Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1882-11-03
THE SMALL BOY'S STORY or 4
RAILROAD KEY.

RAILROAD KEY.
tFrom an English Periodicall
1t all came Of my having a railway key and
being made to take music lessons
Thompson gave me the key when he was
leaving last term. l don't know how he
came by it, or what good it was to him, as he
never saw train except when he went home
holidays; but be was always talking Of the
convenience of having such thing when
you were travelling, and limiting at the mys-
terious penalties the company might infict il
they caught you using it.
He gave it to me in exchange for bit Of
Lefty hair (she's my sister, and Thompson
was dreadfully in love with herr and scrap
of the bonnet trimming she wore in church.
l stole that, but had to ask her for the hair,
and she brought out whole bundle and said
l might trade away the lot il chose. "Hair
wasn't worth much now"
Music was another thing altogether. Herr
Otto Finke was an old friend of my fathers,
and lived at Luckboro, our market town.
He took fancy TO me-bother him and
actually persuaded my father and mother to
let me come over to Luckboro every market
day, with my father, for a lesson in German
and music. / didn't mind dining with him
first (uncommonly queer messes we had, and
lots Of jam with them but the music was
simply disgusting-(in the holidays, too y
and the lessons generally ended by Finke get
ting to the piano himself, and warbling songs
Of his Naterland, by the hour. He did SO
once too often though-and now l have got
to my story.
We used to come and go between Moss
lands and Luckboro' by omnibus There was
a Mosslands station on the line between Luck
boro and London, but my father never went
by it if he could help it. When he did,
81 I l,l IL. l.
use it, and began to think had made q bad
bargain with Thompson.
One Tuesday, however, last winter, Finke
got so carried away by his own sweet singing
that he kept on long after 1 ought to have
started to meet my father and then got so re-
morseful that / thought he was going to cry,
or perhaps want to keep me all night.
'Look here" said, "it doesn't matter.
There's a train that gets in as soon as the
bus, can catch it if l run-good- bye !"
And OF l scudded, one arm in and one out of
my topcoRt, for l was sure he'd object, or
want to see me on. had money, and there
was train, which came up long before had
seen all wanted about the station.
l made a dash at carriage. It wasn't
locked, as 1 half hoped it might be, and in
scrambled, but was nearly blown out again
by voley of the strongest language l ever
did hear. The train started and jerked me
down into a seat before I'd time to get my
breath. was not used to bad expressions,
and my fellow travellers remarks made my
blood run cold.
There were ladies in the carriage, but he
didn't seem to mind that He had red,
scowling face with heavy red eyebrows and
bloodshot eyes All the rest of him was a
mass of railway rugs and wraps had tum-
bled over his toes into the middle seat oppo-
site, where 1 eat scared and speechless, till l
caught the eyes of the lady next to him fixed
on me.
Ugh such bad old face A tight, cruel
mouth with all sorts of coil lines about it,
and wicked, sharp gray eyes that screwed in.
to one like gimlets. 1 didn't care much for
Red Face by this time. l didn't believe he
would twist my neck and chuck me out of
the window" as he suggested but hated
her all over at once from her sausage-curls-
grizzly-grAy, two on each side-to her hook
ed claws of fingers that were twitching away
at her knitting needles, in and out of big
gray stocking.
Hush, Sammy" she said quite sweetly
''the poor child means no harm, and he can
easily get out at the next station-Where are
you going TO, lover
1 could only cape in reply, and she must
have thought l was softy, for she twisted
my ticket clean out of my hand before knew
what she was after
"Mosslands Very good, That's the next
station. I'll see him safe out, Sammy
dear"
Sammy growled an inarticulate response
from under his rugs,
The third passenger had neither spoken
nor stirred. She sat on the same side as the
other two, covered with big plaid rug and
a blue wooden veil tied over her head /
could make nothing out except that she
seemed asleep in very uncomfortable atti-
tude.
sat in the middle opposite the old woman.
It was 50 dsagreeable, finding her sharp eyes
on me while her needles clicked on Just the
same, that thought might as well pretend
and gave one or two mods, and then dropped
my face on my arm so that she couldn't see
it.
Presently heard the needles going slower
and slower, l peeped, and saw the big bonnet
and sausage -curls give lurch forward, and
then backward, once, twice then big snore;
and then she was OF, too.
didn't stir for minute, for / saw that
Sammy was up to something. He leaned for
ward and peered at her AS II to make sure she
was quite asleep then cautiously groped in
the seat beside her, and hauled up IA little
black bag. He opened il softly, drew out
slver-topped flask, and closed it just AZ
jerk of the train reused tho old lady. Sam
my dived back into his corner; and she sat
bolt upright, rubbed her eyes hard, felt sus-
piciously about till she found the bag, slowed
It away behind her, and resumed her knitting,
Only fora few moments, though with weary
groan she let stocking needles and all go
down with a run, and dropped back sounder
asleep than before.
Then from Sammy's corner came gurgle
soft and low-many times repeated, then
all was quiet.
Now was my time. l began TO look about,
and think what l should do first. Whether |
dared get up on the seat and see how the
communication with the guard worked, and
what would happen if pulled it. If the
train did stop, l could make OF, or say il was
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