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Good Knight Stories © 1967

On the Way

Story One

The days and nights of travel on the train from Phoenix, Arizona to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had been long and tiring ones for Ardath, who was five years old and her brother, Arthur who was four. You would have expected them to be slow and sleepy when they arrived at Berryville, in Bucks County, at nine o'clock in the morning, with their Father and Mother. But they were neither slow nor sleepy. They were wide awake as chirping birds on that sunny morning in June, in the year nineteen hundred and thirty.

At six o'clock that morning they had been awakened and taken from their curtained berths on the train. Arthur had gone with Rather, and Mother had taken Ardath to the wash rooms where they had hurriedly brushed their teeth and washed their hands and faces after going to the toilet.

When they had dressed they had all gone to the dining car for breakfast and had must finished eating when the train stopped at Philadelphia at thirty minutes past seven o'clock. The train they had been traveling on did not go to Berryville, so they had to get on another train for the extra hour of travel to the small country town near by where Grandfather lived.

On the train they had played games and looked at picture books. Sometimes they had looked out the train windows at the scenery, but it had been blurred because the train had always been moving. The children had been kept happy imagining what they would see and do in the days ahead when they would be staying with grandfather on his farm. Father and Mother had told them many interesting things about the farm.

The train Conductor, who is the man who takes the tickets from the people riding on the train and tells them where the train is stopping, called B-e-r-r-y-v-i-l-l-e several times in a special kind of voice which only train Conductors use. As the train came to a full stop Father reached to the racks over the seats and took down two traveling cases

"Will Grandfather meet us at the station?", Arthur wanted to know.

"Do you remember, I told you about Adam?" Father answered Arthur with another question. Arthur said he remembered that Adam was the man who helped Grandfather on the farm.

Father was glad Arthur remembered about Adam, then said, "Adam will meet us at the station."

Arthur wanted to ask why Grandfather wouldn't meet them, but there was no time. Father took the two traveling cases and told Arthur to follow him off the train. Ardath and Mother had small carrying cases with books and small items for travel as folding drinking cups and extra tooth brushes. Father got off the train so he could help Mother and the children onto the station platform. The Conductor had been the first one off the train after it had stopped and he helped everyone with their luggage and to step carefully onto the platform.

"Good-morning folks", A tall, thin red-haird and freckled faced man came toward them.

"Good-morning Adam", Father greeted the man and they shook hands. Mother extended her hand to him, then both the children shook hands with him.

"It couldn't be a finer morning," Adam said cheerily. "It certainly is good to see you folks again". He looked at the children admiringly. "I never expected the children would have grown so much. Why they were must babies when I last was them".

"Children do have a way of growing up", Father smiled at the children. They felt proud that they were bigger than Adam had expected them to be. It made them feel even bigger than they were.

As Adam was talking to them, their luggage was being removed from the baggage coach of the train. It was put on a small hand truck and wheeled along the station platform. Adam saw the station porter push the truck toward them.

"Well, here comes our luggage, " he announced. "We can be on our way". He picked up both traveling cases Father had carried off the train. Everyone followed Adam around the corner of the station. The porter pushed the luggage on the hand truck after them.
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