Charlie and His Puppy Bingo

by Helen Hill; Violet Maxwell

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.