“Oh, dear! What can this be?” thought Blackie. “I guess it must be the railroad station where the ‘choo-choo’ cars stop, as Mabel used to call them when she was a little girl and I was a little kitten.”
And that is where Blackie was. The train Mrs. Thompson had taken had reached the station, and she had gotten out with her cat in the basket.
“My, I did not know the country was as noisy as this,” thought Blackie. But she was not quite in the country yet, you see. Mrs. Thompson had to take a wagon to get to her country place.
Blackie felt her basket being set down and she heard Mrs. Thompson talking to some man about trunks and boxes, and about bringing up a carriage, and things like that.
Then, all at once, Blackie noticed that the cover of her basket was loose. There was a hole out of which she could put her head.
“I guess I’ll get a breath of fresh air and look around,” said Blackie to herself. Out of the basket she popped her head, and she saw Mrs. Thompson standing a little way off, on the station platform, talking to the baggage-man. On the track, to one side, was the train which had brought Blackie and Mrs. Thompson to the country. The engine was puffing, and the bell was ringing, for the train was about to start off again.
All of a sudden there was a dreadfully loud noise, almost like a gun being fired, and then followed a loud whistle.
“Whoo-ee!”
“Oh, my! Oh, my!” cried poor frightened Blackie to herself. “This is dreadful! It must be a terribly big dog after me! I’m not going to stay in this basket and be bitten!”