The Railway Children E. Nesbit (classic novels for teens .txt) š
- Author: E. Nesbit
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Inside the Station Masterās room Bobbie still held the strangerās hand and stroked his sleeve.
āHereās a go,ā said the Station Master; āno ticketā ādoesnāt even know where he wants to go. Iām not sure now but what I ought to send for the police.ā
āOh, donāt!ā all the children pleaded at once. And suddenly Bobbie got between the others and the stranger, for she had seen that he was crying.
By a most unusual piece of good fortune she had a handkerchief in her pocket. By a still more uncommon accident the handkerchief was moderately clean. Standing in front of the stranger, she got out the handkerchief and passed it to him so that the others did not see.
āWait till Mother comes,ā Phyllis was saying; āshe does speak French beautifully. Youād just love to hear her.ā
āIām sure he hasnāt done anything like youāre sent to prison for,ā said Peter.
āLooks like without visible means to me,ā said the Station Master. āWell, I donāt mind giving him the benefit of the doubt till your Mamma comes. I should like to know what nationās got the credit of him, that I should.ā
Then Peter had an idea. He pulled an envelope out of his pocket, and showed that it was half full of foreign stamps.
āLook here,ā he said, āletās show him theseā āā
Bobbie looked and saw that the stranger had dried his eyes with her handkerchief. So she said: āAll right.ā
They showed him an Italian stamp, and pointed from him to it and back again, and made signs of question with their eyebrows. He shook his head. Then they showed him a Norwegian stampā āthe common blue kind it wasā āand again he signed No. Then they showed him a Spanish one, and at that he took the envelope from Peterās hand and searched among the stamps with a hand that trembled. The hand that he reached out at last, with a gesture as of one answering a question, contained a Russian stamp.
āHeās Russian,ā cried Peter, āor else heās like āthe man who wasāā āin Kipling, you know.ā
The train from Maidbridge was signalled.
āIāll stay with him till you bring Mother in,ā said Bobbie.
āYouāre not afraid, Missie?ā
āOh, no,ā said Bobbie, looking at the stranger, as she might have looked at a strange dog of doubtful temper. āYou wouldnāt hurt me, would you?ā
She smiled at him, and he smiled back, a queer crooked smile. And then he coughed again. And the heavy rattling swish of the incoming train swept past, and the Station Master and Peter and Phyllis went out to meet it. Bobbie was still holding the strangerās hand when they came back with Mother.
The Russian rose and bowed very ceremoniously.
Then Mother spoke in French, and he replied, haltingly at first, but presently in longer and longer sentences.
The children, watching his face and Motherās, knew that he was telling her things that made her angry and pitying, and sorry and indignant all at once.
āWell, Mum, whatās it all about?ā The Station Master could not restrain his curiosity any longer.
āOh,ā said Mother, āitās all right. Heās a Russian, and heās lost his ticket. And Iām afraid heās very ill. If you donāt mind, Iāll take him home with me now. Heās really quite worn out. Iāll run down and tell you all about him tomorrow.ā
āI hope you wonāt find youāre taking home a frozen viper,ā said the Station Master, doubtfully.
āOh, no,ā Mother said brightly, and she smiled; āIām quite sure Iām not. Why, heās a great man in his own country, writes booksā ābeautiful booksā āIāve read some of them; but Iāll tell you all about it tomorrow.ā
She spoke again in French to the Russian, and everyone could see the surprise and pleasure and gratitude in his eyes. He got up and politely bowed to the Station Master, and offered his arm most ceremoniously to Mother. She took it, but anybody could have seen that she was helping him along, and not he her.
āYou girls run home and light a fire in the sitting-room,ā Mother said, āand Peter had better go for the Doctor.ā
But it was Bobbie who went for the Doctor.
āI hate to tell you,ā she said breathlessly when she came upon him in his shirt sleeves, weeding his pansy-bed, ābut Motherās got a very shabby Russian, and Iām sure heāll have to belong to your Club. Iām certain he hasnāt got any money. We found him at the station.ā
āFound him! Was he lost, then?ā asked the Doctor, reaching for his coat.
āYes,ā said Bobbie, unexpectedly, āthatās just what he was. Heās been telling Mother the sad, sweet story of his life in French; and she said would you be kind enough to come directly if you were at home. He has a dreadful cough, and heās been crying.ā
The Doctor smiled.
āOh, donāt,ā said Bobbie; āplease donāt. You wouldnāt if youād seen him. I never saw a man cry before. You donāt know what itās like.ā
Dr. Forrest wished then that he hadnāt smiled.
When Bobbie and the Doctor got to Three Chimneys, the Russian was sitting in the armchair that had been Fatherās, stretching his feet to the blaze of a bright wood fire, and sipping the tea Mother had made him.
āThe man seems worn out, mind and body,ā was what the Doctor said; āthe coughās bad, but thereās nothing that canāt be cured. He ought to go straight to bed, thoughā āand let him have a fire at night.ā
āIāll make one in my room; itās the only one with a fireplace,ā said Mother. She did, and presently the Doctor helped the stranger to bed.
There was a big black trunk in Motherās room that none of the children had ever seen unlocked. Now, when she had lighted the fire, she unlocked it and took some clothes outā āmenās clothesā āand set them to air by the newly lighted fire. Bobbie, coming in with more wood for the fire, saw the mark on
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