"I'm going to stand by this door," answered the little boy, "and maybe a railroad man will see me and put me off. That's what I want to do--I want to get off this train!"

"Yes," said Nutty, in a kind voice, "I suppose that is what you want to do--get off. And you ought to be sent back to your mother. I wish I could help you. But I'm afraid."

"What you 'fraid of?" asked Sue, petting Toddle.

"Well, I'm afraid of what the railroad men, and maybe a policeman, might do to me if they found me in here with you two children," went on the tramp. "They'd think I was trying to kidnap you, and they might send me to jail."

"We could tell them you were good to us," said Bunny. "And that you gave us nuts and water to eat."

"And I'd tell the men about how you took care of the p.u.s.s.y," said Sue.

"Yes, I know you would be kind," the old man remarked. "But, for all that, the railroad men might think I was a bad man and arrest me. You'd better come away from that door, Bunny. You might fall out. And besides, I'd rather a railroad man wouldn't see you--just yet."

"But can't we ever go back to our mother and daddy?" asked Bunny, as he walked over and sat down beside his sister and Nutty.

"Oh, yes, I'm just trying to think of a way to help you," the old tramp answered. "Let me think a minute."

Bunny and Sue had often heard their mother say this, and they knew she wanted to be quiet and not have them talk when she was trying to make up her mind about something they had asked her. Thinking Nutty would want the same silence, Bunny and Sue talked only in whispers while Nutty was "thinking."

At last Nutty said:

"I think I have it now. This train ought to stop pretty soon at a water tank to give the engine a drink. When it does then you children can get off."

"That'll be nice!" exclaimed Sue.

"Will our mother be there?" Bunny wanted to know.

"Well, yes, maybe," answered Nutty, though, really, he did not think so.

Still it might be that Mrs. Brown had seen the children climb into the freight car, and she may have had a glimpse of the engine backing down, coupling to the string of cars and starting off with them.

From the station agent Mrs. Brown could find out where the freight train would first stop, and, by taking a fast express train, she could arrive ahead of the freight. So it was possible for her to be waiting to greet Bunny and Sue when they got off the freight. But, for all that, Nutty did not believe this. He just said it to make Bunny and Sue feel better.

And while this was not just right and honest, Nutty, who was only a poor tramp, probably did not know any better.

"I wish the train would stop pretty soon," sighed Sue. "I'm getting tired and I want my mother. But you have been good," she quickly said.

"And I like Toddle."

"And the nuts were dandy!" exclaimed Bunny.

"I'm glad I had plenty," said the old man. "Now," he went on, "you children sit here quietly with Toddle, and I'll go to that door and look out. When I see a place where I think the train's going to stop I'll call you. But don't come until I do, and keep well back away from the crack in the door, so no train men will see you."

Bunny and Sue did not want to get their friend in trouble, so moved back into the corner, taking the kitten with them. The little animal seemed to like Sue very much, and purred contentedly in her lap.

Nutty arose and walked over to the partly opened door of the freight car. Bunny and Sue, seated in a distant corner, could not see the tramp very well, but, if they could have watched him they would have seen Nutty opening the door wider, inch by inch.

It had slid shut, as I have told you, when the engine suddenly pulled the freight car along, and though a small crack remained open Bunny was not strong enough to slide the door all the way back and make the opening wider. But Nutty, being stronger, had no trouble in making the door slide.

The old tramp had made up his mind to run away from the children. He was really afraid of being arrested and having it said that he had tried to kidnap them, and as he knew he had no such idea he did not care to be punished for something he had not done.

So he had made up his mind to jump off the train when it slowed up, leaving Bunny and Sue alone. And that is why he sent the children to the dark corner, so they could not see him open the door. He thought if they saw him they would want to follow.

"If I can get away," said Nutty to himself, "I'll tell some of the railroad men that I saw two kids in one of the empty cars, and the railroad men will look after them. But I don't want them to find _me_ here."

Slowly and carefully Nutty slid back the door, inch by inch, in order to make the crack wide enough for him to jump out when the train slowed up. He glanced toward the dark corner where Bunny and Sue were sitting, playing with the cat. The candle was still burning, but the children were some distance from it.

"I'll have to leave all my things behind," thought Nutty, as he got the door open as wide as he needed. "I'll leave 'em my store of nuts and the water to drink. I'll have to leave Toddle, too."

The thought of leaving behind his little kitten made the old tramp feel rather sad. But he knew that if he picked Toddle up and gathered together his tin boxes and the bottles Bunny and Sue would guess that he intended to go away from them.

"I'll just leave everything--even the p.u.s.s.y," thought Nutty. "I can easily get more nuts and bottles of water. I'll jump off as soon as the train slows up a little more. I don't want to be arrested as a kidnapper."

Watching his chance, and noticing that the train was moving quite slowly now, Nutty thrust himself half way out of the crack. He glanced toward Bunny and Sue. They were trying to make the kitten stand up on his hind legs, and did not see the tramp.

"This is my chance!" thought the ragged man, with a last, kind look toward the children. "I'm sorry to leave you all alone," he went on, "but it's better so. And I'll send help to you if I can."

A moment later he jumped from the moving freight car and landed on the ground, running along a little way, and then darting into some bushes beside the track so no railroad men would see him.

"There! I'm safe!" thought Nutty. "Bunny and Sue will be all right, too, I hope!"

And the little boy and girl, left alone in the freight car, were being carried farther and farther away, for the train did not stop. As soon as Nutty had leaped off it started up again.

CHAPTER XVI

THE JOLLY SWITCHMAN

For some time Bunny Brown and his sister Sue did not know that they had been left alone. They were playing with the kitten and they supposed their tramp friend Nutty was looking out of the partly opened door, watching for a chance to get them off the train. It was not until Sue grew tired of setting Toddle up on his hind legs, only to have the kitten slump over in a heap, that she looked up and saw the door opened wider and Nutty gone.

"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue. "Look!"

Bunny, who was taking some more nuts from one of the tin boxes the tramp had left in the corner, glanced at his sister.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Nutty is gone!" exclaimed Sue. "Oh, Bunny! I guess he fell out of the door! It's open wider! Oh, poor Nutty has falled out!"

Bunny made his way to the crack, and, holding to the edge of the door, he looked out. He could see that it was late afternoon, and as the sun was setting Bunny knew it would soon be night. He began to wish, more than ever, that he and Sue were with their father and mother.

"Do you see him?" asked Sue, after Bunny had had time to look up and down the railroad.

"No," was the answer. "Nutty isn't here. I guess he fell all the way out."

Sue scrambled to her feet to walk over and stand beside Bunny. She was tired of the dark car and of not being able to look from a window. That was half the fun of traveling--looking from windows.

Sue was half way across the car on her way to join Bunny when the train went around a curve, and so sudden it was that the freight car swayed and jolted, and Sue lost her balance. Down she sat on the floor, rather hard. She was not hurt, but she was surprised and she lost her breath for the moment. If Bunny had not held tightly to the edge of the door he might have been tossed out.