Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial321dodg).pdf/585



HEY were a happy party of children—Kenneth, Arthur, Alice, and Polly—as, one bright, cool, summer afternoon, they drove along a country road in a capacious pony-cart. The road which they followed, although near the sea, ran partly through pine woods and thickets, and was bordered, here and there, with a tangle of wild-rose and bay bushes, with no houses in sight. Suddenly the cart rolled into a clearing and approached a railroad track. Kenneth, who was driving, and had been cautioned about the danger near railroads, listened for a train. Everything was silent, so he chirruped to “Rob Roy,” the sturdy pony, encouraging him to cross the rails. Just in the middle of the track the pony stopped stock-still and refused to budge.

“He is balky,” said Arthur.

“Let ’s get out and see,” cried Alice.

They tumbled hastily out, and found to their dismay that one of Rob Roy’s hoofs was firmly fastened in a “frog” in the track, holding him so that he could not move from the spot. The children tried with all their might to release him, but in vain did they tug and lift. Then the awful thought struck Polly that it was almost time fer the afternoon train, and what would become of Rob Roy and the cart? She exclaimed, “We must flag the train!”

The others screamed in scorn: “Flag the train! With what? A pocket-handkerchief?”

“No,” said Polly, stoutly,—and she was only seven,—“I ’ll flag the train with my red-flannel petticoat; red is the danger-signal, you know.” And she whipped off the petticoat and ran down the track, followed by a string of loyal supporters, Kenneth being left 1o guard the pony.

Truly there was a train, puffing along at its usual speed! The engineer leaned from his cab-window, gazing with surprise at this group of hurrying children waving a red flag. Of course he stopped the train, while the children were quickly surrounded by questioning passengers, who raised a hearty cheer for Polly when she breathlessly told of the pony’s perilous position and of her desire to save him. Strong hands released Rob Roy from his iron fetter, and the grateful children climbed into the cart, the passengers went aboard the cars, and the train steamed away, passengers and brakemen waving a parting salute to the intrepid four.

That evening, at a dinner-party, one gentleman remarked to the father of the heroine: “That was a clever thing which your Polly did this afternoon.”

“What do you mean?” her father said.

“Why, did n’t you know that she flagged the down train to save the pony?”

Then the whole story came out. They had been, each and all, afraid to mention the incident that afternoon, fearing they might be forbidden to drive Rab Roy any more, and not dreaming that any one on the train would think that what they did was worth mentioning.

As the pony’s accident was not due to any fault of the children, their father allowed them to continue their drives, but were urgently warned to avoid railroad crossings in the future.