As soon as the novelty of Will’s new hat had worn off, so far, at least, as to allow it to remain quietly on his head, he and his mother went to spend the rest of the day at the house of a relative, while Mr. Lawrence made his way to a law office.
About nightfall the three returned to the depot, took passage by the cars, and were soon on their way homeward.
It was still early in the evening, but the family party did not expect to reach home till past midnight.
Will was thinking—not of his latest blunders, but of some second-hand presents that he had received from his cousin, Henry. Mr. Lawrence, who was accustomed to travel, seemed inclined to fall asleep—in fact, they had not proceeded far on their way when a gentle snoring evinced that he was indeed asleep. Will fancied that his mother also seemed tired and drowsy, and he hastily concluded that his parents would have to depend upon him to be awakened when the train reached their station.
This thought kept the boy on the alert, and he took pride in the confidence thus placed in him. To him, however, the time passed much more slowly than when going to the city in the morning. This was only to be expected. Then, the sun was shining bright, the car was full of people, and his parents were wide-awake and in a humor to talk to him; now, it was night,—calm and starlit, but night,—the three were almost entirely alone in the car, and his parents were tired, sleepy, and silent.
Nevertheless, much as he wished to keep awake, he at last fell into a doze, from which he was aroused by the train’s coming to a stop and the brakesman’s shouting out the name of a station. The name seemed familiar, and Will, rubbing his eyes and yawning, at once began to reason, aloud: “Our station! I must wake pa and ma, or the train will go on.”
Both were awakened without delay.
“What! is this our station already?” Mr. Lawrence asked, with some surprise. “You must be mistaken, Will—or have I really been asleep?”
“Yes, sir, you have been asleep: and this is our station.”
“Then there’s no time to be lost, I suppose;” and Mr. Lawrence snatched up his valise and started towards the door, followed by his wife and son.