Thinking that he had been mistaken in the direction, Philippe turned around quickly and started down another street. Oh, he must find Zelie and Tom. He had missed them so. He wanted to talk with them again.
Frantically he turned, and once more he ran down the alleyway. There was a group of children playing on the curb.
"Have you seen a man and a girl with an organ?" asked Philippe in French.
The children did not understand. They giggled. Philippe realized that in Antwerp most of the people speak Flemish. He repeated his question in that language.
"Yes," replied one of the children. "They went very fast down that way. They went past the church toward the station."
Calling back his thanks, Philippe darted off in the direction given. Asking questions as he went, he finally arrived at the railway station. Puffing and panting, he dashed up to the station master.
"Have you seen--a tall man--and a girl--with an organ?" puffed Philippe.
The station master smiled at the wild face of the boy before him.
Then he pointed to a train just chugging away and replied, "They are on that train which is leaving the station."
"Where is that train going?" he demanded.
"To Ghent," replied the station master, smiling. "It is too late to catch it now."
"When does the next train leave for Ghent?" asked Philippe.
"There is no train for Ghent tonight--only a freight train which leaves here in an hour," the man answered.
[Illustration: GHENT IS A VERY OLD CITY, AND IN SPITE OF ITS STORMY HISTORY, RETAINS MUCH OF ITS ANCIENT SPLENDOR]
The boy thanked the station master and turned away quickly. Philippe knew that he would not be allowed to ride on the freight train. But he also knew that he was going to follow his friends to Ghent if he had to board the train secretly and hide.
And that is just what he did. A wild idea had come into his head. Why should he go back to Brussels with the two gentlemen? Why should he begin all over again that dull life in the market place? Why not run away and join Tom and Zelie? They were not far. They were in Ghent. Yes, Philippe would go to Ghent.
So, huddled between boxes and crates, the boy and his puppy sat still in the stuffy freight car and waited for it to leave the station. Finally it pulled out, and Philippe knew that he was on his way to Ghent and to his friends.