No
one noticed them in that hot, perspiring, black crowd. A
lively band was playing and the mob of good-humored, happy
negroes, dressed in their Sunday best, laughing and joking,
pushing and elbowing, made their way to the excursion train
standing on the track.
The two excited children got directly behind a broad, pompous
negro and slipped on the car just after him. Fortunately they
found a seat in the rear of the coach and there they sat
unobserved, still and quiet, except for an occasional delighted
giggle, till the bell clanged and the train started off. "We'll
see Sam Lamb toreckly," whispered Jimmy, "and he'll take care of
us."
The train was made up of seven coaches, which had been taking
on negroes at every station up the road as far as Paducah, and
it happened that the two little boys did not know a soul in
their car.
But when they were nearing Woodstock, a little station not far
from Memphis, Sam Lamb, making a tour of the cars, came into
their coach and was promptly hailed by the children.
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