The Iron Horse, by R.M. Ballantyne

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Title: The Iron Horse

Author: R.M. Ballantyne

Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21740]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IRON HORSE ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

THE IRON HORSE, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.

CHAPTER ONE.

TREATS OF THE ENGINE-DRIVER'S HOUSE AND HOUSEHOLD.

Talk of earthquakes! not all the earthquakes that have rumbled in Ecuador or toppled over the spires and dwellings of Peru could compare, in the matter of dogged pertinacity, with that earthquake which diurnally and hourly shocked little Gertie's dwelling, quivered the white dimity curtains of little Gertie's bed and shook little Gertie's frame. A graceful, rounded little frame it was; yet strong, and firmly knit--perhaps in consequence of its having been from infancy so constantly and so well shaken together.

Her neat little body was surmounted by a head which no sculptor in search of an antique model would have chosen. Gertie's profile was not Grecian; her features were not classic--but they were comely, and rosy, and so sweet that most people wanted to kiss them, and many people did. Gertie did not object. Probably, being only six, she imagined that this w

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