ply, "and on this first eventful trip not quite enough
adventurous souls could be found to fill the seats. Perhaps could the
unwary passengers who did go have foreseen the discomforts ahead of them
there would have been fewer yet. But often ignorance is bliss. It
certainly was so in this case for in high feather the fortunate ones
took their places, the envied of many a beholder."

"What happened?" asked the boy eagerly. "Was the trip a success?"

"That depends on what you mean by success," laughed his father. "If you
are asking whether the passengers arrived safely at Schenectady I can
assure you that they did; but if you wish to know whether the journey
was a comfortable one, and likely to convert the stranger to steam
travel, that is quite another matter. The description of the excursion
which history has handed down to us is very naive. In the first place
the pitch-pine fuel sent a smudge of smoke and cinders back over all the
passengers and if it did not entirely choke them it at least encrusted
them thickly with dirt, particularly the ones who sat outside. The
umbrellas they opened to protect themselves were soon demolished, their
coverings being blown away or burned up by the sparks. In fact, it was
only by continual alertness that the clothing of the venturesome
travelers was not ignited. In the meantime those inside the coaches
fared little better, for as the coaches were without springs and the
track was none too skilfully laid, the jolting of the cars all but sent
the heads of the passengers through the roof of the coaches. Added to
this the train proceeded in a series of jerks that wrenched the chains
and banged one coach into another with such violence that those outside
were in danger of being hurled down upon the track, and those inside
were tossed hither and thither from seat to seat. You will easily
comprehend that the outing was not one of unalloyed pleasure."

The boy laughed heartily.

"Of course," went on Mr. Tolman, "there was no help for anybody until
the first stopping place was reached; but when the engine slowed down
and the grimy, almost unrecognizable pilgrims had a chance to catch
their breath, something had to be done by way of a remedy. The remedy
fortunately was near at hand and consisted of nothing very difficult.
Some of the more enterprising of the company leaped out and tore the
rails from a near-by fence and after stretching the coupling chains taut,
they bound them to the wooden