought Nutty, as he got the
door open as wide as he needed. "I'll leave 'em my store of nuts and the
water to drink. I'll have to leave Toddle, too."
The thought of leaving behind his little kitten made the old tramp feel
rather sad. But he knew that if he picked Toddle up and gathered
together his tin boxes and the bottles Bunny and Sue would guess that he
intended to go away from them.
"I'll just leave everything--even the pussy," thought Nutty. "I can
easily get more nuts and bottles of water. I'll jump off as soon as the
train slows up a little more. I don't want to be arrested as a
kidnapper."
Watching his chance, and noticing that the train was moving quite slowly
now, Nutty thrust himself half way out of the crack. He glanced toward
Bunny and Sue. They were trying to make the kitten stand up on his hind
legs, and did not see the tramp.
"This is my chance!" thought the ragged man, with a last, kind look
toward the children. "I'm sorry to leave you all alone," he went on,
"but it's better so. And I'll send help to you if I can."
A moment later he jumped from the moving freight car and landed on the
ground, running along a little way, and then darting into some bushes
beside the track so no railroad men would see him.
"There! I'm safe!" thought Nutty. "Bunny and Sue will be all right, too,
I hope!"
And the little boy and girl, left alone in the freight car, were being
carried farther and farther away, for the train did not stop. As soon as
Nutty had leaped off it started up again.