Roberta woke up early the next morning. Then she woke up Phyllis and Peter. "We're in the new house. There are no servants here. We must help Mother now," whispered Roberta.
Carefully the three children lit the fire and filled a kettle (水壶) with water. They hung the kettle above the fire.
"Mother isn't awake yet. Let's go outside and sit on that flat stone," said Roberta. "Perhaps we will see a train go by."
When Mother came out at eight o'clock, Roberta, Peter and Phyllis were all fast asleep in the sunshine. They had put the kettle on the fire at five o'clock: three hours ago. All the water had boiled away (烧干). Now there was a hole in the bottom of the kettle. The fire had gone out.
"Never mind," laughed Mother. "We can boil some water in a pan. And I've found the dinner."
She led them into the kitchen and pointed to a door.
"Last night, I thought this was a cupboard. It was so dark. But look," she said.
Mother opened the door and the children saw a little room with a table in the middle. On it there was roast beef, bread and butter, cheese and an apple pie.
"Apple pie for breakfast," cried Peter. "What fun!"
It was a wonderful breakfast. Everyone was very hungry.
"It feels like dinner because we were up so early," said Peter, as he passed his plate for more apple pie.
When the children had finished, they helped Mother put everything away in the right place.
Then Mother said, "I'm tired. I'm going to lie down for a while. Go out to play but please be careful."
Roberta, Peter and Phyllis looked at each other. They were all thinking the same thing.
"Let's go down to the railway," cried Roberta.
"Listen!" said Phyllis. "I think I can hear a train."
Peter asked, "Do you think it's going to London?"
"Father is in London," replied Roberta. "Let's go to the station and find out."
—Taken from The Railway Children
