"What you 'fraid of?" asked Sue, petting Toddle.
"Well, I'm afraid of what the railroad men, and maybe a policeman, might do to me if they found me in here with you two children," went on the tramp. "They'd think I was trying to kidnap you, and they might send me to jail."
"We could tell them you were good to us," said Bunny. "And that you gave us nuts and water to eat."
"And I'd tell the men about how you took care of the pussy," said Sue.
"Yes, I know you would be kind," the old man remarked. "But, for all that, the railroad men might think I was a bad man and arrest me. You'd better come away from that door, Bunny. You might fall out. And besides, I'd rather a railroad man wouldn't see you—just yet."
"But can't we ever go back to our mother and daddy?" asked Bunny, as he walked over and sat down beside his sister and Nutty.
"Oh, yes, I'm just trying to think of a way to help you," the old tramp answered. "Let me think a minute."
Bunny and Sue had often heard their mother say this, and they knew she wanted to be quiet and not have them talk when she was trying to make up her mind about something they had asked her. Thinking Nutty would want the same silence, Bunny and Sue talked only in whispers while Nutty was "thinking."
At last Nutty said:
"I think I have it now. This train ought to stop pretty soon at a water tank to give the engine a drink. When it does then you children can get off."