CHARLIE DELIVERS MAIL FOR THE STAGE DRIVER
WELL, I can tell you that Charlie and Topsy and Bingo liked living in the country very much. There were so many interesting things to do, and so many interesting people to talk to, and every single thing in the country was different from what it was in the city.
Charlie had different things to eat, and he wore different clothes. You never can guess what kind of clothes Charlie wore when he was in the country! Charlie wore blue denim overalls, just like the farm workers, and his Mother bought them for him at the country store, which is ex-act-ly where the farm workers bought theirs!
One day Charlie ran out to the gate before breakfast to mail a letter for his Auntie. In the country there are no post boxes at every corner as there are in the city. Oh, no! When Charlie wanted to mail a letter he just had to go down to the gate and put it in the box that was fastened outside; then he had to take out an old red tobacco tin that was inside the mail box, tied to it by a string, and leave it hanging outside the box, so that the mailman would see it when he went past and know that there was a letter for the mail. If he did not see the tobacco tin hanging out, the stage driver would not stop at all—so it was very important not to forget to hang the tobacco tin out.
Well, Charlie got to the gate just as the stage driver was driving up. When he saw Charlie standing there, he said, “Hello, good morning.” And Charlie said, “Hello, good morning,” too. Then he said, “Are you the postman?” The stage driver laughed. “We-e-ll, I reckon that you can say that’s what I am, though folks here about call me the stage driver.”
“That is very interesting,” said Charlie. “Do you know, in the city the postman wears a gray cap and coat and trousers and he does not drive a cart, he has to walk?”
The stage driver was most surprised. “Is that so?” he said. “Well, I reckon there’s lots of things they do differently in the city, and you, being a city boy, must surely know all about it. I certainly would like to hear about city ways. Supposing you ask your Mother if she would let you drive with me this afternoon when I take the afternoon mail up; then you can show me how they deliver mail in the city.”
Oh, my goodness, but Charlie was excited! He ran to the house so fast that he puffed and he blowed, and, as he ran, he called out, “Mother, Auntie! The stage driver says that I can go with him and give out the letters just like a real postman in the city! He says that I can go this afternoon, if you say yes. Oh, Mother, oh, Auntie, I can go, can’t I?”
Of course his Mother and his Auntie were de-light-ed when they heard that Charlie was to go and help deliver the mail just like a real postman, and of course they both said “Yes,” that Charlie might go.
Well, the very minute that Charlie had finished his dinner, he said very politely, “Please excuse me, I don’t want to keep the stage driver waiting.” Then the lady where they were boarding and his Mother and his Auntie said, “Yes,” he might be excused.
So Charlie got his hat and his whistle, which belonged to his sailor suit, because he knew he would need it as he was going to be a postman—and he ran down to the gate as fast as ever he could. No, Charlie did not keep the stage driver waiting. It was Charlie who had to wait for the stage driver!
But at last he came driving down the road and, when he saw Charlie waiting at the gate, he said, “Hello, young man, so you are coming with me. That’s fine! Hop in.”
So Charlie hopped in and he showed the stage driver his whistle and how he was going to blow it just like a real city postman.
The stage driver said, “First we are going to the station to get the mail;” and he clicked with his whip and said, “Gid ap, gid ap!” to the horses, and they did “gid ap,” and their bells jingled as they trotted along the road.
The station was a long way off from the farm where Charlie and his Mother and his Auntie were staying, but the horses trotted so quickly, so quickly, that they got there before the train did.
Charlie and the stage driver got down, and the stage driver hitched the horses to the post, and then they both went on to the platform to wait for the train.
Everybody in the station talked to Charlie—even the station master and the man in the ticket office—and they said, “Is this the new stage driver?” The stage driver said, “No; this boy is the new postman and he is going to deliver the mail for me.”
You can believe that Charlie felt proud and important when he heard them talk like that.
At last the train came in, and it was the same train that had carried Charlie and his Mother and his Auntie and his Daddy and Topsy and Bingo and Jane to the country. Yes, it was the very same train and the very same engine that Charlie had ridden on, and the fireman was there, and he looked out of the cab and called out, “Hello, Charlie!”
Well, the stage driver went to the baggage car and a lot of men were unloading packages, and there was one great big sack.
Charlie asked what was in that great big sack—and the stage driver told him that was the mail. Yes, all the letters that Charlie was going to deliver were stuffed into that great big sack!
So the stage driver got the mail bag and the packages on to the stage. The stage driver carried all the big packages and Charlie carried all the little ones.
Then the stage driver said, “Gid ap!” and off they went again. First they went to the post office and waited there a long time. They had to wait till the postmaster had taken out of the mail sack all the mail for the people who lived near the post office and who had to come and get their mail for themselves. But at last the postmaster had finished his job, and it was time for Charlie and the stage driver to begin theirs.
This, of course, was the interesting part of the drive. The stage rattled along the road, the horses went so fast; and at last they came to a house and the horses stopped of their own accord.
The stage driver gave Charlie some letters and told him to go and deliver them.
So Charlie climbed down from the stage and he blew his whistle, one, two, three times—but nobody came to the gate to get the letters from the postman. No, even though Charlie blew again and again, nobody came at all.
Then the stage driver said, “I reckon the folks at this farm are not used to city postmen. I reckon they don’t even know that that whistle means that there is mail for them. You had better just slip the letters in the box, the way we do in these parts, and we’ll drive on to the next farm.”
So Charlie did as the stage driver said. He had to stand on tiptoe because the box was so high. He felt a little sad that nobody had come to get the letters from him—but it was fun putting the letters in the box.
Then they drove on to the next farm. This time there were a whole lot of letters and a parcel, too. Charlie carried the parcel himself, as it was a little one. He said to the stage driver, “Perhaps I had better not blow my whistle this time.” But the stage driver said, “Oh, go ahead and blow your whistle, you know you are a city postman and you must do as they do.”
So Charlie blew on his whistle—he blew a TREMENDOUS blast, and he blew again and again. And—what do you think?
The farmer who was in the field, hoeing potatoes, threw down his hoe and he came running, as fast as he could run, to see what Charlie’s whistle meant.
And the farmer’s wife, who was in the kitchen frying doughnuts, the minute she heard Charlie’s whistle, threw down her cooking spoon and ran out of the kitchen door to see what Charlie’s whistle meant.
And the cat, who was sleeping on a rocking chair on the porch, sprang straight up in the air when she heard the whistle; and she came tearing down to the gate to see what in the world all that whistling meant.
And the watch dog, who was tied up outside his kennel—he jumped and pranced and tried to get loose because he wanted to find out what all that whistling meant!
And they all came rushing down to the gate, except the dog, and when they saw Charlie with the parcel and the letters—my goodness, they were surprised!
The farmer said, “Well, well, to think that we have a postman just the same as they have in the city—well! well!” and he shook hands with Charlie.
Then the farmer’s wife said, “Mr. Stage Driver, couldn’t you wait a minute while I run into the house and get a doughnut apiece for you and the postman?” The stage driver thought that would be very nice—so the farmer’s wife brought the doughnuts and they were delicious.
Charlie blew a tremendous blast
Then they said, “Good-by” to the nice farmer and his wife and thanked her for the delicious doughnuts, and off they went to the next farm. Charlie blew his whistle, and he blew his whistle every single time they came to a farm, but nobody else came to the gate to see what was the matter; so Charlie put the letters in the box every time.
Soon they came to a long stretch of road where there were no houses at all, and Charlie and the stage driver could talk together without being interrupted every minute by Charlie having to deliver letters.
Charlie told the stage driver all about the city and about his Mother and his Auntie and his Daddy, and about Jane and Topsy and Bingo, and about the iceman and the postman, and the letter boxes that are at the corner of the streets where you mail your letters.
Then the stage driver told Charlie all about the country and what an important person the stage driver is when he lives in the country—even more important than the postman. For the stage driver not only brings letters, and parcels for birthdays or Christmas, he brings everything that the people in the country need—clothes, and furniture, and medicine—every single thing that they use, except what they grow themselves.
Everything is sent from the city by the train in great big packages. And the stage driver puts the packages on to the stage, and carries some of them to the country store, where the people can come and buy the things they want—but some of the things go directly to the farmers who live too far from the country store.
Charlie thought this very interesting. There were a whole lot of questions that he wanted to ask. But now they had come to another farm and there was a great big package all ready at the gate!
Charlie and the stage driver talked together
The stage driver got down and put it on to the stage. Charlie was much surprised. He said, “I thought you brought packages to people, I did not know that you took any away.”
Then the stage driver said, “I reckon you can’t guess what is inside this package and where it is going to be sent. Why, this package is full of maple sugar, and it is going to be sent to the city because people could not get maple sugar in the city unless the people in the country sent it to them. This package is going to a big store in the city, and when you go back home, maybe you and your Mother will go into the store and buy a pound of this very same maple sugar that is in this package!”
Yes, that is what the stage driver said, and Charlie was so interested and surprised that the stage driver started to surprise him some more.
“See all those pretty blossoms on the apple trees. Well, by Fall they will all have turned into apples. Then the farmer will gather them off the trees, and he will put them in sacks, and I will take them to the station on my stage and load them on to the train, and they will be taken to the city, where you city folks will buy them. Same thing with the wheat growing in the fields, and the vegetables, and everything the farmer raises. Everything that he doesn’t need for his own use the farmer sends to the city, first by the stage driver and then by the train.”
My goodness! This gave Charlie a lot to think about! He said, “I think that trains and mail stages are the most interesting things in the world. I will either be a stage driver or a fireman when I grow up, and I will take things to the country people that they need and bring back things to the city people that they need.”
By this time all the letters and all the packages had been delivered. And the stage driver was driving back the way they came.
At last they came to the farm where Charlie was staying. And the stage driver said, “Here is one more letter for you to deliver, and then your job will be finished. You have been a great help to me to-day. I think you are a fine postman and I hope you will come with me another day and deliver the mail for me. This letter is for your Mother.”
So Charlie thanked the stage driver and climbed down from the stage. He ran all the way to the house; then he rang the bell and blew his whistle just as the postman did at home. And who do you think opened the door? It was his Mother.
She said, “Good afternoon, Postman, have you a letter for me?” And Charlie said, “Yes, ma’am,” just like the postman. Then he couldn’t help laughing, and he forgot that he was the postman, and he hugged his Mother and said, “Is it a letter from Daddy?”
And it was. Yes, it was a letter from Daddy, and what do you think? The letter said that Daddy found that after all he would be able to get away from the city—and that he would arrive on Friday afternoon, and Charlie was to be sure to come and meet him.
Then Charlie’s Mother hugged him again for bringing her such a nice letter and his Auntie came downstairs, Topsy and Bingo prancing after her. Bingo jumped up and down and Topsy climbed on to Charlie’s shoulder, and they all listened to the adventures he had had that afternoon when he was a postman.
