第九章　車站上的人

Edith Nesbit

白房子里的生活日漸變化著，而孩子們在鐵路旁也終于等到了那個朝思暮想的人。

Scene?1 Train?and?newspaper

火車和報紙

Life?at?the?white?house?was?never?quite?the?same?again.?Jim?s?leg?got?better?and?better，?and?he?told?them?stories?about?his?school.?And?now?Mother?was?not?writing?stories?every?day.?She?was?able?to?teach?the?children?their?lessons.

“I?wonder?if?the?railway?misses?us，”?said?Phyllis?one?day.?“We?never?go?and?see?it?now.”

“It?seems?ungrateful，”?said?Bobbie.?“We?loved?it?when?there?wasn?t?anyone?to?play?with.?And?we?ve?stopped?waving?to?the?9.15，?and?sending?our?love?to?Father?by?it.”

“Let?s?begin?again，”?said?Phyllis.

So?the?next?morning，?they?ran?down?to?the?fence?and?watched?the?9.15?come?out?of?the?tunnel.

“Take?our?love?to?Father！”?they?cried，?as?they?waved?their?handkerchiefs.

The?old?gentleman?waved?from?his?window.?And?there?was?nothing?strange?about?that，?because?he?had?always?waved.?But?now...?hands?and?handkerchiefs?and?newspapers?waved?from?every?window?of?the?train，?and?smiling?faces?looked?up?at?the?children?on?the?fence.

“Well！”?said?Phyllis.

“What?does?it?mean？”?said?Peter.

“Perhaps?the?old?gentleman?told?the?people?to?wave，”?said?Bobbie.?But?she?had?a?strange?feeling?inside?her，?a?feeling?that?something?was?going?to?happen.

Lessons?with?Mother?were?difficult?for?Bobbie?that?morning.?She?found?it?hard?to?think?about?them.A25FB8BD-CBAA-449B-8D9D-D2641480313C

“What?is?it，?my?darling？”?asked?Mother.?“You?don?t?feel?ill，?do?you？”

“I?don?t?know，”?answered?Bobbie.?“Perhaps?I?d?feel?better?in?the?garden.”

But?the?trees?and?the?flowers?all?seemed?to?be?waiting?for?something?to?happen.?It?was?one?of?those?quiet?September?days，?when?everything?did?seem?to?be?waiting.?“I?ll?go?down?to?the?station?and?talk?to?Perks，”?she?thought.

Everyone?seemed?to?have?a?newspaper?in?their?hand?that?morning.?Several?people?waved?theirs?at?Bobbie，?and?smiled?as?she?went?by—people?who?never?usually?waved?or?smiled?at?her.?“How?strange，”?she?thought.

Perks?wasn?t?anywhere?on?the?platform，?and?Bobbie?had?only?the?station?cat?to?talk?to.?“How?kind?and?friendly?everybody?is?today，”?she?said?to?the?cat.

Scene?2 Daddy?came?back

爸爸回來了

Perks?appeared?when?it?was?time?for?the?11.54?to?arrive.?He?had?a?newspaper，?too.?“Hallo，”?he?said?to?Bobbie.?“I?saw?it?in?the?paper，?and?I?ve?never?been?so?pleased?with?anything?in?all?my?life.”

“What?did?you?see?in?the?paper？”?asked?Bobbie.

But?already?the?11.54?was?steaming?into?the?station，?and?Perks?was?looking?in?all?the?windows.

Only?three?people?got?out?of?the?train.?The?first?was?a?woman?with?three?boxes?of?chickens.?The?second?was?a?woman?with?a?brown?suitcase.

And?the?third...

“Oh！?My?daddy，?my?daddy！”?cried?Bobbie.A25FB8BD-CBAA-449B-8D9D-D2641480313C

That?scream?went?like?a?knife?into?the?heart?of?everyone?on?the?train.?People?put?their?heads?out?of?windows?and?saw?the?tall?white?faced?man?and?the?little?girl，?with?their?arms?around?each?other.

“I?knew?something?wonderful?was?going?to?happen，”?said?Bobbie，?as?they?went?up?the?road.?“But?I?didn?t?think?it?was?going?to?be?this.?Oh，?my?daddy！”

“Didn?t?Mother?get?my?letter？”?asked?Father.

“There?weren?t?any?letters?this?morning，”?said?Bobbie.?“Oh，?Daddy.?It?really?is?you，?isn?t?it？”

He?held?her?hand?and?said，?“You?must?go?in?by?yourself，?and?tell?Mother?very?quietly?that?it?s?all?right.?They?ve?caught?the?man?who?did?it.?Everyone?knows?now?that?your?daddy?isn?t?a?spy.”

“We?always?knew?you?weren?t，”?said?Bobbie.?“Me?and?Mother?and?our?old?gentleman.”

“Yes，”?said?Father.?“It?s?him?I?must?thank.”

And?now?they?are?going?across?the?field.?Bobbie?goes?into?the?house，?trying?to?find?the?right?words?to?tell?Mother?that?Father?has?come?home.?Father?is?walking?in?the?garden—waiting.?He?is?looking?at?the?flowers，?but?he?keeps?turning?towards?the?house.

Now?the?door?opens.?Bobbie?s?voice?calls，?“Come?in，?Daddy.?Come?in！”A25FB8BD-CBAA-449B-8D9D-D2641480313C