"Ticket?" he asked.
"I ain't got any," said the boy.
"What's the reason?"
"W'y, I lost all my money, an' I couldn't buy one, an' I couldn't see nobody't I knew, an' the man't tended door, he said tell you to pass me up."
The conductor smiled, as he recognized a familiar scheme of the kind-hearted door-keeper, but he said, trying to speak sternly:—
"The man had no right to tell you that. Our rules are very strict. No one can ride without a ticket or a pass. Where do you want to go?"
"To Scranton; I live there," said Ralph, his voice faltering with apprehension.
"Well, I suppose I ought to stop the train and put you off."
Ralph looked out through the car window, at the blackness outside, and his face took on a look of fear.
"I'm very sorry," he said, "I'm awful sorry. I wouldn't 'a' got on if I'd 'a' known it. Do you think you've got to put me off—right away?"