Ralph Grangers Fortunes | Page 9

say, if you'll let me go on with you till we get down where there's some houses, I'll think more of that than if you gave me a barrel of whisky."
"We're on our way back. We're goin' up the mountain. But you foller this trail for about a mile, then take the first right hand turn. Follow that 'twel you come to an old field. T'other side of that you'll find the mud pike as runs to Hendersonville. After that you'll find houses thick enough. But where are you bound for after you get down there?"
"Oh, anywhere most. I'm after work."
Ralph concluded that he had better not be more explicit with strangers.
The moonshiners soon grew quite friendly and seemed a little hurt over Ralph's persistence in declining a drink.
"I'm going out among strangers," he said, "and I've got to keep my head. The best way to do that is to let the stuff entirely alone. Well, so long, men. I'm mighty glad I met up with you."
He struck out down the trail whistling merrily. Now that he was on the right road again, and with a clear night before him, he felt far more cheerful than before.
He found the old field without difficulty, and not far beyond he struck the Hendersonville pike as the moonshiner had intimated.
Here the country was more open. Large fields, interspersed with patches of woodland, were on either hand. Now and then he would pass a cabin, his approach being heralded by the barking of dogs.
Once or twice large buildings came into view. These were the residences of the more wealthy class of planters. Even in the dim starlight, Ralph saw that they were larger than the log dwellings he was accustomed to.
Finally the moon went down. He would have stopped at some house and asked for shelter, but the hour was so late that he shrank from disturbing strangers. The night was not uncomfortably cool and he was getting further on.
Roosters began to crow. A few clouds glided athwart some of the brightest stars and he found difficulty in traveling.
Just beyond some buildings he stumbled over something hard and immovable. As he picked himself up, his hand came in contact with cold steel.
Peering closely he saw two long lines running parallel as far as he could distinguish on either hand. He found that they were of iron or steel and rested on wooden supporters, half buried in the earth.
"Dinged if this ain't queer!" he thought. "Let me see. I wonder if this ain't one of them railroads I've heard folks tell about. They say it'll carry you as far in one hour as a man'll walk all day."
Pondering over this, to him, puzzling celerity of motion, he groped his way along the track to where it broadened out into a switch.
"Reckon this one must run somewhere else," thought Ralph, when he suddenly detected a large dark object ahead. "What's that, I wonder. Guess I'll look into that. Seeing I'm getting into a strange country it won't do to be too careless."
Going slowly forward, he walked completely round the unknown affair, which he ascertained was on wheels that rested on the iron tracks.
"This must be one of their wagons they ride so fast in," said the boy to himself. "Hello! The door is open."
It was an ordinary box car on a siding, the sliding door of which was partially open. As Ralph strove to peer within, he detected the sound of measured breathing.
"Some one is in there," he decided, and drew back cautiously.
The darkness had increased greatly and there seemed to be signs of another rain coming up. No other place of shelter was in the immediate neighborhood that he could discern.
He thrust his head into the car and felt with his hands. Nothing could he see, nor did he feel aught but the flooring of the car. While he debated as to what he should do, the rain began again.
"Gracious!" he exclaimed, "I don't like to go into another man's ranch like this, but blamed if I am going to get wet, with a shelter within two feet of me."
He clambered inside and sat with his back against the wall, intending to get out again after the shower should pass.
But the shower did not pass on. Instead it settled into a steady drizzle. When the rain began to beat inside he drew the door nearly shut.
The measured breathing came from one end of the car. There seemed to be but one occupant besides Ralph.
As the time passed, the lad grew drowsy. Inured though he was to an active life, the walking he had done had fatigued him greatly. Now, as he sat resting, waiting for the rain to cease, a natural drowsiness asserted itself with a potency that would not be denied.
As he nodded he