I never heard," Mr. Tucker wound up
meditatively, "if they ever reached the Land's End. I wonder?"
"But, excuse me once more," said I. "How came the train to stop as
it did?"
"To be sure. I said just now that the curiousest things in life
were, gen'rally speakin', the simplest. One o' the schoolchildren in
the fore part of the train--a small nipper of nine--had put his head
out o' the carriage window and got his cap blown away. That's all.
Bein' a nipper of some resource, he wasted no time, but touched off
the communicatin' button an' fetched the whole train to a standstill.
George Simmons, the guard, told me all about it last week, when I
happened across him an' asked the same question you've been askin'.
George was huntin' through the corridors to find out what had gone
wrong; that's how the blind men stepped out without his noticin'.
He pretended to be pretty angry wi' the young tacker. 'Do 'ee know,'
says George, 'it's a five pound fine if you stop a train without good
reason?' 'But I _had_ a good reason,' says the child. 'My mother
gave 'levenpence for that cap, an' 'tis a bran' new one.'"
OUR LADY OF GWITHIAN.
Pages:
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31