Mark Tidd in the Backwoods

by Clarence Budington Kelland

After a while we saw the conductor coming through the car. I put my head in the door and held out our tickets. He frowned at us, and I thought he was going to make us come inside, but all he did was say to be careful. We allowed we’d do that.

I looked at my watch and saw five minnits were gone by. That was a third of the ride. The air was full of dust and grit and smoke, but through it all we could feel the coolness of Lake Michigan. I never had seen Lake Michigan or any other big lake, and I was anxious to. Mark said it would look just like the ocean. Anyhow, it sent a dandy soft coolness back into the country, and we were much obliged.

Another five minnits went past, and then we began to see lights every little while.

“Must be g-gettin’ near,” says Mark.

Pretty soon we could stretch our necks around the corner of the car and see lots of lights ahead, some of them up in the air. We knew these were street-lights and that we were getting into Ludington. Then we passed some factory buildings and began to pat ourselves on the back that we were there safe. The train slackened down until it wasn’t going very fast.

“We’re here,” says I to Mark.

“I see you are,” says somebody, and I turned quick to look. It was Jiggins grinning at us out of the door.

“Howdy?” says he. “Lucky I came back here, eh? To be sure. Didn’t think I’d see you again.”

I looked at Mark. He didn’t wait for another word, but just stepped down onto the lowest step of the car and jumped off into the dark. Jiggins sort of jumped past me and made a grab after him, and then, not knowing anything better to do myself, I jumped off the train on the other side and struck the sand of the right of way. For a few seconds I was so busy twisting head over heels and banging and scraping myself that I didn’t have any time to think about anybody else. I landed with a bump. For a minnit I laid there without being able to make up my mind how fatally I was hurt, but I found out I could move every one of my arms and legs and that nothing was the matter with me at all. Then I got up to look for Mark.

I found him about fifty feet back, sitting flat on the ground, with his legs stretched out in front of him. I expect he landed that way. If he did it wasn’t any fun, and it was pretty lucky nobody happened to be resting where he struck. If there had been we’d ’a’ had to dig him out of the ground, Mark would have driven him in so deep.