The Railway Children E. Nesbit (classic novels for teens .txt) đ
- Author: E. Nesbit
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âJust to say you were the light of her life and then go to sleep again. Yes. That wouldnât be bad,â said Bobbie.
âWhen I get married,â said Phyllis, âI shall want him to want me to be awake all the time, so that I can hear him say how nice I am.â
âI think it would be nice,â said Bobbie, âto marry someone very poor, and then youâd do all the work and heâd love you most frightfully, and see the blue wood smoke curling up among the trees from the domestic hearth as he came home from work every night. I sayâ âweâve got to answer that letter and say that the time and place will be convenient to us. Thereâs the soap, Peter. Weâre both as clean as clean. That pink box of writing paper you had on your birthday, Phil.â
It took some time to arrange what should be said. Mother had gone back to her writing, and several sheets of pink paper with scalloped gilt edges and green four-leaved shamrocks in the corner were spoiled before the three had decided what to say. Then each made a copy and signed it with its own name.
The threefold letter ran:â â
âDear Mr. Jabez Inglewoodâ âThank you very much. We did not want to be rewarded but only to save the train, but we are glad you think so and thank you very much. The time and place you say will be quite convenient to us. Thank you very much.
âYour affecate little friend,â
Then came the name, and after it:â â
âP.S. Thank you very much.â
âWashing is much easier than ironing,â said Bobbie, taking the clean dry dresses off the line. âI do love to see things come clean. Ohâ âI donât know how we shall wait till itâs time to know what presentation theyâre going to present!â
When at lastâ âit seemed a very long time afterâ âit was the day, the three children went down to the station at the proper time. And everything that happened was so odd that it seemed like a dream. The Station Master came out to meet themâ âin his best clothes, as Peter noticed at onceâ âand led them into the waiting room where once they had played the advertisement game. It looked quite different now. A carpet had been put downâ âand there were pots of roses on the mantelpiece and on the window ledgesâ âgreen branches stuck up, like holly and laurel are at Christmas, over the framed advertisement of Cookâs Tours and the Beauties of Devon and the Paris Lyons Railway. There were quite a number of people there besides the Porterâ âtwo or three ladies in smart dresses, and quite a crowd of gentlemen in high hats and frock coatsâ âbesides everybody who belonged to the station. They recognized several people who had been in the train on the red-flannel-petticoat day. Best of all their own old gentleman was there, and his coat and hat and collar seemed more than ever different from anyone elseâs. He shook hands with them and then everybody sat down on chairs, and a gentleman in spectaclesâ âthey found out afterwards that he was the District Superintendentâ âbegan quite a long speechâ âvery clever indeed. I am not going to write the speech down. First, because you would think it dull; and secondly, because it made all the children blush so, and get so hot about the ears that I am quite anxious to get away from this part of the subject; and thirdly, because the gentleman took so many words to say what he had to say that I really havenât time to write them down. He said all sorts of nice things about the childrenâs bravery and presence of mind, and when he had done he sat down, and everyone who was there clapped and said, âHear, hear.â
And then the old gentleman got up and said things, too. It was very like a prize-giving. And then he called the children one by one, by their names, and gave each of them a beautiful gold watch and chain. And inside the watches were engraved after the name of the watchâs new owner:â â
âFrom the Directors of the Northern and Southern Railway in grateful recognition of the courageous and prompt action which averted an accident on âž» 1905.â
The watches were the most beautiful you can possibly imagine, and each one had a blue leather case to live in when it was at home.
âYou must make a speech now and thank everyone for their kindness,â whispered the Station Master in Peterâs ear and pushed him forward. âBegin âLadies and Gentlemen,âââ he added.
Each of the children had already said âThank you,â quite properly.
âOh, dear,â said Peter, but he did not resist the push.
âLadies and Gentlemen,â he said in a rather husky voice. Then there was a pause, and he heard his heart beating in his throat. âLadies and Gentlemen,â he went on with a rush, âitâs most awfully good of you, and we shall treasure the watches all our livesâ âbut really we donât deserve it because what we did wasnât anything, really. At least, I mean it was awfully exciting, and what I mean to sayâ âthank you all very, very much.â
The people clapped Peter more than they had done the District Superintendent, and then everybody shook hands with them, and as soon as politeness would let them, they got away, and tore up the hill to Three Chimneys with their watches in their hands.
It was a wonderful dayâ âthe kind of day that very seldom happens to anybody and to most of us not at all.
âI did want to talk to the old gentleman about something else,â said Bobbie, âbut it was so publicâ âlike being in church.â
âWhat did you want to say?â asked Phyllis.
âIâll tell you when Iâve thought about it more,â said Bobbie.
So
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