Дети железной дороги
Saviours of the train.
"Soitwasthemstrawberriesyoucomedownforthisafternoon,eh?"saidhe.
ThiswasanawkwardmomentforPhyllis.Tosay"yes"wouldseemrudeandgreedy,andunkindtoPerks.Butsheknewifshesaid"no,"shewouldnotbepleasedwithherselfafterwards.So—
"Yes,"shesaid,"itwas."
"Welldone!"saidthePorter;"speakthetruthandshamethe—"
"Butwe’dhavecomedowntheverynextdayifwe’dknownyouhadn’theardthestory,"Phyllisaddedhastily.
"Ibelieveyou,Missie,"saidPerks,andsprangacrossthelinesixfeetinfrontoftheadvancingtrain.
Thegirlshatedtoseehimdothis,butPeterlikedit.Itwassoexciting.
TheRussiangentlemanwassodelightedwiththestrawberriesthatthethreerackedtheirbrainstofindsomeothersurpriseforhim.Butalltherackingdidnotbringoutanyideamorenovelthanwildcherries.Andthisideaoccurredtothemnextmorning.Theyhadseentheblossomonthetreesinthespring,andtheyknewwheretolookforwildcherriesnowthatcherrytimewashere.Thetreesgrewallupandalongtherockyfaceofthecliffoutofwhichthemouthofthetunnelopened.Therewereallsortsoftreesthere,birchesandbeechesandbabyoaksandhazels,andamongthemthecherryblossomhadshonelikesnowandsilver.
ThemouthofthetunnelwassomewayfromThreeChimneys,soMotherletthemtaketheirlunchwiththeminabasket.
