I tried to catch a train out of there, but found them so closely
watched that it was impossible, so I undertook another walk.
It was twenty miles from Jacksonville to Way Cross, and one bright
morning I set out on foot.
By then the tans were well worn and the walking easy. About noon time I
met another of my apparent caliber and he happened to be eating beside
the track when I arrived. He had a fire kindled and was preparing his
meal in a tin can. I sat down and soon we were partaking of hot coffee
and cold biscuits.
He had a letter in his pocket which he had written to his people in
Connecticut and I gave him postage. He asked me where I was headed for,
and I told him I was on my way home, and when I got there I was going
to stay, for I was damn tired of tramping around.
When he heard me through he said, "Do you know what your folks will say
when you get there?"
"No. What will they say when I get there and tell them I have come home
to die?"
"Well," he said, "they will say, 'You lie, boy; you have come home to
eat.'"
That night about dark I reached the little town of Way Cross. A few
negro huts, a post office, a general store, and one fairly decent
house, which stood just across the track from the depot. At this house
I requested food and the lady gave me a splendid lunch. I asked the
station master if I might sleep in the waiting room that night, and he
told me I could. I was tired from my long walk, so it was early in the
evening when I sought my sleeping place. I lay down on the bench and
snoozed soundly till daylight next morning.
Feeling somewhat rested, I arose and went out on the platform. I walked
around to the side of the station and there lay, close up to the house,
three men who were formerly with a circus in lower Florida and were
now making their way to their homes in Baltimore. Within a short time
a freight arrived and drew up at the water tank. I arranged with the
engineer to let me ride to Uleaf in consideration of my helping the
fireman.
At that time most of the roads in Florida used pine wood instead of
coal, so I busied myself in helping the fireman. From Uleaf I rode an
empty box car over to Fernadina. By the time I arrived at Fernadina
I was getting mighty tired of tramping around and wanted to get home
pretty badly. I had three cents when I arrived there and with this I
purchased crackers and walked down on the pier where I gathered up some
oysters in the shell and thus fared sumptuously.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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