"Come on, little fellow," called the baggage man, "we only have a few minutes."
Then they took Freddie to the rear car and showed him a big cage of cows—it was a cage made of slates, with openings between, and through the openings could be seen the crowded cattle.
"Oh, I would never put Frisky in a place like that," declared Freddie; "he wouldn't have room to move."
"There is not much room, that's a fact," agreed the man. "But you see cows are not first-class passengers."
"But they are good, and know how to play, and they give milk," said Freddie, speaking up bravely for his country friends. "What are you going to do with all of these cows?"
"I don't know," replied the man, not just wanting to talk about beefsteak. "Maybe they're going out to the pasture."
One pretty little cow tried to put her head out through the bars, and Bert managed to give her a couple of crackers from his pocket. She nibbled them up and bobbed her head as if to say:
"Thank you, I was very hungry."
"They are awfully crowded," Nan ventured, "and it must be dreadful to be packed in so. How do they manage to get a drink?"
"They will be watered to-night," replied the man, and then the Bobbseys had to all hurry to get on the train again, for the locomotive whistle had blown and the bell was ringing.