“I am afraid the brakeman will see him and put him off at the first stop,” retorted Tavia. “And we haven’t money enough to pay his fare.”
“Goodness! No!” cried Dorothy. “I have less than a dollar left in my purse.”
“And of course, I have no money at all. I never do have,” groaned the reckless Tavia.
“After the conductor goes through the car,” whispered Dorothy, seeing the man in question coming down the aisle, “I am going to steal back there and see if the poor old creature really did get upon the steps outside the vestibule door.”
CHAPTER X
THE MAN WHO WOULD HAVE DIED INDOORS
The conductor seemed a jolly man, and he took a fatherly interest in Dorothy and Tavia, having a daughter about their age at home, so he said. Yet Dorothy did not feel like telling him about the old tramp whom she and Tavia had seen attempting to board the train.
“You see, the conductor has his rules to go by,” explained Dorothy, “and we couldn’t expect him to break them for us. I wish we had money to pay the fare of the poor old creature.”
“You don’t really know, Dorothy Dale, whether the man is on the step, or not,” urged Tavia.
“I’m going to find out,” pronounced her chum, with decision.