"Extra Fare"

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXX, Issue 13624, 23 April 1942, Page 7

"Extra Fare"

ri Die to paf • Dade wa s an- ".-:; extra- »' i^ ue ' it . It was noth;'^!°rSie'reassured hen her enviously ,«£ attention from his sis- ,. a iee cwearo cone." he ~p,l °n t o" Junior and . „„* from your mothrfc D rie wondered how she * been expected to hear Corona speeding tram. »*£ a long day for me, »* «'» a good thing I nave «**?•, to think about, I ; : , reflected on the difference •"I this stoic little mother on journey and the unencumSanders, who recognised \Ljgs, obvious or disguised. Lree, the children do help. •; iiTOU r mother Is improved ;Jou arrive she will he so hap,fcsee them, too." , !D ade sighed. "I don't hope 0 Dad never would have sent {B if he had believed she would better. He knew I couldn't af--Mo make this trip and he could;'i?lp me much. Th.ey have had Uich extra expense themselves, e mother being ill. that he is iwrried. They worked and r: ej all their lives for this trip :: then Dad. made a little extra on -= stock he sold just at the right ate, so I persuaded them not to :;;ine the vacation any longer. 53 rare so happy when they left 4 can't seem right that they •Jia't enjoy being out west for a

!:s!e ivas sympathetic. "Siwhen Dad sent for me," tire :±ence was resumed, "I knew he ito't have much hope for her. -•'-that's my husband —has been rc; every dollar we could spare ip into the trucking business, but '::'; lie found I wanted to go, he sfc me take the money—even the --•; fare—so I could save time." ~ eyes and voice were misty with * memory of Ed's kindness; and &ws silent with the thought Kirby would be like that, too, BWis and understanding. 'iter, she went into the dressing *to cold-cream the soot and r - foin her face and brush, her ■ to a smooth sheen. She wa? to sitting alone in her section J -Mose stopped beside her to re *t Kith a grin, "Ah see yob J*» decided to make friends *: roh-all.'- , ie -" laughed Jaxie, "she could•to anpae else miserable by grouchy, so she changed her I notice you are very paV?b her whims." T *' e BHnned again and said, ***** h takes a lot ob Chris•Kt to do it sometimes, but £» treat, 'em de bes' ah kin, ;■■' 0r not Trouble of 'tis, vou l*»* a crank lak dat, nohow. J.. ( a «ah yoh brain to pieces , ° thlnk ob ways to please wants and need? . *°u begin to travel around Bltth-.-don* think ob. But make nothin' right , JJh* it turns out bet;ah to -to d em _.. be surprised. And -.fence sometimes reward...;Sle asked. :;;,. /• "S. J 6S - i ag . week t lm £ _>*t lak dis heali one '' btin. m&aQ her ashamed ob laery ., race to her— she was S;;; 6S you think she was si s r ser x had >" ex. fcg Ue ev Hence were unjusr the »- a »d : He had ;<^! bud au d bloom, - Ocular a 0n tr ains. * . °ne looked promisi'^jon the bi,idse glle y lfl <iuired. .'>Sd°feredJaxle..V ea f our. Mrs Grouch she ' B as 800 d , T^ra hi 6? ,, ' makln S other lut -yo„ you might be a

MAY WEBSTER

grouchy old man some day, yourself," Jaxie warned him with a gigale.

"Do you thing so " he Aemand-

"No, I don't!' Jaxle smiled. Her head was thrown back against the seat and her eyes looked at him through the fringe of her half-closed eyelids. His hand reached out involuntarily toward her, but he drew it hack quickly and thrust it into his pocket, as If to discipline it. With a sudden deep breath he said hastily, "How about sitting on the platform for a while before dinner? I don't think there will be so many out there, now. Almost everyone seems to be resting.'

"Ycu know 1 like being on the

platform, don't you?" "So do I —with you," he said softly, as she stepped into the aisle and preceded him to the rear of the

As Kirby had surmised, the platform was deserted. It was very warm, and the swift passage of the train across the prairies stirred the air into moving heat waves. As far as eve could see only parched grass and barren rocks stretched toward the rim of the blue sky. Not a human being was in sight and only at long intervals a small house or a rambling shack broke the monotony of the dreary landscape. Heat simmered from the undulating rails, slipping away like endless shimmer--infi; lengths of ribbon unwinding from a magician's swift-moving hand.

"I had no idea this part of the mid-west was so desolate. How do people live in such country?" Jaxie marvelled.

"You ask them and they will tell you they wouldn't live in Chicago or any other city if you gave it to them delinquent taxes. government debts and all. They wonder how we manage to breathe, even, in cities. They pity us." "But doesn't it almost terrify you to realise how big the world Is-Twenty-five thousand miles do not sound such a distance, but to-dav the earth's immensity awes meLook how we are speeding over these rails—so fast that the railroad ties Just, melt away into space and blur your vision. The wheels clickover the rail Joinings as fast as a watch, ticks —hour after hour —for days—and we've gone only such a little distance on the man." "A couple of inches," Kirby nodded.

•'And think of the courage of those first pioneers who 'travelled these desolate miles, so slowly and arduously, surrounded by unknown dangers and sffering ntold hardshipsjst to explore new country "with the h.ope of finding something better in life and fortune."

"Plenty of them paid for it with their lives, too."

"And yet how many of the thou sands of people who traverse these miles now in comfort and luxury give a thought to those who mad© possible such, a paradise as Califor nia is to-dav?"

"Maybe one in ten thousand. likt» you. The rest are too busy noticing the discomforts of train travel and relating their private ' misfortunes to anyone who will listen." "They'd do better to gave out the windows and take a lesson from these forlorn houses that, appear in the distance once in a while. Look at that one, for instance," she exclaimed, as the train passed a roadside shantv whose tenants probably were railroad employees. Beside the shack grew a row of jaunty hollyhocks. "Isn't that sheer audacity for vou —those bright flower? flaunting their beauty in this dreary waste? If only people.were as eager to spread cheer around themi I can't understand why there isn't more happiness everywhere." "There is more, everywhere you go." His face was very close tc her, and the way bis eyes searched her's startled her. The door opened behind them and Mose thrust his head out. "Beg pahdon. sub., but a gentleman inside wants to speak wid yoh-all a minute." Kirby rose quickly and thanked him. To Jaxie he said, "If you will pardon me, please. Do you want to stay here until I return?" "Yes I'll see you later, if you don't come back. I*ll have to get dressed for dinner."

"You are having dinner with me. von know." She hesitated. "Will you let me pay my own check, then?" "Of course not." "Then I shall dine alone. I'm not in the habit of allowing someone to buy all my meals. And I—don't know you—very well, yet.. Mr Elliott." "Don't you?" he challenged, lou prefer dining alone, then?" "Oh, no, I'm much rather have your company," she admitted hastily- • Very well, you are having dinner with me." (To be continued) ! -,