"Made a jack of myself again," said he, as he remembered that the agent had told Emmons when they bought their tickets, that the Savannah train would not leave for an hour.
He returned to the waiting room and sat there very quietly until the time was nearly up, then went out and found the proper car without further difficulty.
That long night's ride was interesting though tiresome. Ralph tried to count the telegraph poles without understanding much about their uses.
The low, level country, the tall trunks of the pines, the ever present negroes, the sparks from the engine, and the occasional interruptions from the conductor, kept him from sleep until long after midnight.
Finally, however, he coiled himself up on the seat and knew nothing more until some one shook him by the shoulder.
"Is yo' gwine ter stay in yere all day?" asked a voice.
Ralph sat up and rubbed his eyes. The sun was shining and the car empty, with the exception of himself and a negro brakeman, who had awakened him from an unusually sound slumber.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"We'se in Savanny. Been yere nigh 'bout an hour. I seed yo' was tired, an' I 'lowed I'd let yer sleep. But I'se got ter sweep out now."
When Ralph emerged from the depot he found himself on a sandy unpaved street, with many half shabby frame houses about and a number of tall pines in the distance.