The Railway Children E. Nesbit (classic novels for teens .txt) đ
- Author: E. Nesbit
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âMotherâ âDaddy isnâtâ âisnât dead, is he?â
âMy darling, no! What made you think of anything so horrible?â
âIâ âI donât know,â said Bobbie, angry with herself, but still clinging to that resolution of hers, not to see anything that Mother didnât mean her to see.
Mother gave her a hurried hug. âDaddy was quite, quite well when I heard from him last,â she said, âand heâll come back to us some day. Donât fancy such horrible things, darling!â
Later on, when the Russian stranger had been made comfortable for the night, Mother came into the girlsâ room. She was to sleep there in Phyllisâs bed, and Phyllis was to have a mattress on the floor, a most amusing adventure for Phyllis. Directly Mother came in, two white figures started up, and two eager voices called:â â
âNow, Mother, tell us all about the Russian gentleman.â
A white shape hopped into the room. It was Peter, dragging his quilt behind him like the tail of a white peacock.
âWe have been patient,â he said, âand I had to bite my tongue not to go to sleep, and I just nearly went to sleep and I bit too hard, and it hurts ever so. Do tell us. Make a nice long story of it.â
âI canât make a long story of it tonight,â said Mother; âIâm very tired.â
Bobbie knew by her voice that Mother had been crying, but the others didnât know.
âWell, make it as long as you can,â said Phil, and Bobbie got her arms round Motherâs waist and snuggled close to her.
âWell, itâs a story long enough to make a whole book of. Heâs a writer; heâs written beautiful books. In Russia at the time of the Czar one dared not say anything about the rich people doing wrong, or about the things that ought to be done to make poor people better and happier. If one did one was sent to prison.â
âBut they canât,â said Peter; âpeople only go to prison when theyâve done wrong.â
âOr when the judges think theyâve done wrong,â said Mother. âYes, thatâs so in England. But in Russia it was different. And he wrote a beautiful book about poor people and how to help them. Iâve read it. Thereâs nothing in it but goodness and kindness. And they sent him to prison for it. He was three years in a horrible dungeon, with hardly any light, and all damp and dreadful. In prison all alone for three years.â
Motherâs voice trembled a little and stopped suddenly.
âBut, Mother,â said Peter, âthat canât be true now. It sounds like something out of a history bookâ âthe Inquisition, or something.â
âIt was true,â said Mother; âitâs all horribly true. Well, then they took him out and sent him to Siberia, a convict chained to other convictsâ âwicked men whoâd done all sorts of crimesâ âa long chain of them, and they walked, and walked, and walked, for days and weeks, till he thought theyâd never stop walking. And overseers went behind them with whipsâ âyes, whipsâ âto beat them if they got tired. And some of them went lame, and some fell down, and when they couldnât get up and go on, they beat them, and then left them to die. Oh, itâs all too terrible! And at last he got to the mines, and he was condemned to stay there for lifeâ âfor life, just for writing a good, noble, splendid book.â
âHow did he get away?â
âWhen the war came, some of the Russian prisoners were allowed to volunteer as soldiers. And he volunteered. But he deserted at the first chance he got andâ ââ
âBut thatâs very cowardly, isnât itââ âsaid Peterâ ââto desert? Especially when itâs war.â
âDo you think he owed anything to a country that had done that to him? If he did, he owed more to his wife and children. He didnât know what had become of them.â
âOh,â cried Bobbie, âhe had them to think about and be miserable about too, then, all the time he was in prison?â
âYes, he had them to think about and be miserable about all the time he was in prison. For anything he knew they might have been sent to prison, too. They did those things in Russia. But while he was in the mines some friends managed to get a message to him that his wife and children had escaped and come to England. So when he deserted he came here to look for them.â
âHad he got their address?â said practical Peter.
âNo; just England. He was going to London, and he thought he had to change at our station, and then he found heâd lost his ticket and his purse.â
âOh, do you think heâll find them?â âI mean his wife and children, not the ticket and things.â
âI hope so. Oh, I hope and pray that heâll find his wife and children again.â
Even Phyllis now perceived that motherâs voice was very unsteady.
âWhy, Mother,â she said, âhow very sorry you seem to be for him!â
Mother didnât answer for a minute. Then she just said, âYes,â and then she seemed to be thinking. The children were quiet.
Presently she said, âDears, when you say your prayers, I think you might ask God to show His pity upon all prisoners and captives.â
âTo show His pity,â Bobbie repeated slowly, âupon all prisoners and captives. Is that right, Mother?â
âYes,â said Mother, âupon all prisoners and captives. All prisoners and captives.â
VI Saviours of the TrainThe Russian gentleman
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