That day passed
pleasantly enough. The children, Timmy, and Mr Luffy all went off
to a pool high up on the moorlands. It was called The Green Pool’
because of its cucumber-green colour. Mr Luffy explained that some
curious chemicals found there caused the water to look green.
’I hope we shan’t
come out looking green, too,’ said Dick, getting into his bathing
trunks. ‘Are you going to bathe, Mr Luffy?’
Mr Luffy was. The
children expected him to be a very poor swimmer and to splash about
at the edge and do very little- but to their surprise he was
magnificent in the water, and could swim faster even than
Julian.
They had great fun,
and when they were tired they came out to bask in the sun. The
highroad ran alongside the green pool, and the children watched a
herd of sheep being driven along, then a car or two came by, and
finally a big army lorry. A boy sat beside the driver, and to the
children’s surprise he waved wildly at them.
’Who was that?’ said
Julian astonished. ‘Surely he doesn’t know us?’
George’s sharp eye
had seen who it was. ‘It was Jock! Sitting beside the driver. And,
look, here comes his stepfather’s fine new car. Jock’s preferred to
go with the lorry-driver instead of his stepfather! I don’t blame
him, either!’
The bright new car
came by, driven by Mr Andrews. He didn’t glance at the children by
the wayside, but drove steadily on after the lorry.
’Going to market, I
suppose,’ said Dick, lying back again. ‘Wonder what they’re
taking?’
’So do I,’ said Mr
Luffy. ‘He must sell his farm produce at very high prices to be
able to buy that fine car and all the machinery and gear you’ve
told me about. Clever fellow, Mr Andrews!’
’He doesn’t look at
all clever,’ said Anne. ‘He looks rather a weak, feeble sort of
man, really, Mr Luffy. I can’t even imagine him being clever enough
to beat anyone down, or get the better of them.’
’Very interesting,’
said Mr Luffy. ‘Well, what about another dip before we have our
dinner?’
It was a very nice
day, and Mr Luffy was very good company. He could make fine jokes
very solemnly indeed, and only the fact that his ear waggled
violently showed the others that he too, was enjoying the joke. His
right ear seemed to love to join in the joke, even if Mr Luffy’s
face was as solemn as Timmy’s.
They arrived home at
the camp about tea-time and Anne got a fine tea ready. They took it
down to eat in front of Mr Luffy’s tent. As the evening came on
Julian and Dick felt excitement rising in them. In the daytime
neither of them really believed a word about the ‘spook-trains’,
but as the sun sank and long shadows crept down the hills they felt
pleasantly thrilled. Would they really see anything exciting that
night?
It was a very dark
night at first, because clouds lay across the sky and hid even the
stars. The boys said good night to the girls and snuggled down into
their sleeping-bags. They watched the sky through the tent
opening.
Gradually the big
clouds thinned out. A few stars appeared. The clouds thinned still
more and fled away in rags. Soon the whole sky was bright with
pin-points of light, and a hundred thousand stars looked down on
the moorlands.
’We shall have a bit
of starlight to see by,’ whispered Julian. ‘That’s good. I don’t
want to stumble about over the heather and break my ankle in
rabbit-holes in the pitch darkness. Nor do I want to use my torch
on the way to the yard in case it’s seen.’
’It’s going to be
fun!’ Dick whispered back. ‘I hope Jock comes. It will be maddening
if he doesn’t.’
He did come. There
was a scrambling over the heather and once again a shadow appeared
at the tent opening.
’Julian! Dick! I’ve
come. Are you ready?’
It was Jock’s voice,
of course. Dick’s thumb pressed the switch of his torch and for a
moment its light fell on Jock’s red, excited face, and then was
switched off again.
’Hallo, Jock! So you
were able to come,’ said Dick. ‘I say, was that you in the lorry
this morning, going by the green pool?’
’Yes. Did you see me?
I saw you and waved like mad,’ said Jock. ‘I wanted to stop the
lorry and get down and speak to you, but the driver’s an awful
bad-tempered sort of fellow. He wouldn’t hear of stopping. Said my
stepfather would be wild with him if he did. Did you see him - my
stepfather, I mean? He was in his car behind.’
’Were you off to
market or something?’ asked Julian.
’I expect that’s
where the lorry was going,’ said Jock. ‘It was empty, so I suppose
my stepfather was going to pick up something there. I came back in
the car. The lorry was supposed to come later.’
’How did you like
Cecil Dearlove?’ asked Dick, grinning in the darkness.
’Awful! Worse than
his name,’ groaned Jock. ‘Wanted me to play soldiers all the time!
The frightful thing is I’ve got to have him at the farm for the day
tomorrow. Another day wasted. What shall I do with him?’
’Roll him in the
pig-sty,’ suggested Dick. ‘Or put him with Biddy’s puppies and let
him sleep there. Tell him to play soldiers with them.’
Jock chuckled. ‘I
wish I could. The worst of it is Mum is awfully pleased that my
stepfather’s got this Cecil boy for me to be friends with. Don’t
let’s talk about it. Are you ready to start off?’
’Yes,’ said Julian,
and began to scramble quietly out of his bag. ‘We didn’t tell the
girls. Anne doesn’t want to come, and I don’t want George to leave
Anne by herself. Now, let’s be very, very quiet till we’re out of
hearing.’
Dick got out of his
bag too. The boys had not undressed that night, except for their
coats, so all they had to do was to slip these on, and then crawl
out of the tent.
’Which is the way -
over there?’ whispered Jock. Julian took his arm and guided him. He
hoped he wouldn’t lose his way in the starlit darkness. The
moorland look so different at night!
’If we make for that
hill you can dimly see over there against the starlit sky, we
should be going in the right direction,’ said Julian. So on they
went, keeping towards the dark hill that rose up to the west.
It seemed very much
farther to the railway yard at night than in the daytime. The three
boys stumbled along, sometimes almost falling as their feet caught
in tufts of heather. They were glad when they found some sort of
path they could keep on.
’This is about where
we met the shepherd,’ said Dick, in a low voice. He didn’t know why
he spoke so quietly. He just felt as if he must. ‘I’m sure we can’t
be very far off now.’
’[Tiey went on for
some way, and then Julian pulled Dick by the arm. ‘Look,’ he said.
‘Down there, I believe that’s the old yard. You can see the line*
gleaming faintly here and there.’
They stood on the
heathery slope above the old yard, straining their eyes. Soon they
could make out dim shapes. Yes, it was the railway yard all
right.
Jock clutched
Julian’s sleeve. ‘Look - there’s a light down there! Do you see
it?’
The boys looked -
and, sure enough, down in the yard towards the other side of it,
was a small yellow light. They stared at it.
’Oh - I think I know
what it is,’ said Dick, at last. ‘It’s the light in the watchman’s
little hut - old Wooden-Leg Sam’s candle. Don’t you think so,
Ju?’
’Yes. You’re right,’
said Julian. ‘I tell you what we’ll do - we’ll creep right down
into the yard, and go over to the hut. We’ll peep inside and see if
old Sam is there. Then we’ll hide somewhere about and wait for the
spook-train to come!’
They crept down the
slope. Their eyes had got used to the starlight by now, and they
were beginning to see fairly well. They got right down to the yard,
where their feet made a noise on some cinders there.
They stopped.
‘Someone will hear us if we make a row like this,’ whispered
Julian.
’Who will?’ whispered
back Dick. ‘There’s no one here except old Sam in his hut!’
’How do you know
there isn’t?’ said Julian. ‘Good heavens, Jock, don’t make such a
row with your feet!’
They stood there,
debating what was the best thing to do. ‘We’d better walk right
round the edge of the yard,’ said Julian at last. ‘As far as I
remember, the grass has grown there. We’ll walk on that.’
So they made their
way to the edge of the yard. Sure enough, there was grass there,
and they walked on it without a sound. They went slowly and softly
to where the light shone dimly in Sam’s little hut.
The window was high
and small. It was just about at the level of their heads, and the
three boys cautiously eased themselves along to it and looked
in.
Wooden-Leg Sam was
there. He sat sprawled in a chair, smoking a pipe. He was reading a
newspaper, squinting painfully as he did so. He obviously had not
had his broken glasses mended yet. On a chair beside him was his
wooden leg. He had unstrapped it, and there it lay.
’He’s not expecting
the spook-train tonight, or he wouldn’t have taken off his wooden
leg,’ whispered Dick.
The candlelight
flickered and shadows jumped about the tiny hut. It was a poor,
ill-furnished little place, dirty and untidy. A cup without saucer
or handle stood on the table, and a tin kettle boiled on a rusty
stove.
Sam put down his
paper and rubbed his eyes. He muttered something. The boys could
not hear it, but they felt certain it was something about his
broken glasses.
’Are there many lines
in this yard?’ whispered Jock, tired of looking in at old Sam.
‘Where do they go to?’
’About half a mile or
so up there is a tunnel,’ said Julian, pointing past Jock. ‘The
lines come from there and run here, where they break up in many
pairs - for shunting and so on, in the old days, I suppose, when
this place was used.’
’Let’s go up the
lines to the tunnel,’ said Jock. ‘Come on. There’s nothing to be
seen here. Let’s walk up to the tunnel.’
’All right,’ said
Julian. ‘We may as well. I don’t expect we’ll see much up there
either! I think these spook-trains are all a tall story of old
Sam’s!’
They left the little
hut with its forlorn candlelight, and made their way round the yard
again. Then they followed the single-track line away from the yard
and up towards the tunnel. It didn’t seem to matter walking on
cinders now, and making a noise. They walked along, talking in low
voices.
And then things began
to happen! A far-off muffled noise came rumbling out of the tunnel,
which was now so near that the boys could see its black mouth.
Julian heard it first. He stood still and clutched Dick.
’I say! Listen! Can
you hear that?’
The others listened.
‘Yes,’ said Dick. ‘But it’s only a train going through one of the
underground tunnels -the noise is echoing out through this
one.’
’It isn’t. That noise
is made by a train coming through this tunnel” said Julian. The
noise grew louder and louder. A clanking made itself heard too. The
boys stepped off the lines and crouched together by the side,
waiting, hardly daring to breathe.
Could it be the
spook-train? They watched for the light of an engine-lamp to appear
like a fiery eye in the tunnel. But none came. It was darker than
night in there! But the noise came nearer and nearer and nearer.
Could there be the, noise of a train without a train? Julian’s
heart began to beat twice as fast, and Dick and Jock found
themselves clutching one another without knowing it.
The noise grew
thunderous, and then out from the tunnel came something long and
black, with a dull glow in front that passed quickly and was gone.
The noise deafened the boys, and then the clanking and rumbling
grew less as the train, or whatever it was, passed by. The ground
trembled and then was still.
’Well, there you
are,’ said Julian, in a rather trembly voice. ‘The spook-train -
without a light or a signal! Where’s it gone? To the yard, do you
think?’
’Shall we go and
see?’ asked Dick. ‘I didn’t see anyone in the cab, even in the glow
of what must have been the fire there - but there must be someone
driving it! I say, what a weird thing, isn’t it? It sounded real
enough, anyway.’
’We’ll go to the
yard,’ said Jock, who, of the three, seemed the least affected.
‘Come on.’
They made their way
very slowly - and then Dick gave a sharp cry. ‘Blow! I’ve twisted
my ankle. Haifa minute!’
He sank down to the
ground in great pain. It was only a sharp twist, not a sprain, but
for a few minutes Dick could, do nothing but groan. The others
dared not /eave him. /u/ian knelt by him, offering to rub the
ankle, but Dick wouldn’t let him touch it. Jock stood by
anxiously.
It took about twenty
minutes for Dick’s ankle to be strong enough for him to stand on
again. With the help of the others he got to his feet and tested
his ankle. ‘It’s all right, I think. I can walk on it - slowly. Now
we’ll go to the yard and see what’s happening!’
But even as they
started to walk slowly back, they heard a noise coming up the lines
from the far-away yard, ‘Rumble, rumble, rumble, jangle,
clank!’
’It’s coming back
again!’ said Julian. ‘Stand still. Watch! It’ll be going back into
the tunnel!’
They stood still and
watched and listened. Again the noise came nearer and grew
thunderous. They saw the glow of what might be the fire in the cab,
and then it passed. The train disappeared into the blackness of the
tunnel mouth and they heard the echo of its rumblings for some
time.
’Well, there you are!
There is a spook-train!’ said Julian, trying to laugh, though he
felt a good deal shaken. ‘It came and it went - where from or where
to, nobody knows! But we’ve heard it and seen it, in the darkness
of the night. And jolly creepy it was, too!’