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The Ne'er-Do-Well by Rex Ellingwood Beach
page 174 of 526 (33%)
"I suppose it was in my blood. We kids stole the lumber for a
track, and I got a hand-car from dad. We formed a close
corporation, and, when another boy wanted to join, we made him go
forth and steal enough boards to extend the line. We finally had
nearly two miles, altogether, with switches, sidings, yards, and
everything; then the fences in that neighborhood gave out. It was
a gravity road--yes, there was extreme gravity in every
department--we'd push the car up and ride down. We had a telephone
system and semaphores, and ran on orders just like a real train.
Grown people heard about it, and paid us five cents a ride, so we
began to declare dividends every Saturday. Oh, it was a great
success. We had a complete organization, too; president,
directors, conductors, section-hands--the section-hands did all
the work and rode between times."

"What happened to it?"

"One day we ran into a cow and broke the vice-president's leg. The
board of directors also had his ear cut, and the indignant
neighbors began to reclaim their fences. We lost a mile of track
in one afternoon, and father decided it would be better for me to
go to boarding-school. It was safer."

"I'll warrant you learned the rudiments of railroading, just the
same."

"I learned everything," Kirk announced, decisively.

"Unfortunately, the P.R.R. has a president, so we can't start you
in where you left off."
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