Mary Jane - Her Visit | Page 2

in time to see the porter make up her bed and she was glad of that because bed-unmaking on a train by daylight seemed even more wonderful and interesting than bed-making the night before.
She sat down on the seat across the aisle while he worked, so she could see everything he did.
"My mother and I don't make beds that way at home," she announced suddenly.
"Sure not," agreed the porter, and then by way of keeping up the conversation, he added, "Like to ride on a train?"
"'Deed I do," said Mary Jane happily, "and I like to go see my grandmother--it's my Great-grandmother Hodges I'm going to see, you know. And my mother isn't going and my daddah isn't going because he works and my sister Alice isn't going because she's in school and anybody isn't going but just my Dr. Smith and me 'cause I'm five and that's a big girl."
"Well!" exclaimed the porter, and he actually stopped making beds to look at such a big little girl. Mary Jane liked him and started to tell him about Doris and the birthday party and the pretty things in her trunk, but Dr. Smith came back just then and there was no more time for talk.
"Got your coat?" he asked, "and your hat and your--everything?"
"He put 'em there," said Mary Jane, pointing to the next seat where she had seen the porter put her things, "and my gloves are in my pocket and my bag's all shut."
"That's good." said Dr. Smith. "You'd better put your things on now. Here, I'll hold your coat."
It was a good thing Mary Jane started putting on her gloves just when she did. For before she had the last button safely tucked in its button hole, the porter had slipped in to a white coat and had picked up her bag and Dr. Smith's big grip and started for the door of the car; the great long train was slowing up at a little station.
They got off in such a hurry that Mary Jane hardly had time to say good-by to the kind porter before the train hurried away and some one picked her up and kissed her and exclaimed, "Well, well, well! Such a big girl!" and she found herself kissing dear Grandfather Hodges--she knew him well because he had visited her home and she had a nice, comfortable, "belonging" feeling the minute she saw him.
"Now you two stay right here by the car," said Grandfather, "while I get the trunk." And Mary Jane had her first chance to look around.
The station wasn't a bit like the station at her home--not a bit. It was a funny little frame house with a platform, out in front. And there wasn't any roof out over where the trains went or anything like that; just the little house and the platform. And instead of the piles of trunks on great trucks that she supposed were in every station, there was only her own little trunk dumped forlornly on the platform. And instead of the many men busy about various duties, there was not a single man, at least not one that Mary Jane could see. Grandfather took the check that Dr. Smith gave him and went into the little station with it. In a second he was back and what do you suppose he did? He picked up her trunk and set it in the back of his waiting automobile just as easy as could be! Mary Jane was that surprised he could see it and he laughed gayly and said, "That's the way we do our baggaging here, Mary Jane. We'll not wait for any sleepy baggage men--not when Grandmother and hot griddle cakes and honey are waiting for us, will we?"
And Mary Jane, who was getting hungry enough to find breakfast a most interesting subject, settled down in the front seat beside her grandfather and said, "No, we won't!"
Dr. Smith climbed into the back seat beside the trunk and Grandfather started the car and went spinning down the road.
"Your roads all know where they're going, don't they?" Mary Jane asked as they got under way.
"Yes," replied Grandfather in surprise; "don't yours?"
"Not like yours do," said Mary Jane positively; "ours go this way." And with her finger she made some big curves in the air.
"Oh!" laughed Grandfather, "you mean that yours are curving because of the hills and that ours are straight. Yes, our roads are pretty straight but you'll like that when you get used to it, because then you can't get lost. There's a road every mile and each road goes just the way it by rights ought to go because there aren't any hills to get in the way." And all the while Grandfather was talking, he was driving the car along the straight