-
Главная
-
- Книги
-
- Авторы
-
- Эдит Несбит
-
- Дети железной дороги
-
- Стр. 1/240
Children of the railway
They
were
not
railway
children
to
begin
with
.
I
do
n't
suppose
they
had
ever
thought
about
railways
except
as
a
means
of
getting
to
Maskelyne
and
Cook
's
,
the
Pantomime
,
Zoological
Gardens
,
and
Madame
Tussaud
's
.
They
were
just
ordinary
suburban
children
,
and
they
lived
with
their
Father
and
Mother
in
an
ordinary
red-brick-fronted
villa
,
with
coloured
glass
in
the
front
door
,
a
tiled
passage
that
was
called
a
hall
,
a
bath-room
with
hot
and
cold
water
,
electric
bells
,
French
windows
,
and
a
good
deal
of
white
paint
,
and
'
every
modern
convenience
'
,
as
the
house-agents
say
.
There
were
three
of
them
.
Roberta
was
the
eldest
.
Of
course
,
Mothers
never
have
favourites
,
but
if
their
Mother
HAD
had
a
favourite
,
it
might
have
been
Roberta
.
Next
came
Peter
,
who
wished
to
be
an
Engineer
when
he
grew
up
;
and
the
youngest
was
Phyllis
,
who
meant
extremely
well
.
Mother
did
not
spend
all
her
time
in
paying
dull
calls
to
dull
ladies
,
and
sitting
dully
at
home
waiting
for
dull
ladies
to
pay
calls
to
her
.
She
was
almost
always
there
,
ready
to
play
with
the
children
,
and
read
to
them
,
and
help
them
to
do
their
home-lessons
.
Besides
this
she
used
to
write
stories
for
them
while
they
were
at
school
,
and
read
them
aloud
after
tea
,
and
she
always
made
up
funny
pieces
of
poetry
for
their
birthdays
and
for
other
great
occasions
,
such
as
the
christening
of
the
new
kittens
,
or
the
refurnishing
of
the
doll
's
house
,
or
the
time
when
they
were
getting
over
the
mumps
.
These
three
lucky
children
always
had
everything
they
needed
:
pretty
clothes
,
good
fires
,
a
lovely
nursery
with
heaps
of
toys
,
and
a
Mother
Goose
wall-paper
.
They
had
a
kind
and
merry
nursemaid
,
and
a
dog
who
was
called
James
,
and
who
was
their
very
own
.
They
also
had
a
Father
who
was
just
perfect
--
never
cross
,
never
unjust
,
and
always
ready
for
a
game
--
at
least
,
if
at
any
time
he
was
NOT
ready
,
he
always
had
an
excellent
reason
for
it
,
and
explained
the
reason
to
the
children
so
interestingly
and
funnily
that
they
felt
sure
he
could
n't
help
himself
.
You
will
think
that
they
ought
to
have
been
very
happy
.
And
so
they
were
,
but
they
did
not
know
HOW
happy
till
the
pretty
life
in
the
Red
Villa
was
over
and
done
with
,
and
they
had
to
live
a
very
different
life
indeed
.
The
dreadful
change
came
quite
suddenly
.
Peter
had
a
birthday
--
his
tenth
.
Among
his
other
presents
was
a
model
engine
more
perfect
than
you
could
ever
have
dreamed
of
.
The
other
presents
were
full
of
charm
,
but
the
Engine
was
fuller
of
charm
than
any
of
the
others
were
.
Its
charm
lasted
in
its
full
perfection
for
exactly
three
days
.
Then
,
owing
either
to
Peter
's
inexperience
or
Phyllis
's
good
intentions
,
which
had
been
rather
pressing
,
or
to
some
other
cause
,
the
Engine
suddenly
went
off
with
a
bang
.
James
was
so
frightened
that
he
went
out
and
did
not
come
back
all
day
.
All
the
Noah
's
Ark
people
who
were
in
the
tender
were
broken
to
bits
,
but
nothing
else
was
hurt
except
the
poor
little
engine
and
the
feelings
of
Peter
.
The
others
said
he
cried
over
it
--
but
of
course
boys
of
ten
do
not
cry
,
however
terrible
the
tragedies
may
be
which
darken
their
lot
.
He
said
that
his
eyes
were
red
because
he
had
a
cold
.
This
turned
out
to
be
true
,
though
Peter
did
not
know
it
was
when
he
said
it
,
the
next
day
he
had
to
go
to
bed
and
stay
there
.
Mother
began
to
be
afraid
that
he
might
be
sickening
for
measles
,
when
suddenly
he
sat
up
in
bed
and
said
:
"
I
hate
gruel
--
I
hate
barley
water
--
I
hate
bread
and
milk
.
I
want
to
get
up
and
have
something
REAL
to
eat
.
"
