Part One. Echoed Footsteps:

   Eleven year old Sam was so excited as he boarded the train for a three hour trip to New York City, he was saying either hello or goodby to everyone that walked by him. The sun was out bright and it seemed to smile down on him when he yelled "hello sunshine."
   When he found his seat he opened the window. "Bye," he yelled as he waved to his mother and father. "See you when I get back."
   "Tell Uncle Henry to phone when you get there," his mother called to him.
   "And be careful--stay close to Uncle Henry so you don't get lost. Have a good time," his father added.
    "ALL ABOARD," the conductor boomed. The train sounded its whistle as it started moving slowly down the track.
    "Mind your manners and behave yourself--call us," Sam's mother yelled as she wiped tears from her eyes with one hand while waving with the other.
   Sam waved to them from his window until they were out of sight. He then settled back into his seat with a satisfied smile. The train was at full speed when the conductor walked down the narrow aisle asking for everyone to show their ticket.
   "Where's your ticket sonny?" the conductor asked when he reached Sam.
   Sam stood up to get his ticket out of his pocket where he had stuffed it when he got on the train. When he pulled it out it was wrinkled into a ball. As Sam tried to straighten it out he whispered, "sorry" to the conductor.
   The conductor just shook his head. "Better take care of this," he told Sam as he punched it with a paper punch, "It has to get you back home. Maybe I'd better put your bag up for you." He took Sam's suitcase and put it into a compartment over Sams's head.
    Sam sat down again and leaned back in his seat. As he listened to the soft clickity-clack, clickity-clack of the train wheels on the track he begin to think of all the places Uncle Henry was going to take him; they might be able to go all the way to the head of the Statue of Liberty, and to Coney Island to eat hotdogs, but most of all he wanted to go to the Bronx Zoo to see the gorillas in the Gorilla Forest. He had read that gorillas understood sign language and he learned to sign 'hello, my name is Sam, what's yours?'
   The swaying of the train and the rumbling of the wheels on the track soon lulled Sam to sleep. The next thing he knew, the conductor was walking up and down the aisle calling out, "First Stop--Grand Central Station, New York City--five minutes. Please have baggage checks ready."
   Sam rubbed his eyes and stretched. He started to stand on the seat to get his suitcase when a man in the seat behind him stood up.
    "Looks like you need some help sonny. This one yours?" he asked Sam in a soft but gravely voice. "Kind of young to be traveling by yourself--got someone meeting you?"
    Sam hadn't noticed the man and jumped when the man spoke. The man grabbed his arm to keep him from falling off the seat and then handed Sam the suitcase. Before Sam had a chance to tell him 'thank you' the man turned abruptly and hurried towards the exit door. All Sam could see was the back of the man's tweed coat with the collar turned up, and the man was pulling his gray hat down, almost covering his eyes.

continued in part 2