Cab and Caboose | Page 8

On reaching the house,
the Major went at once to Rodman's room where he found the boy
gazing from the window, with a hard, defiant, expression on his face.
He was longing for a single loving word; for a mother's sympathetic ear
into which he might pour his griefs; but his pride was prepared to
withstand any harshness, as well as to resent the faintest suspicion of
injustice.
"Well, sir," began the Major, "what have you to say for yourself? and
how do you explain this disgraceful affair?"
"I cannot explain it, Uncle; but----"
"That will do, sir. If you cannot explain it, I want to hear nothing
further. What I do want, however, is that you shall so arrange your
future plans that you may no longer be dependent on my roof for
shelter. Here is sufficient money for your immediate needs. As my
sister's child you have a certain claim on me. This I shall be willing to
honor to the extent of providing you against want, whenever you have
settled upon your mode of life, and choose to favor me with your future
address. The sooner you can decide upon your course of action the
better." Thus saying the kind-hearted, impetuous, and wrong-headed
old Major laid a roll of bills on the table, and left the room.
Fifteen minutes later, or five minutes before Billy Bliss reached the
house, Rod Blake also left the room. The roll of bills lay untouched
where his uncle had placed it, and he carried only his M. I. P. or bicycle
travelling bag, containing the pictures of his parents, a change of
underclothing, and a few trifles that were absolutely his own. He passed

out of the house by a side door, and was seen but by one person as he
plunged into the twilight shadows of the park. Thus, through the
gathering darkness, the poor boy, proud, high-spirited, and, as he
thought, friendless, set forth alone, to fight his battle with the world.
CHAPTER V.
CHOOSING A CAREER.
As Rod Blake, heavy-hearted, and weary, both mentally and physically
from his recent struggles, left his uncle's house, he felt utterly reckless,
and paid no heed to the direction his footsteps were taking. His one
idea was to get away as quickly, and as far as possible, from those who
had treated him so cruelly. "If only the fellows had stood by me," he
thought, "I might have stayed and fought it out. But to have them go
back on me, and take Snyder's word in preference to mine, is too
much."
Had the poor boy but known that Billy Bliss was even then hastening to
bear a message of good-will and confidence in him from the "fellows"
how greatly his burden of trial would have been lightened. But he did
not know, and so he pushed blindly on, suffering as much from his own
hasty and ill-considered course of action, as from the more deliberate
cruelty of his adopted cousin. At length he came to the brow of a steep
slope leading down to the railroad, the very one of which Eltje's father
was president. The railroad had always possessed a fascination for him,
and he had often sat on this bank watching the passing trains,
wondering at their speed, and speculating as to their destinations. He
had frequently thought he should like to lead the life of a railroad man,
and had been pleased when the fellows called him "Railroad Blake" on
account of his initials. Now, this idea presented itself to him again more
strongly than ever.
An express train thundered by. The ruddy glow from the furnace door
of its locomotive, which was opened at that moment, revealed the
engineman seated in the cab, with one hand on the throttle lever, and
peering steadily ahead through the gathering gloom. What a glorious

life he led! So full of excitement and constant change. What a power he
controlled. How easy it was for him to fly from whatever was
unpleasant or trying. As these thoughts flashed through the boy's mind,
the red lights at the rear of the train seemed to blink pleasantly at him,
and invite him to follow them.
"I will," he cried, springing to his feet. "I will follow wherever they
may lead me. Why should I not be a railroad man as well as another?
They have all been boys and all had to begin some time."
At this moment he was startled by a sound of a voice close beside him
saying, "Supper is ready, Mister Rod." It was Dan the stable boy; and,
as Rodman asked him, almost angrily, how he dared follow him
without orders, and what he was spying out his movements for, he
replied humbly: "I ain't a-spying on you, Mister Rod,