Here! Wake up, I say!"

These words, uttered shrilly in his ear, staggered his senses as he
opened his eyes and looked up.

CHAPTER V.

Ralph's First Railroad Ride.

A slender, thin faced, alert looking man was stooping over the boy, and
shaking him vigorously. Day had dawned.

"Wake up, young fellow!" continued the stranger, as Ralph gazed at him
in a dazed sort of way. "How came you in here?"

"I--I got in out of the rain," said Ralph, staggering to his feet, only
to be thrown down again by the jolting of the car, which was in rapid
motion.

The sliding door was now open. Ralph glancing out, saw the landscape
slipping by at a furious rate of speed.

The sight so astonished him, that he sank back again. To his
unaccustomed senses it was as if the earth were turning upside down.

"What's the matter with you? Drunk?"

"No!" almost shouted the boy, suddenly indignant. "I never took a
drink in my life. Neither was I ever on such a--a wagon as this
before. Lordy! How fast we're going!"

The man roared with laughter.

"Well, you are a curiosity. Where did you come from? Out of the
woods?"

"I'm from the mountains. Never was out of them before. Isn't there no
danger in going so fast? My! How my head swims when I look out!"

"Not a bit of danger, unless in case of a collision, or when something
gives way. But come! Give me an account of yourself. When I find an
uninvited stranger aboard my private car, I ought to know something
about him, I reckon."

While Ralph gave a brief account of himself and his affairs--omitting
the feud, however--his eyes rested first on one strange object, then
another.

There was a large pile of canvas at one end of the car, neatly folded.
Several tent poles lay along the floor. A large and a small camera,
resting on tripods, especially puzzled the boy. There were also
several chests and a trunk or two.

At the other end of the car there was a cot bedstead with mattress and
bedding, a chair or two, a small table, an oil cooking stove, together
with other household paraphernalia.

The whole outfit was simple, yet complete, and did not take up much
room.

"Well," said the man, as Ralph concluded his statement, "you seem to be
an honest and a plucky lad, though an almighty green one, I guess.
Never been anywhere, you say?"

"I've hunted for miles in the mountains, and I've been to a store or
two, and to meeting, and to the 'lections. Yes, and I've