steward his
five-dollar bill. The steward relaxed; he'd had a moment of apprehension
that Holden Senior might have slipped the kid a half-dollar for dinner.
(The steward had received a quarter for his share of the original
two-fifty.)

Jimmy looked at the "Child's Dinner" menu and pointed out a plate: lamb
chop and mashed potatoes. After that, dinner progressed without incident.
Jimmy topped it off with a dish of ice cream.

The steward made change. Jimmy watched him carefully, and then said,
"Daddy says I'm supposed to give you a tip. How much?"

The steward looked down, wondering how he could explain the standard
dining car tip of fifteen or twenty percent of the bill. He took a
swallow of air and picked out a quarter. "This will do nicely," he said
and went off thankful that all people do not ask waiters how much they
think they deserve for the service rendered.

Thus Jimmy Holden arrived in Roundtree and was observed and convoyed--but
not bothered--off the train.

It is deplorable that adults are not as friendly and helpful to one
another as they are to children; it might make for a more pleasant world.
As Jimmy walked along the station platform at Roundtree, one of his
former fellow-passengers walked beside him. "Where are you going, young
man? Someone going to meet you, of course?"

"No, sir," said Jimmy. "I'm supposed to take a cab--"

"I'm going your way, why not ride along with me?"

"Sure it's all right?"

"Sure thing. Come along." Jimmy never knew that this man felt good for a
week after he'd done his good turn for the year.

His grandfather opened the door and looked down at him in complete
surprise. "Why, Jimmy! What are you doing here? Who brought--"

His grandmother interrupted, "Come in! Come in! Don't just stand there
with the door open!"

Grandfather closed the door firmly, grandmother knelt and folded Jimmy
in her arms and crooned over him, "You poor darling. You brave little
fellow. Donald," she said firmly to her husband, "go get a glass of warm
milk and some cookies." She led Jimmy to the old-fashioned parlor and
seated him on the sofa. "Now, Jimmy, you relax a moment and then you can
tell me what happened."

Jimmy sighed and looked around. The house was old, and comfortably
sturdy. It gave him a sense of refuge, of having reached a safe haven at
last. The house was over-warm, and there was a musty smell of over-aged
furniture, old leather, and the pungence of mothballs. It seemed