Ralph on the Engine; Or, The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail. Chapman Allen
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Название: Ralph on the Engine; Or, The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail
Автор: Chapman Allen
Издательство: Bookwire
Жанр: Языкознание
isbn: 4064066223632
isbn:
“What is that, Ralph?”
“The master mechanic congratulated me this morning on what he called, ‘saving the train.’ ”
“Which you certainly did, Ralph. Why, whose wagon is that in front of the house?” inquired Mrs. Fairbanks, observing the vehicle outside for the first time.
Ralph explained the circumstances of his rescue of the vehicle to his mother.
“What are you going to do with the farmer’s boy?” she inquired.
“I want to bring him in the house until he recovers.”
“Very well, I will make up a bed on the lounge for him,” said the woman. “It is too bad, poor fellow! and shameful—the mischief of those men at the hotel.”
Ralph carried the farmer’s boy into the house. Then he ate his breakfast. After the meal was finished, he glanced at his watch. 24
“I shall have to lose a little sleep, mother,” he said. “I am anxious to help the poor fellow out, and I think I see a way to do it.”
The young fireman had noticed a small blank book under the cushion of the wagon seat. He now inspected it for the first time. All of its written pages were crossed out except one. This contained a list of names of storekeepers in Stanley Junction.
Ralph drove to the store first named in the list. Within two hours he had delivered all of the apples. It seemed that the storekeepers named in the account book ordered certain fruits and vegetables regularly from the owner of the team, the farmer himself coming to town to collect for the same twice each month.
When Ralph got back home he unhitched the horses, tied them up near the woodshed, and fed them from a bag of grain he found under the wagon seat.
“What is this, I wonder?” he said, discovering a small flat parcel under the wagon seat. The package resembled a store purchase of some kind, so, for safe keeping, Ralph placed it inside the shed.
His mother had gone to visit a sick neighbor. The farmer boy was sleeping heavily.
“Wake me before the boy leaves,” he wrote on 25 a card, leaving this for his mother on the kitchen table. Then, pretty well tired out, Ralph went to bed.
It was late in the afternoon when he awoke. He went down stairs and glanced into the sitting room.
“Why, mother,” he exclaimed, “where is the farmer boy?”
“He left two hours ago, Ralph.”
“Is that so? Then why didn’t you wake me up? I left a card for you on the kitchen table.”
“I did not find it,” said the widow, and then a search revealed the card where the wind had blown it under the stove.
“What did the boy say?” inquired Ralph.
“He told me his name was Zeph Dallas. I talked to him about his misfortunes of the morning, and he broke down and cried. Then he went out to the wagon. He found an account book there, and said you must have delivered his load for him, and that he would never forget your kindness.”
“There was a package in the wagon,” said Ralph.
“He spoke of that, and said some one must have stolen it.”
“You are sure he didn’t find it later?” inquired 26 Ralph. “It was in the woodshed, where I placed it for safe keeping.”
Ralph went out to the shed, and found the package where he had left it. He returned to the house with it, ate a hurried meal, and hastened down town. He learned that Zeph had called at several stores. The farmer boy appeared to have discovered Ralph’s interest in his behalf, and had driven home.
“I wonder what there is in the package?” mused Ralph, when he again reached the cottage. “I had better open it and find out.”
The young fireman was quite startled as he untied the parcel and glanced at its contents. The package contained two bolts of silk, and the tags on them bore the name of the firm which, Ralph had learned at Dover, had shipped the goods stolen from the slow freight two nights previous.
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