Nelly's Silver Mine: A Story of Colorado LifeJackson, Helen Hunt
History
Nelly's Silver Mine: A Story of Colorado Life
Jackson, Helen Hunt
Colorado -- History -- To 1876 -- Juvenile fiction
Nelly still looked distressed. "Papa wouldn't like it," she said,
"nor mamma either. They were all those people had to eat, except
bread and cheese. Oh, Rob! I think it was awful mean in you."
"I don't care: I wish I hadn't told you. I don't think it was mean.
It was good enough for them for making such a smell in the cars. I
heard some of the gentlemen saying they hadn't any business with
onions in the car,--that the conductor ought to make them throw them
away. Anyhow, Nell, you promised not to tell."
"Yes," said Nell, "but I never once thought of its being such a
thing as this. What do you suppose they'll do? They might have you
took up and put in prison, Rob."
Rob looked a little disturbed, but he replied bravely:
"Oh, pshaw! I don't know whose onions they were anyhow. I just found
them rolling round on the floor, and I picked them up: they weren't
anybody's when they were out loose in the car. I don't care: we
won't have such a horrid smell here to-day."
Nelly walked away looking very unhappy. She disliked the smell of
onions as much as Rob did; but she would rather have had the string
of onions in her lap all day than have had Rob do such a thing as
this; and she felt sure it would all be known, somehow, before the
day came to an end,--as you will see that it was.
After everybody had got up, and the beds and pillows and blankets
were all packed away in the little cupboards overhead, and the car
was put in order for the day, the people who had lunch-baskets began
to eat their breakfasts. Nelly sat very still in her seat, and
watched to see what would happen when the onions were found to be
missing. Rob had walked away, and stood at the farther door of the
car. He seemed to be very busy looking out at the scenery.
Mrs. March had a good little breakfast of boiled eggs and bread and
butter and tea and milk, all ready on the table.
"Call Rob," she said to Nelly. Nelly walked to the end of the car,
and said:--
"Come, Rob. Mamma's got breakfast all ready."
Without looking round, Rob whispered:--
"Have they missed 'em?"
"I don't know: I haven't heard any thing," answered Nelly, in the
same low tone. And they walked back together, Nelly looking much
more anxious than Rob did. Mrs. March noticed their grave faces as
they took their seats, and she said:--
"You are tired: aren't you, children?"
"Oh, no, mamma!" they both exclaimed; "we aren't a bit tired!"
But their faces did not brighten. If the whole truth were told, it
must be owned that they were both very unhappy. The more Rob thought
about those onions, the more he felt afraid that it was stealing to
have thrown them away; and this made him wretched enough.
And the more Nelly thought about it, the surer she felt that Rob was
going to get into trouble before the thing was done with. Neither of
them ate much breakfast; they were both listening to what was going
on in the next section. They could hear such sentences as:--
"I know I left 'em here last night."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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