"How many are there Sam?" asked the fireman as he shoveled coal into the firebox and the steam locomotive began picking up speed.

"Must be eight or ten," the conductor replied. "I locked the door before we took off so they ain't going anywhere."

"Now why did you do that?" asked Charley White, the engineer. "They are not bad fellows. Mostly down on their luck since this depression started."

"I thought that Pete could cut the car loose and we would leave them," said Sam defensively. "We ain't suppose to haul folks for free."

"And when the 5:30 Express comes through we will have one hell of a train wreck," answered Charley." Get Pete to go overhead and unlock that door. They will jump out when we slow down for that grade just before Twin Forks. They always do."

"The Railroad will have your job if they find out," said Sam.

"And who's going to tell them? You?"

"Naw," answered the conductor as he walked away shaking his head. "It's just that when word gets out that we are giving free rides we will be over run with those Bindle Stiffs."

The engineer looked askance at the conductor. "You mean you didn't drop it all off at the station?"

"That's just the thing!" the conductor said wildly. "We did, every last box! But when I checked back there, it was all back, just how we had it before! And that's not all...look at my watch...it says 6:55, May 10th, and it's May 11th today! Something really weird is going on."

He glanced at his watch again. Then he jumped. "Look, now it says 6:54! Time is going backwards! Stop the train!! Do something!!!"

But the engineer was smiling. "Stop the train? By hokey, no. So what if time is going backwards? This is going to be mighty interesting!"

"Why do we need to stop the train for those? We usually don't until dinner time and that's a couple of hours away..."

"It would be good to stop and let all the passengers have a light snack."

"Kiwi birds?" the engineer asked.

"Yeah."

"The flightless, largely nocturnal bird with a keen sense of smell, heavy bones, skin tough as shoe leather, wings that end in cat-like claws, a body temperature of 38 degrees Celsius and is a national icon of New Zealand?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. Never heard of 'em."