Christopher kids growing up

"When Lauren and Ken were teenagers, they used to ride the freights together and they would sew money in the band of their pants.  The other guys they were riding with were always able to bum a meal by just going up and down the streets where the train stopped and asking for a meal, but Lauren and Ken would ask for work.  They would get their money that way.  Some how they just couldn't be bums.  One time when Ken was on a train he got held up.  He had money sewn in his pants but he didn't tell them of course.  They were coming from Bismark to Medina.  He was in the reefer car when two guys came in.  Ken had a 22 shell in his pocket and it made them think he had a gun.  They tried to get him to jump off the train, but he flatly told them no and so they climbed out of the car and locked the door on Ken.  He stayed still awhile and then tried to get out, but couldn't.  When the train slowed down, the door opened and they were gone, so Ken climbed up to the top of the car and ran the length of the train in the dark, like a darn fool.  When the train stopped Ken told the brakeman, but the brakeman said he couldn't do anything about it."

"There wasn't too much to do in those days, so the big thing on Saturday night was to walk three miles to Medina and stand on the corner watching the people eat roasted peanuts.  We usually stayed out late and by the time we got home everyone was asleep.  Mother had made two or three tables full of freshly baked homemade bread that day and of course, boys are always hungry.  We'd peel the crust off the bread and load it down with butter and go ahead and eat all we could eat.  We expected to hear about it in the morning, but mother never said a word.  She just took it all up and put it back in the oven and made a new crust on it.  So we got  by pretty good, but we didn't dare try that too often."