Then there was the scramble into the big touring car, the drive across country to Ocala, luncheon at the queer station dining room where Mary Jane, for the first time in her life, had the fun of sitting up to a counter to eat, and the rush for the train that was to take them up to Jacksonville and Dadah.
“Well,” said Mary Jane with a sigh of relief as she sank into the comfortable Pullman seat, “I just a-going to sit here all afternoon and think and think and think—I am!” But she didn’t count on the many queer things that may happen in Florida.
PIGS BY THE WAY
FOR more than an hour Mary Jane sat and thought as she had planned to; she thought of all the interesting sights she had seen since she left home; she thought of the new friends she had made and of the fun she had had playing in the many places she had been. Then suddenly it occurred to her that their train was standing still.
“Doesn’t this train go like regular trains, Mother?” she asked.
“Evidently not,” replied Mrs. Merrill, who also had been noticing how much time was being lost; “we stop at every corner store, I do believe, and wait to chat about the weather.”
Mary Jane laughed at the idea of a train stopping to talk about the weather. “What’s it saying now?” she asked and she sat up straight and looked out of the window. Such a sight! “Yumy yum, yum!” she cried eagerly. “Mother, may we have some too?”
Mrs. Merrill and Alice had been watching out the window while Mary Jane had been thinking and resting so they knew just what she meant. On either side of the train, stretching as far as a person could see, were rows and rows and rows of—strawberries. Strawberries so big and red and ripe and luscious that they could be seen—those on the nearest vines of course—from the train window. And all the strawberry plants near and far showed signs of being loaded with fruit. Over the rows bent the pickers, busily working, and here and there were groups of workers sorting and packing the berries into boxes and crates ready for shipping.
“Oh, Mother!” exclaimed Mary Jane, “I’ll bet they’re taking them onto our train! I just know they are.”