room that shone with mirrors and polished oak. There were flowers on a table in the centre, and, at one end a couch that looked as soft as down. But I needn't describe it to you, because it was this very room, in this very car.

"It was only a glance I had before the train started, but that was enough to show me that it was a private car, and to make me wonder whether I should ever have a chance to take a ride in one. I didn't suppose I should, at least not for a great many years. But you never can tell about things, can you? After that the car seemed to be going up or coming down every day or two, and I always looked into it whenever I had an opportunity. One morning I happened down by the station, and there stood No. 100 on a side track, with no engine, and nobody about it.

"'Here's my chance,' I thought to myself, 'to see the finest car on the road'; and I went up to it, and walked all around it, and climbed over the platforms, and saw just nothing at all, for all the shades were pulled down tight.

"'That's too bad,' I was just saying to myself, or I guess I must have been saying it out loud. 'I do wish I could see the inside of that car'; and the minute I said it I heard somebody alongside of me say:

"'Do you? Then come along with me, for I am going into it.'

"I looked around, and there was a gentleman I often saw in the hotel, and, of course, he often saw me there.

"'Oh!' said I; 'can you get into it?'

"'I think so,' said he, half laughing. 'I am the superintendent of the road.'

"He unlocked the door with a key, and took me in, and that was the first time I ever set foot in this or any other private car. It fairly took me off my feet to see how fine it was. He showed me the office at the end, with its big windows on three sides, and its soft sofa and velvet carpet and rugs; and the two big state-rooms, each with its broad double bed and its bath-room; and this dining-room where we're sitting, as big as the dining-room in a French flat, and much handsomer; and the two 'sections' like a sleeper; and another bath-room; and the tiny baggage-room; and at the end of the car the kitchen, all stocked with copper kettles and pans; and the refrigerator, and away up over that a berth for the cook. My, but didn't it all look fine! You see, it was the first time I was ever in a private car; I wasn't so used to them then as I am now.

"I asked whose car it was, and the Superintendent said it belonged to Mr. Plant, who owned the hotel I was staying in and the other big hotel in Tampa, and was president of that railroad and a dozen others, and two or three steamship lines. No wonder he had a beautiful car all to himself, was it? Well, I was just going to say that that was the way I happened to get acquainted with the superintendent, and it was through him that I happened to go down to Tampa alone a few days afterwards to see the big hotel and the Steamships, because he was going down, and he said he'd see me safe in the train to come back.

"You know how the trains start just back of the big hotel in Tampa? Well, I was to take the 3.15 train in the afternoon to come home, and I was there in good time; but I didn't see any thing of the superintendent at first. I saw this car standing there, though, with its shades all down; but it was some ways down the track, and not coupled to any train. The last car of my train was the parlor car, and I got in that, for I had exactly fifty cents left to pay my parlor-car fare with, besides my return ticket, of course. In a minute or two the train began to back, and I saw the conductor outside making signals to the engineer, so I went to the rear door and looked out.

"What do you think? They were backing right down to this car, and in a minute they had it coupled to my train; and just as the coupling was made the superintendent opened the door and came out on the platform, and as soon as he saw me he told me to come over there.

"I was sure then that he was going to ride somewhere in this car, and maybe he might let me ride with him a little ways. Wasn't it the luckiest thing in the world, I thought, that I happened to be there just at the right minute? We both went inside, in the little office at the end where Mr. Plant is now; and the first thing the superintendent said, said he, 'I am going to take this car up the road, and if you like you can ride up to Winter Park with me.'

"Well, sir, it was so sudden I didn't know for a minute whether I stood on my feet or my head. But the train began to move off, so I saw it was really true.

"'Isn't Mr. Plant going to use it?' I asked him—for I was so excited I hardly knew what I said.

"'Mr. Plant sailed for Jamaica this morning,' he answered, 'and will not be back for two weeks. The car is going up to New York now to bring Mrs. Plant and some of her friends down. It has just been thoroughly cleaned for her use, so I do not care to open it up much and let the dust in; but you can make yourself comfortable here in the office while I look over some papers. I am only going as far as Lakeland myself, about thirty miles up the road; but you can go on to Winter Park in the car if you'll be sure to slam the door when you get out. It locks with a spring lock.'

"Make myself comfortable! Well I should rather say I could. I was as proud as a peacock. It was foolish, of course, but, you see, I'd never had a ride in a private car before. I was sorry none of my friends had seen me start off in it, and that none of them would be likely to see me get out, for the train was not due at Winter Park till after eight o'clock. It seemed just like being in a house, it went so smooth and firm; and when people looked in the windows at stations, I'd imagine they were wondering what nabob that boy was, to be travelling in such style. And then I'd think of having only fifty cents in my pocket, and I'd have to laugh.

"It seemed just no time at all before we got to Lakeland, where the superintendent left me. He told me to take a nap on the sofa if I got sleepy, for I still had a four hours' ride, and to be sure and slam the door when I got out. Then I had the grand car all to myself, and wasn't I just prouder than ever! I wanted to go all over it and look at all the handsome things, but I wouldn't do it, because that would be just like sneaking over anybody's house. I staid right in the office, and pretty soon it began to grow dark, for there was nobody to light the lamps in the car, and I began to grow sleepy. So I spread out a newspaper for my feet, and lay down on the sofa.

"Did you ever see anything as soft as these sofas? It was like floating in the air, and I imagined myself riding on that magic carpet in the Arabian Nights. But there was something lacking, as there always is. I was as hungry as a bear, for I'd eaten nothing since morning. Then I thought of the fifty cents in my pocket, and the buffet they always have in the sleepers and parlor cars in Florida, and how easy it would be to go into the next car and buy some supper. But didn't I fasten back the catch of the door carefully before I went out? You see, I'd have been only an ordinary passenger if the door had locked after me, for I couldn't have got back.

"The waiter in the parlor car looked at me a kind of queer when I ordered my supper. 'Do you belong in this car?' said he.

"'Oh no,' said I. 'I have a private car in the rear.' Well, sir, after that you'd have thought I was the President of the United States from the way he waited on me. My fifty cents didn't buy very much, but it was enough.

"In a few minutes I was back on my sofa in No. 100, with the door locked. It was almost dark, and getting chilly, but having a fine private car all to myself more than made up for that. Just think of it! It was almost as though I owned the car. Even the conductor didn't come in, for they don't go into a railroad president's private car to ask for tickets.

"I took a soft rug off the floor and pulled it over me, and thought I