smiles like a last year's apple. "Why, that shack is hardly big
enough for me, and when my dog comes to see me he has to stick his tail
outside if he wants to wag it!"

"Oh, have you a dog?" cried Bunny.

"That I have, and a fine dog he is, too. He's at home with my wife now,
in the cottage. But I'll soon take you there. My, my! but you're little
children to have come alone in a freight car."

"We weren't alone," explained Sue. "Nutty was with us."

"Oh, yes, I know that queer tramp," said the water-tank switchman with
another laugh. "There's no harm in him, though some of the trainmen put
him off when they find him stealing a ride."

"This is his cat," went on Sue, showing the pussy. "Will your dog bite
it?"

"Oh, no, indeed!" exclaimed the switchman. "My dog likes cats. In fact,
my wife has a cat and I have a dog, and the two animals get along very
nicely together. But come along--let's see--what shall I call you?" he
asked.

"I'm Bunny and this is my sister Sue," answered the little boy. "Our
last name is Brown."

"Hum! That's funny!" laughed the jolly switchman. "My last name is
Black, though I'm a white man."

"What's your dog's name?" asked Bunny, as he and his sister trudged
along with the switchman, one on either side of him, Sue carrying
Nutty's pussy cat.

"His name is Bruno," was the answer. "He's a good dog and likes
children. But I'm thinking your mother and father will be worried about
you. Night's coming on. They can hardly get here after you before
to-morrow, and I don't believe they know where to look for you. Did they
see you get into the freight car and come away?"

"No," said Bunny. "Daddy wasn't there and mother was asleep."

"If I knew where your mother was I could go into town and send her a
telegram, I suppose," went on the switchman. "What station was it you
got off at?"

But Bunny and Sue had either forgotten or they had never heard it. It
was all the same as far as telling the switchman was concerned. He did
not know how to reach Mrs. Brown and she did not know where to come to
get Bunny and Sue.

"I guess you'll have to stay with me all night," said the railroad man.
"Lucky I've got a spare bed. My wife will be glad to see you, for she
doesn't see much white company. There's lots of colored folks in the
village, though."

"Do you live in a village?" asked Bunny.

"Yes, it's a little town about half a mile away over the hill. I leave
there every morning and come to the sh