"Well," says I, "this is more"n I can stand;" and I gave "em a real shove. I reckon he waked up, for I didn"t feel "em no more."
At this Nelly had to run away. She could not keep the laugh back any longer. And Mrs. March thought it better to let her go, for she did not know what might be coming next in the conversation of these women. At the other end of the car, Nelly saw Rob, carrying something done up in newspaper in his hand. She ran after him. He put his finger on his lips as she drew near him, and made signs to her not to speak. She could not imagine what he was carrying. He went very fast to the outside door of the car, opened it, and threw the parcel out.
"What was it, Rob?" said Nell, eagerly.
"I won"t tell you," said Rob: "you"ll tell."
"Oh! I won"t; I won"t; indeed I won"t," said Nell.
"Honest Indian?" said Rob.
"Honest Indian," said Nelly.
This was the strongest form of pledge which Rob and Nelly ever gave.
It was like a sort of oath among the children in Mayfield. If a child broke his promise after he had said "Honest Indian," there was nothing too bad for him.
"Well," said Rob, coming very close to Nelly, and speaking in a low whisper, "it was those people"s string of onions!"
"Why, Rob!" cried Nelly, in a horrified tone, "why, Rob! that"s stealing. How could you?"
""Tain"t stealing either, Nell March," said Rob, stoutly; "I haven"t got "em. Stealing is taking things. I haven"t got them. I didn"t want the old, horrid things. I just threw them away. That ain"t taking."
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 b.u.t.ter 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."
"Perhaps they went out of the window."
"They couldn"t: they were on the floor."
"That black rascal"s got "em, you may be sure."
At this last sentence, Nelly gave Rob a push under the table with her foot, and his face turned very red.
In a moment more, Ben entered the car; as he was pa.s.sing the Marches" table, the angry man from the next section called out, in a very rude way:--
"Here, you n.i.g.g.e.r, what"d you do with my onions?"
Ben stood stock-still, he was so astonished.
"Ungyuns!" he exclaimed; "I never seed no ungyuns."
"Yes, you did! You must have: you"ve stowed "em away somewhere. Now jest you pa.s.s "em out, or I"ll report you."
Ben had never been accused of stealing before. He looked the man full in the face, and said:--
"You can do all the reportin" yer want to, mister. I never seed your ungyuns." And he was about to pa.s.s on; but the man was so angry, and so sure that Ben must have taken his onions, that he stood in the middle of the aisle, right in Ben"s way, and would not let him pa.s.s.
"Hand "em over now," he said, in the most insulting tone; "hand "em over."
Mr. March, who had been watching the scene with some amus.e.m.e.nt, was very much astonished, on looking at Rob at this moment, to see his cheeks flushed, his lips parted as if he were about to speak.
"Why, Rob," he said, "do you know where the onions are?"
"No," said Rob.
Nelly gave an involuntary gasp, under her breath, "Oh!"
Mr. March looked at her in still greater surprise.
"Do you, Nell?" he said.
Nelly did not reply, but looked at Rob, who said:--
"I don"t know where they are now." But his expression was a very guilty one.