they left Aunt Selina's
house.

'You're just going to start,' Jones added.

'Good-bye,' cried Jimmy, and he put his hand out of the window and the
butler shook it.

'Good-bye, sir,' he answered, and Jimmy felt quite sorry when Jones let
go his hand.

But the train was beginning to move; the butler stepped back and took
out his pocket-handkerchief and waved it, but it was to dry his eyes
that Jimmy took out his; for when the train glided away and he could not
see Jones any more Jimmy felt very much alone, especially as the old
gentleman opposite kept lowering his paper and looking down at his
trousers and then frowning at him.

CHAPTER VI

THE JOURNEY

For the first quarter of an hour after the train started Jimmy was
contented to gaze out of the window, but presently, growing tired of
doing that, he turned to look at the two ladies at the farther end of
the compartment.

As Jimmy moved in his seat, his boots touched the old gentleman's black
trousers. Laying aside his newspaper the old gentleman leaned forward to
look at them, and then he brushed off the mud. A few moments later
Jimmy's boots touched his trousers again, and the old gentleman began to
cough.

'I should feel greatly obliged,' he said in a loud voice, 'if you would
not make a door-mat of my legs.'

'I beg your pardon,' answered Jimmy, and he tucked his feet as far under
his seat as they would go.

'You should be more careful,' said the old gentleman, and then one of
the ladies suggested that Jimmy should sit by her side.

'I wanted to look out at the window,' he answered.

'Well, you can look out at my window,' she said, and so Jimmy went to
the other end of the compartment, and she gave him her seat; and for an
hour or more the train went on its way, stopping at one or two stations,
until presently it came to a standstill again.

'Where is this?' asked one of the ladies. The other looked out at the
window and said--

'Meresleigh.'

'We ought not to stop here,' answered her friend.

At the other end of the compartment the old gentleman let down his
window: 'Hi, Hi! Guard, Guard!' he cried, and the guard came to the
door.

'Why are we stopping here?' asked the old gentleman.

'Something's gone wrong with the engine, sir.'

'How long shall we stay?' asked the gentleman.

'Maybe a quarter of an hour, sir,' said the guard. 'We've got to wait
for a fresh engine, but it won't be long.'

'We may as well get out,' cried one