CHAPTER IV
THE OLD MAN'S STORY
Mr. Bobbsey caught Flossie and Freddie up in his arms and started torun with them. At the same time Sam Johnson pulled Nan to one side,catching hold of her hand, and the strange man, who had said he wasHiram Hickson, took hold of Bert.
"We'd better get out of harm's way!" said Mr. Hickson.
As the Bobbsey twins were thus hurried out of any possible danger thetwo older children looked back over their shoulders, down to where therailroad wreck was strewed about along the tracks. They saw therailroad men and other persons running away after the warning shouthad been given, and Bert and Nan wondered what was going to happen.
They saw a big puff of steam shoot out from one of the engines thatwas partly overturned, and then came a loud noise, as of an explosion.
A few moments later, however, the cloud of steam was blown away by thewind, the noise stopped, and the people no longer ran away.
"I guess the danger is over," said Mr. Bobbsey, as he stopped and setFlossie and Freddie down on the ground a little way back from the edgeof the cliff, from which they had been looking at the train wreck. "Infact," went on Mr. Bobbsey, "I don't believe we would have been hurtif we had stayed where we were. But when I heard that shouting Ididn't know what was going to happen."
"That's right," returned Mr. Hickson, who had let go of Bert. "Younever know what is going to happen in a railroad wreck. I didn't haveany idea, when I was riding so easily in my seat, that, a minutelater, I'd be thrown out with my head cut and a banana in my hand."
"What happened down there, Daddy?" asked Nan.
"There must have been a blow-out, or an explosion, in the locomotive,"answered Mr. Bobbsey. "The fire got too hot after the wreck, and thesteam burst out at one side of the boiler. But no one seems to behurt, and I'm glad of that. The wreck was bad enough."
The railroad men and others who had run out of danger when some one,who saw the boiler about to explode, had given the warning, now cameback. They started again to clear the tracks so that waiting trainscould pass.
"Well, I don't believe there's much more to see," said Mr. Bobbsey."We'd better be getting back home, children, or your mother will worryabout you."
"Can't I stay and see the firemen just a little longer?" beggedFreddie.
"I don't believe they are going to do much more," answered his father."Their work is nearly done. All the people who were hurt have beentaken away."
This was true. The scene of the wreck was now being cleared, and in alittle while the damaged engine and cars would be hauled away to theshops to be mended.
"Did you get everything belonging to you, Mr. Hickson?" asked Mr.Bobbsey of the man who had been slightly hurt in the wreck.
"Yes, I have my satchel," he answered. "And as I was going to get outat the Lakeport station I'm right at the place where I was going, evenif there had been no wreck." "And so you were coming to see me, wereyou?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. "Well, I don't know what your plans are, butI would be very glad to have you come to supper with me."
"Maybe your wife mightn't like it," said Mr. Hickson. "She might notbe ready for company, and I'd better tell you that I'm quite hungry."
"So'm I!" exclaimed Freddie. "I'm hungry, and I eat a lot. ButDinah--she's our cook--has lots to eat in her kitchen!"
"Well, then maybe she'd have enough for me," replied Mr. Hickson, witha laugh. "If you're sure it won't put your wife out I'll come," hesaid to Mr. Bobbsey. "I want to see you, anyhow, and have a talk withyou. I want to ask your advice."
"Very well, come along, then," returned the children's father.
"We can talk after supper," went on Mr. Bobbsey, as the little partywalked along the Lakeport street away from the railroad wreck. "Thatis, if you feel able, Mr. Hickson."
"Oh, I'm beginning to feel all right again," said Mr. Hickson. "I waspretty well shaken up and knocked around when the cars stopped sosuddenly, and I was a bit dazed, so I didn't know what I wasdoing--taking a banana for my satchel, for instance!" And he smiled atFlossie and Freddie, who laughed as they remembered how queer this hadseemed to them.
"Yes, I'm all right now, Dick," went on the old man, and Bert and Nanwondered how it was that this stranger called their father by the nametheir mother used in speaking to her husband.
Mr. Bobbsey saw that Bert and Nan were wondering about this, and heexplained by saying that he and Mr. Hickson had known each other formany years.
"We used to know one another," said Mr. Bobbsey to his children. "Butit's been a good many years since I have seen him."
"Yes, it has been a good many years," said Mr. Hickson, in rather asad voice. "And they haven't been altogether happy years for me,either; I can tell you that, Dick."
"I'm sorry to hear you say so," replied Mr. Bobbsey.
"Were you in lots of railroad wrecks, and did the firemans have tocome and get you out?" asked Freddie. To him railroad wrecks seemedvery bad things, indeed, though having the firemen come was somethinghe always liked to watch.
"No, this is the only railroad wreck I have ever been in," said Mr.Hickson. "I don't want to be in another, either. No, my bad luckdidn't have anything to do with wrecks or firemen. I'll tell you mystory after supper," he said to Mr. Bobbsey.
"Will you tell us a story, too?" begged Flossie.
"I'm afraid my kind of story isn't the kind you want to hear," saidthe man, smiling rather sadly.
"Daddy will tell you a story, little fat fairy!" said Mr. Bobbsey ashe gently pinched the chubby cheek of his little girl. "I'll tell youand my little fireman a story after supper."
Flossie and Freddie clapped their hands and danced along the sidewalkin glee at hearing this.
The little party was soon at the Bobbsey home, and you can imagine howsurprised Mrs. Bobbsey was when she saw, not only her husband, thechildren, and Sam coming in the gate, but a strange man. She must haveshown the surprise she felt, for Mr. Bobbsey said:
"Mary, you remember Hiram Hickson, don't you? He and I used to knoweach other when I was a boy in Cedarville."
"Why, of course I remember you!" said the children's mother. "Though Idon't know that I should have known you if I had met you in thestreet."
"No, I've changed a lot, I suppose," said the old man.
"And you have been in the wreck! You are hurt!" exclaimed Mrs.Bobbsey. "Shall I get a doctor?"
"Oh, I'm not hurt anything to speak of," said the man. "Just shaken upa bit and scratched. I'll be all right once I get a cup of tea."
After supper Flossie and Freddie, as had been promised, were taken upon their father's lap, and they listened to one of daddy's wonderfulmake-believe stories.
"Please put a fairy in it!" Flossie had begged.
"And I want a fireman in it!" exclaimed Freddie.
"Very well then, I'll tell about a fairy fireman who used to put outfires by squirting magical water on them from a morning glory flower,"said Mr. Bobbsey.
This pleased both the little children, and when they had listened tothe very end, with eyes that were almost closed in sleep, they weretaken off to bed.
"Now, if you'll come with me to the library I'll let you tell me yourstory," said Mr. Bobbsey to Hiram Hickson.
Bert and Nan, who did not have to go to bed as early as did Flossieand Freddie, rather hoped they might sit up and hear the queer man'sstory. But in this they were disappointed.
However, Mr. Bobbsey let them hear, the next morning, the reason whyMr. Hickson had traveled to Lakeport.
"He really was coming to see me," said Mr. Bobbsey. "He wants work, hesays, and, as he knows something of the lumber trade and as he knew Ihad a lumberyard, he came to me."
"But hasn't he any folks of his own?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey who, like thechildren, was listening to her husband.
"He has two sons, but he doesn't know where they are," answered Mr.Bobbsey.
"Did they get hurt in railroad wrecks?" asked Freddie.
"No, I don't believe so," replied his father. "It is rather a sadstory. Hiram
Hickson is a strange man. He is kind, but he is queer,and once, many years ago, while his two boys were living with him,there was a quarrel. Mr. Hickson says, now, that it was his fault.Anyhow, his two boys ran away, and he has never seen them since."
"Doesn't he know where they are?" asked Bert.
"No, he hasn't the least idea. At first he didn't try to find them,for he was angry with them, and he thinks they were angry with him.But, as the years passed, and he felt that he had not done exactlyright toward his boys, he began to wish he could find them.
"But he could not, though he wrote to many places. His wife was dead,and he was left all alone in the world. He has a little money, but notmuch, and, as he is strong and healthy, he felt that he wanted to goto work. He has about given up, now, trying to find his two boys,William--or Bill, as he usually called him--and Charles, and what hewants is a home and some work by which he can make a living."
"Where is he going to work?" asked Nan
"He is going to work in my lumberyard," answered her father. "I need agood, honest man, and though Hiram Hickson is a bit queer, I know heis good and honest. I am going to give him work."
"And where is he going to live?" asked Bert.
"Here, with us, for a while," answered Mr. Bobbsey. "We have room forhim, and, as he is an old friend, and as he was once very kind to me,I want to do all I can for him.
"I said he could have a room in the house but he says he is used toliving alone of late and so he is going to take one of the rooms overthe stable, or what used to be the stable, before we got theautomobile. Dinah and Sam have their rooms there, but there is anotherroom for Mr. Hickson. So he will be like part of the family, and Iwant you children to be kind to him, as he has had trouble."
"I like him!" declared Bert.
"So do I," said Nan.
"Come, children," said their mother, "it is time to go to school; andthere goes Mr. Hickson to work in daddy's lumberyard!"
The Bobbsey Twins in the Great West Page 4
