Princess Sarah and Other Stories Page 10

  CHAPTER X

  A PLEASANT RAILWAY JOURNEY

  On the Thursday following the whole Stubbs family went to Brighton.Sarah enjoyed the journey intensely, journeys being still almost anovelty with her. She would have enjoyed it more if May had notgrumbled at going second-class, and if Flossie and Tom had not vied withone another in trying how far they could lean out of either window ofthe carriage. Poor Miss Clark was almost beside herself with fright.

  "Tom, put your head in immediately," she cried in desperation, andexpecting every moment to see the door fly open and Tom shoot outheadlong, to be picked up a mangled corpse or in actual fragments. "Tom,do you hear me? Tom, I insist upon it."

  But if Miss Clark had shouted till she had killed herself with shouting,Tom, leaning half his body out of the window, with the wind whistling inhis ears and the roar and rattle of the engine and wheels all helping todeaden any such small sounds as that of a human voice, and that thevoice of a weak and rather helpless woman, could not have heard her, andMiss Clark had no choice but, with May's help, to tug Tom in by thenether part of his garments. This done, she pulled up the window with ajerk.

  Tom leaning half his body out of the window with the windwhistling in his ears.]

  "I forbid you to open that window again," she said with such severitythat even Tom was cowed, and sat meekly down with a somewhat sulky air.

  Miss Clark had thus time to turn her attention to the other children,when, to her horror, she found that Flossie was not only emulating butfar surpassing her brother, not contenting herself with leaning well outof the window, but was actually standing on the seat that she might pushherself out the farther. To pull her in and put her down on her seatwith a bump was the work of but a moment.

  "If I have to speak to you again, Flossie," she said in accents ofsolemn warning, "I shall get out at the next station and take you toyour father's carriage. I fancy you will sit quiet there."

  Flossie thought so too, and sat quietly enough till the next station waspassed; but after that May complained so bitterly of the closed windowsand the horrid stuffiness of the carriage that Miss Clark's sternnessrelented a little, and she allowed the window beside which May wassitting to be let down. And the very fact of the window being openseemed to set all Tom's nerves, and muscles, and longings tingling. Hemoved about uneasily in his seat, kept dodging round to look sidewaysthrough the glass at the side, and finally jumped up in a hurry andpushed his head and shoulders through the window. In vain did MissClark tug and pull at him and his garments alike. Tom had his elbowsout of the window this time, and, as he chose not to give way, not allthe combined strength of Miss Clark and May, with such help as Sarah andMinnie could give, had the smallest effect upon him. At last MissClark, who, as I have said, was not very strong, sat down and began tosniff in a way which sounded very hysterical, for she really washorribly afraid some dreadful accident would happen long before they gotto their destination. However, as the suspicious little sob was heardand understood by May, that young lady took the law into her own handsand administered a sharp corrective immediately.

  "Tom," she shouted, "come in."

  Tom did not hear more than that he was being shouted at, and, as anatural consequence, did not move. Whereupon May quietly reached up tothe rack and fished out Tom's own, his very own, riding-whip, and withthat she began to belabour him soundly.

  It had effect! After half a dozen cuts, Tom began to struggle in, butMay was a stout and heavily-set young lady, and as resolute in will asever was her father, when she was once fairly roused. So she calmlyheld him by his neck and went on administering her corrective until shewas utterly tired.

  Then she let him go, and when he, blind with rage and fury, and vowingvengeance upon her, made for her, and would have fought her, she sprangup at the knob by which you can signal to the driver and stop a train,and threatened to pull it if he touched her.

  And oh, Tom was angry! Angry--he was furious; but he was mastered. Forit happened that on the very day that he and Johnnie had gone withCharles to Seven Dials, he had asked Charles all about the alarm bell,by means of which trains may be stopped if necessary, and Charles hadexplained the matter in a clear and lucid way peculiar to himself--atalent which made him especially valuable in a home where there wereboys.

  "Why, Master Tom," he exclaimed, "you see that's a indicator. If youwants to storp the trayin you just pulls that knob, and it rings a bellon the engine somewhere, and the driver storps the trayin at once."

  "Let's stop it," suggested Tom, in high glee at the prospect of a walkthrough a dark and dangerous tunnel.

  It must be admitted that Charles's heart fairly stood still at thethought of what his explanation had suggested.

  "Master Tom," said he, with a face of horror which was so expressivethat Tom was greatly impressed by it, "don't you go for to do nothing ofthe kind! It's almost a 'anging matter is storping of trayins--uselesslike. If you was took ill, or 'ad a fit, or somebody was a-murdering ofyou, why, it would be all right; but to storp a trayin when there'snaught wrong, is--well, I believe, as a matter of fact, it's sevenyears."

  "Seven years--seven years what?" Tom asked, thinking the whole thing agrand joke.

  "Prison," returned Charles laconically; "that is, if it was me. If itwas you, Master Tom, it would mean reformatory school, with plenty ofstick and no meat, nor no 'olidays. No, I wouldn't go for to storp notrayins if I was you, Master Tom."

  "But we needn't say it was us that rang," pleaded Tom, whose fingerswere just itching to ring that bell.

  Charles laughed. "Lor! Master Tom, they're up to that game!" heanswered. "Bless you! they 'ave a lot of numbers, and they'd know in aminute which carriage it was that rang. No, Master Tom, don't you gofor to ring no bells and storp no trayins. I lived servant with a youngfellow once as had had five years of a reformatory school, and the taleshe used to tell of what went on there was enough to make your bloodcurdle and your very 'air stand on end--mine did many a time!"

  "Which--your blood or your hair, Charles?" Tom inquired, with keeninterest.

  "Both!" returned Charles, in a tone which carried conviction with it.

  Thus Tom had no further resource, when May vowed to ring the bell andstop the train if he touched her, but to sit down and bear his aches andhis defeat in silence. But, oh, he was angry! To be beaten and beatenagain by a girl! It was too humiliating, too lowering to bear. Yetpoor Tom had to bear it--that was the worst of it. So they eventuallygot to Brighton in safety.