CHAPTER VIII
A LONG RIDE
Flossie and Freddie, scurrying through the gates of the elevated car justas the guard was about to close them, saw inside two rows of seats oneither side, there being very few passengers in that coach. Thinking theirfather and mother, with Bert and Nan, were right behind them, the twolittle twins felt no fear, but rushed in, each one anxious to get a seat.
"I'm going to sit by a window!" cried Freddie.
"So'm I!" added Flossie, and both were soon kneeling on the rattan seats,with their noses fairly flattened against the glass of the window. The fewpassengers in the train smiled, for they knew the children must be fromsomewhere outside of New York, as the little folk of that city are not soeager to see the sights amid which they live.
It was not until the train had started, and had gone several blocks, thatFlossie and Freddie thought of their father and mother. They were greatlyinterested in looking out of the windows, and watching the train rush pastat the level of the upper stories of the houses and stores along thestreets. It did seem so queer to them to be riding in a train high up inthe air, instead of on the ground.
"It's lots better than a tunnel, and I used to think they were lots offun!" said Flossie, fairly bubbling over with joy.
"It's great!" cried Freddie, and he flattened his nose out more than everagainst the glass, trying to look around a corner. For he had seen in onewindow of a house a boy dropping from the window of his home a basket on astring, and Freddie wanted to see why he was doing this.
It is no unusual sight in New York, to see children, not much larger thanthe small Bobbsey twins, traveling about alone, so the other passengersand the trainmen, after the first few smiles, paid no attention to Flossieand Freddie. But the two themselves, after their first wonder at thesights they saw, began to think of their father and mother, as well as ofBert and Nan.
"Where are they?" asked Flossie, after a bit, as she turned around and satdown in her seat.
"Didn't they--didn't they come in after us?" asked Freddie, his chubbyface taking on a worried look.
"I--I didn't see them," returned Flossie. "Maybe they're in another car.Let's go to look!"
To say a thing was generally to do it, with the smaller Bobbsey twins, atleast, and no sooner did Flossie say this than Freddie was ready to gowith her on a hunt for the others. The children slipped from their seatsand started for the door while the train was moving swiftly, but a guard,who is a sort of brake-man, stopped them.
"Where are you youngsters going?" he asked good-naturedly.
"We want our father and mother," explained Freddie. "They must be inanother car. We hurried on ahead."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time that has happened," said the guard,with a laugh. "But I guess you're a little too small to go navigatingaround from car to car when the train's moving. What's your father's name?I'll have him called out for in the other cars."
"He's Mr. Richard Bobbsey, of Lakeport," said Flossie, "and my mother andsister and brother are with him. My sister is Nan and my brother is Bert.This is my brother, Freddie."
"Well, now I guess I know the whole family," laughed the guard, the otherpassengers joining in a smile. "I'll see if I can find your folks for you,though it's queer they haven't been looking for you themselves. You stayhere."
The guard started to go through the other cars of the elevated train, andFreddie called after him:
"If you find my father, please tell him to open the box and take out theyellow bug."
"The yellow bug?" repeated the guard in some surprise. "Is your father ananimal trainer?"
"Oh, no," said Flossie, seriously. "Freddie means one of the tin bugsthat go around and around and around. And, if you please, I want a greenone."
"Say, I wonder what kind of children these are, anyhow," murmured theguard. "Guess they must belong to a theatre or a circus."
"They look nice," said a man sitting near the door.
"Oh, they're all _right_, that's sure. Well, I'll see if I can find theirfolks for 'em."
Elevated railroad men in New York get used to doing queer things, andseeing strange sights, so it did not cause much excitement when the guardwent into the different cars calling for Mr. Bobbsey. He had to come backto his own car once to call out "Forty-second Street," and to open thegates to let passengers off and others on. Then he closed the gates andcalled out: "Fiftieth Street next," After that he went again into the carshe had not been in before and called for Mr. Bobbsey, But of course thatgentleman did not answer, being a station or two behind by this time.
"WHERE ARE YOU YOUNGSTERS GOING?"
_The Bobbsey Twins in a Great City. Page_ 82]
The guard, not being able to find Mr. or Mrs. Bobbsey, or Nan and Bert,came back to where Flossie and Freddie were now rather anxiouslywaiting.
"Did you find him?" asked the children eagerly.
"No, I'm sorry to say your father isn't on this train. But don't worry.I'll look out for you, and your father is sure to come for you sooner orlater."
"Did you find any of the bugs?" asked Freddie.
"That go around and around and around," added Flossie.
"No," said the guard, laughing, "I didn't. What about them?"
Freddie explained what he meant, and asked if the train could not bestopped while he went into the nearest toy store to buy some more of thetin, crawling toys. But the guard said this could not be done.
"I don't just know what to do with you," he said, scratching his head. "Ifyour father thought, he could telephone to any of the stations where ourtrain will stop--this is an express train and does not make many stopsafter Sixty-sixth Street till the end of the line. He could have theagent there take you off and keep you until he could come. Or, I mighttake you to One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street, which is the end of theline, and have the agent there take charge of you. I don't know what todo."
Just then Flossie thought of something:
"Oh, Freddie!" she cried. "We haven't any tickets or any money, unless youhave some, and the conductor will put us off!"
"I've got five cents," said Freddie, taking it out of his small pocket.
"That's only enough for a street-car ride, and this is the elevatedrailroad," replied his blue-eyed sister. "Oh, what shall we do?" And therewas just a little tear in each eye as she looked at the guard.
"What's the matter now?" he asked kindly. "Do you want a bug?"
"No--I mean yes, but not now. We haven't any tickets and theconductor----"
"Didn't you drop your tickets in the chopper's box at the station whereyou got on?"
"No. We ran on ahead," explained Freddie.
"Ho! I see! You were so small that the ticket chopper didn't see you.Well, don't worry--it will be all right. The road won't lose much bycarrying you two."
"You could send the bill to my father," said Flossie. "That's what mothersays when she goes to buy things at the store."
"That will be all right," the guard said. "I'll see that you're not putoff until the proper time comes. And you save your five cents," he addedto Freddie, who was holding up the nickel. "You might want to buy somepeanuts."
"Oh, that's so--for the monkeys in the park!" cried Freddie. "I forgot wewere going to see them!"
By this time some of the other passengers were interested in the children,asking them many questions and learning the story of their coming to NewYork on a visit.
"They don't seem worried," said one woman. "And they're quite lost in thisbig city."
"Oh, we've been lost before," said Flossie easily. "Lots of times!"
"In the woods, too," added Freddie. "And we heard funny noises. But weweren't scared. Were we, Flossie?"
"Nope. We'll just keep on riding now until Daddy comes for us. It's fun, Ithink."
"And we don't have to pay for it, either," said Freddie, withsatisfaction, as he put away his only piece of money. "I'm going to savethis for peanuts for the monkeys."
"Will you save some for me?" asked Flossie. "I'm getting
hungry."
"Maybe we'll eat these peanuts all ourselves," said Freddie, afterthinking about it for a moment. "We can get some for the monkeys laterafterward. I'm hungry, too."
"Well, you've got quite a long trip ahead of you," said the guard in whosecar they were. "It's quite a ride to One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street.I'll ask the gateman at the next stop if your father has telephoned aboutyou. Just sit still."
And so Flossie and Freddie, in the elevated express train, were having along ride all by themselves. They were not frightened now, for they weresure their father or mother would come for them soon, as he had done theday they were spilled out of the ice-boat and were taken in by Uncle Jack.
"I wonder what that nice woodchopper man is doing now?" asked Flossie."Uncle Jack, I mean."
"I hope his pain is better," said Freddie. "Maybe we could get him workhere on the elevated railroad, chopping tickets at the station." Whenpeople drop their tickets into the glass boxes at the elevated or subwaystations they are "chopped" into fine pieces by the men who pump thehandles up and down. "Uncle Jack chops wood," went on Freddie, "and hecould easy chop tickets."
So Flossie and Freddie kept on with their long ride, talking and lookingout of the train windows.