Page:Ralph on the Railroad.djvu/129

Rh "but the old man's terribly broken up. Better go in and give him a word."

"All right," said Denny—"you come, too, Fairbanks."

"I'd rather not," said Ralph—"I've got work to do."

"You take a rest and eat your dinner before you do anything else," advised the big watchman.

The noon whistle sounded just then and dispersed the crowd. Ralph went over to a bench and brought out his dinner pail.

His arm was sore and smarting, but he was not at all seriously crippled, and he sat thoughtfully eating his lunch and wondering how the damage to the wall would be repaired.

Ralph noticed the two engineers leave the office, then Big Denny. The latter had hold of the hand of little Nora.

He led the way up to Ralph. Limpy had just taken his seat on the other end of the bench.

"I'm going to take her home," said the watchman. "Nora, do you know who this young gentleman is?"

The little girl looked still pale and frightened, but except for the torn dress and hat and a dark bruise on her forehead seemed none the worse for her recent perilous experience.

"No, sir," she said shyly.