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Read Ebook: Railroad building and other stories by Pansy
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Ebook has 301 lines and 12818 words, and 7 pages
RAILROAD BUILDING
A VERY SLY FELLOW
MABEL'S "INASMUCH"
FRETTING LETTIE
HOW ROSIE HELPED
MRS. BROWNE'S BOTANY CLASS
RAILROAD BUILDING.
"COME, boys," said Will to the others, "I'm tired of this humdrum play. Let's get up something new and big."
"Agreed," came from the others; "but what shall it be, Will?"
"A railroad," was the prompt reply.
And they all shouted, "A railroad! Hurrah, boys! That's just grand. We'll do it. But who knows how?"
"I do," came from Will. "Father's an engineer, and you see I hear him talk to mother about it every day."
"Your father an engineer!" exclaimed several. "Don't Mike Rilley and Tim Sullivan run all the engines?"
And Will answered with a loud "Ha, ha, ha! Run engines! ha, ha, ha!" and his sides shook with laughter. "Compare my father to Mike and Tim! My father builds railroads."
And they all said "Oh!"
"But what's the first thing, Will, to build a road? A spade and hoe, or what?"
"Money; ten hundred thousand dollars, and just as much more as you can get. Father says you can do anything with money; but all the money in the world couldn't have saved little sister Rose from dying." At that a large tear came to Will's eye and the boys all looked at him in silence.
Then he wiped his eyes and went on, "Come, boys, say how much you'll give to the new railroad."
Thereupon Will smoothed off a spot in the sand and wrote his name, and opposite he put, "The right of way and no charge for engineering."
"And what's 'the right of way?'" they asked.
"You can't build roads in the air. You must have ground, and when you get it, you've 'The right of way.' See? I'll get that from father, down in the orchard, along the trout brook."
"Good for you, Will," they all shouted.
"Here, Rob, you sign for the ties; Alec, for the rails, and Jim for the rolling stock; Dan must build the depot. Come up, now, and sign like men of enterprise. Be liberal and prompt, and we'll have the cars running by the first of June, and declare a dividend--of fun at least--every day."
All this speech from Will. And each one wrote his name under Will's, saying what he would give or do.
Then came the word of command from our young engineer:
"Now to business. Each one to his home as fast as his legs will carry him, and bring an axe or spade or hoe or some tool. I'll run to father for the charter--what's that? Then let's make the dirt fly."
When I went by a few days after, by the foot of the orchard, sure enough, there they were; coats off, each one busy as a bee, Will acting as engineer.
The grading--what's that?--was nearly all done. Will said they would lay the ties--what are they?--and rails the next Monday, and soon I should hear the whistle.
True to his promise, on the appointed day came the "toot, toot, toot," louder and louder till the hills sent back the sound.
I looked, and there came the train, built of wood "from stem to stern," and drawn by two stout goats, instead of steam, while Jim sat on the engine with a tin horn to his mouth, his cheeks puffed out like two pumpkins.
That's years ago. Will is now Mr. William --, a first class railroad man. So are some of the others.
But when I see them building those fine roads, I wonder if they will ever travel on "The King's Highway of Holiness." Have you a ticket to go up in His chariot one of these days and enter the City of God?
A VERY SLY FELLOW.
RIGHT here at the start I must tell you that this story is true. It all really happened, in a city whose name commences with B; and it is not Boston.
It was a clear, wintry afternoon when it happened, and the children of the street were playing over in the sunshine.
There was a long row of houses on either side of this street, which is one rather sad thing about cities, and in one of the houses Morris Bell and his friend Jack were having a royal good time together, and quite by themselves too, for Morris's mamma had gone down town, and the servants were busy ironing in the kitchen.
"I think it's splendid to be left all alone," said Jack, as they roamed through the house.
"I think so too," replied Morris. "I wouldn't have a nurse for anything," which was rather hard upon Jack, who was still in kilts, and did have a nurse, only this was her "afternoon out" as well as his.
Morris showed Jack all his Uncle Will's neckties, and a great many other things as well, and both of them tried their hand on his new banjo, but one of the strings broke, with a very loud noise, and frightened them out of his room and back to the nursery.
When it began to grow dark, Morris dragged the pillows from his mother's bed, and placing one at either end, on the rockers of his hobby-horse, he and Jack sat down for a very comfortable see-saw. Bridget put her head in at the door just then.
"Ah! Morris, but you're going to get it," she said in an angry voice; then she slammed the door and the boys heard her run down the stairs.
Jack held on to the tail of the hobby-horse and looked round at Morris; Morris held on to the mane of the hobby-horse and looked round at Jack. Perhaps they were thinking of the banjo string. At any rate, Morris said "he didn't care," and Jack said "he didn't." Once in a while they would stand up to shake the pillows, which kept sinking through in bags between the rockers, and then go rocking away again. Meantime Morris's mamma came home.
"Where are the boys?" she asked, as Bridget shut the front door.
"Oh! they're in the nursery now, Mrs. Bell, but there isn't a place in the house where they haven't been, even into our bonnet boxes, May's and mine, mum."
Morris's mamma gave a troubled little sigh as she patiently followed Bridget from room to room. Oh! Such mischievous work as met her on every side. Pincushions ripped open; bottles emptied, and bottles with their corks pulled out; burnt matches strewed about the floors; the broken banjo string, and in the servants' room, whisps of straw, and draggled bits of flowers and feathers, and ribbons--all that was left of the poor girls' bonnets.
The boys were in the midst of one of their grand shakings of the pillows when Mrs. Bell came into the room. "Why, Morris! Why, Jack!" she said very gravely.
Morris hung his head very low.
"I must go home now," said Jack.
"Indeed you must not do anything of the kind," said Mrs. Bell, and she made the boys sit down, one on either side of her, on the sofa.
"I did not mean to do it," said Morris.
"And I did not touch it at all," added Jack.
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