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The Signal Man by Charles Dickens Hollo
Bollo the when he heard a voice thus

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calling to him, he was standing
at the door of his box, with

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a flag in his hand, furled
round its short pole. One would have

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thought, considering the nature of the
ground, that he could not have doubted

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from what quarter the voice came.
But instead of looking up to where I

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stood at the top of the steep
cutting nearly over his head, he turned

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himself about and looked down the line. There was something remarkable in his manner

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of doing so, though I could
not have said for the life of me

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what, but I know it was
remarkable enough to attract my notice, even

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though his figure was foreshortened and shadowed
down in the deep trench, and mine

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was high above him, so steeped
in the glow of an angry sunset that

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I had shaded my eyes with my
hand before I saw him at all,

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Hollo billo. From looking down the
line, he turned himself about again,

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and raising his eyes, saw my
figure high above him. Is there any

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path by which I can come down
and speak to you? He looked up

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at me without replying, and I
looked down at him without pressing him too

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soon with a repetition of my idle
question. Just then that came a vague

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vibration in the earth and air,
quickly changing into a violent pulsation and an

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oncoming rush that caused me to start
back, as though it had forced to

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draw me down. When such vapor
as rose to my height from this rapid

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train had passed me and was skimming
away over the landscape, I looked down

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again and saw him refurling the flag
he had shone while the train went by.

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I repeated my inquiry. After a
pause, during which he seemed to

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regard me with fixed attention, he
motioned with his rolled up flag towards a

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point on my level, some two
or three hundred yards distant. I called

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down to him, all right,
and made for that point. There By

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dint of looking closely up at me, I found a rough zigzag descending path

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notched out which I followed. The
cutting was extremely deep and unusually precipitate.

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It was made through a clammy stone
that became oozier and wet as I went

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down. For these reasons, I
found the way long enough to give me

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time to recall a singular air of
reluctance or compulsion with which he had pointed

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out the path. When I came
down low enough upon the zigzag descent to

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see him again, I saw that
he was standing between the rails on the

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way by which the train had lately
passed, in innattitude, as if he

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were waiting for me to appear.
He had his left hand at his chin,

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and that left elbow rested on his
right hand crossed over his breast.

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His attitude was one of such expectation
and watchfulness that I stopped a moment wondering

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at it. I resumed my downward
way, and, stepping out upon the

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level of the railroad, and drawing
near to him, saw that he was

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a dark, sallow man, with
a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows.

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His post was in a solitary and
as dismal a place as ever. I

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saw on either side a dripping wet
wall of jagged stone, excluding all view

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but a strip of sky. The
perspective one way only a crooked prolongation of

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this great dungeon, the shorter perspective
in the other direction, terminating in a

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gloomy red light, and the gloomier
entrance to a black tunnel in whose massive

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architecture there was a barbarous, depressing, and forbidding air. So little sunlight

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ever found its way to this spot
that it had an earthy, deadly smell,

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and so much cold wind rushed through
it that it struck chill to me,

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as if I had left the natural
world before he stirred. I was

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near enough to him to have touched
him, not even then, removing his

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eyes from mine, he stepped back
one step and lifted his hand. This

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was a lonesome post to occupy,
I said, and it had riveted my

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attention. When I looked down from
up yonder. A visitor was a rarity,

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I should suppose, not an unwelcome
rarity, I hoped in me.

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He merely saw a man who had
been shut up within narrow limits all his

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life, and who, being at
last set free, had a newly awakened

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interest in these great works. To
such purpose, I spoke to him,

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But I'm far from sure of the
terms I used, for besides that,

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I am not happy in opening any
conversation. There was something in the man

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that daunted me. He directed a
most curious look towards the red light near

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the tunnel's mouth, and looked all
about it as if something were missing.

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From it, and then looked at
me. That light was part of his

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charge? Was it not, he
answered, in a low voice, don't

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you know it is? The monstrous
thought came into my mind as I perused

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the fixed eyes and the saturnine face, that this was a spirit, not

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a man. I've speculated since whether
there may have been an infection in his

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mind. In my turn, I
stepped back, But in making the action

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I detected in his eyes some latent
fear of me. This put the monstrous

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thought to flight. You look at
me, I said, forcing a smile,

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as if you had a dread of
me. I was doubtful, he

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returned. Whether I had seen you
before? Where? He pointed to the

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red light he had looked at there, I said, intently, watchful of

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me, he replied, but without
sound, Yes, my good fellow,

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What should I do there? However? Be that as it may? I

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never was there? You may swear
I think I may, he rejoined.

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Yes, I am sure I may. His manner cleared like my own,

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he replied to my remarks with readiness
and in well chosen words. Had he

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much to do there? Yes,
that was to say he had enough responsibility

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to bear, But exactness and watchfulness
were what was required in him, and

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of actual work, manual labor,
he had next to none. To change

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that signal, to trim those lights, and to turn this iron handle now

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and then was all he had to
do under that head. Regarding those many

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long and lonely hours of which I
seemed to make so much, he would

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only say that the routine of his
life had shaped itself into that form,

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and he had grown used to it. He had taught himself a language down

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here, if only to know it
by sight, and who have formed his

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own crude ideas of its pronunciation could
be called learning it. He had also

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worked at fractions and decimals, and
tried a little algebra, but he was,

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and had been, as a boy, a poor hand at figures.

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Was it necessary for him, when
on duty, always to remain in that

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channel of damp air? And could
he never rise into the sunshine from between

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those high stone walls? Why that
depended upon times and circumstances. Under some

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conditions there would be less upon the
line than under others, and the same

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good as to certain hours of the
day and night in bright weather, he

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did choose occasions for getting a little
above these lower shadows, but being at

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all times liable to be called by
his electric bell, and at such times

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listening for it with redoubled anxiety,
the relief was less than I would suppose.

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He took me into his box,
where there was a fire, a

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desk for an official book in which
he had to make certain entries, a

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telegraphic instrument with its dial, face
and needles, and the little bell of

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which he had spoken on my trusting
that he would excuse the remark that he

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had been well educated, and I
hoped, I might say, without offense,

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perhaps educated above that station. He
observed that instances of slight incongruity in

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such wise would rarely be found wanting
among large bodies of men. That he

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had heard it was so in workhouses, in the police force, even in

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that last desperate resource, the army, and that he knew it was so

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more or less in any great railway
staff. He had been when young,

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if I could believe it. Sitting
in that hut, he scarcely could a

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student of natural philosophy, and had
attended lectures, but he had run wild,

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misused his opportunities, gone down,
and never risen again. He had

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no complaint to offer about that he
had made his bed, and he lay

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upon it. It was far too
late to make another. All that I

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have here condensed, he said,
in a quiet manner, with his grave,

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dark regards divided between me and the
fire. He threw in the word

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sir from time to time, and
especially when he referred to his youth,

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as though to request me to understand
that he claimed to be nothing but what

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I found him. He was several
times interrupted by the little bell, and

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had to read off messages and send
replies. Once he had to stand without

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the door and display a flag as
a train passed, and make some verbal

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communication to the driver in the discharge
of his due. I observed him to

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be remarkably exact and vigilant, breaking
off his discourse at a syllable and remaining

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silent until what he had to do
was done. In a word, I

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would have set this man down as
one of the safest of men to be

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employed in that capacity, but for
the circumstances that while he was speaking to

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me he twice broke off with a
fallen color, turned his face toward the

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little bell when it did not ring, opened the door of the hut,

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which was kept shut to exclude the
unhealthy damp and looked out towards the red

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light near the mouth of the tunnel. On both of those occasions he came

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back to the fire with the inexplicable
air upon him which I had remarked without

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being able to define when we were
so far asunder, said I, when

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I rose to leave him. You
almost make me think that I have met

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with a contented man. I am
afraid I must acknowledge that I said it

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to lead him on. I believe
I used to be so. He rejoined

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in the low voice in which he
had first spoken. But I am troubled,

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sir, I am troubled. He
would have recalled the words if he

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could. He had said them,
however, and I took them up quickly

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with what what is your trouble?
It is very difficult to impart, sir.

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It is very very difficult to speak
of. If ever you make me

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another visit, I will try to
tell you. But I expressly intend to

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make you another visit. Say when
shall it be? I go off early

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in the morning, and I shall
be on again until ten tomorrow night,

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Sir, I will come at eleven. He thanked me and went out at

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the door with me I'll show you
my white light, sir, he said,

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in his peculiar low voice, till
you have found the way up.

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When you have found it, don't
call out. And when you are at

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the top, don't call out.
His manner seemed to make the place strike

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colder to me. But I said
no more then, very well, And

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when you come down to morrow night, don't call out. Let me ask

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you a parting question. What made
you cry? Hallo below there to night?

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Heaven knows? Said I. I
cried something to that effect. Not

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to that effect, sir, Those
were the very words. I know them

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well, admit, those were the
very words I said them, no doubt,

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because I saw you below for no
other reason. What are the reason

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could I possibly have? You had
no feeling that they would convey to you

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in any supernatural way. No.
He wished me good night and held up

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his light. I walked by the
side of the down line of rails with

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a very disagreeable sensation of a train
coming behind me, until I found the

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path. It was easier to mount
than to descend, and I got back

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to my inn without any adventure.
Punctual to my appointment. I placed my

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foot on the first notch of the
ze Zag. Next night, as the

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distant clocks were striking eleven, he
was waiting for me at the bottom with

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his white light on. I have
not called out, I said, when

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we came close together. May I
speak now by all means, sir?

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Good night then, and here's my
hand, good night, sir, and

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here's mine. With that, we
walked side by side to his box,

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entered it, closed the door,
and sat down by the fire. I

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have made up my mind, sir, he began bending forward as soon as

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we were seated, and speaking in
a tone but a little above a whisper,

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that you shall not have to ask
me twice? What troubles me?

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I took you for some one else
yesterday evening. That troubles me, that

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mistake, No, that's someone else. Who is it? I don't know,

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Like me, I don't know.
I never saw the face. The

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left arms across the face, and
the right armies waved violently, waved this

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way. I followed his action with
my eyes, and it was the action

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of an arm gesticulating with the utmost
passion and vehemence for God's sake, clear

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the way one moonlit night, said
the man. I was sitting here when

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I heard a voice cry, hullo
below there. I started up, looked

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from that door and saw this some
one else standing by the red light near

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the tunnel, waving as I just
now showed you. The voice seemed hoarse

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with shouting, and it cried,
look out, look out, and then

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again hullo below there, look out. I caught up my lamp, turned

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it on red, and ran towards
the figure, calling what's wrong? What

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has happened? Where it stood just
outside the blackness of the tunnel. I

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advanced so close upon it that I
wondered at its keep, being the sleeve

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across its eyes. I ran right
up at it and had my hands stretched

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out to pull the sleeve away.
When it was gone into the tunnel,

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said I no. I ran on
into the tunnel five hundred yards. I

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stopped and held my lamp above my
head, and saw the figures of the

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measured distance, and saw the wet
stains stealing down the walls and trickling through

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the arch. I ran out again, faster than I had run in,

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for I had a mortal abhorrence of
the place upon me. And I looked

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all round the red light with my
own red light, and I went up

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the iron ladder to the gallery on
top of it, and I came down

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again and ran back here. I
telegraphed both ways an alarm has been given,

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Is anything wrong? The answer came
back both ways all well. Resisting

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the slow touch of a frozen finger
tracing out my spine. I showed him

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how that this figure must be a
deception of his sense of sight, and

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how that figures, originating in disease
of the delicate nerves that minister to the

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functions of the eye, were known
to have often troubled patience, some of

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whom had become conscious of the nature
of their affliction, and had even proved

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it by experiments upon themselves. As
to an imaginary cry, said, I

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do but listen for a moment to
the wind in this unnatural valley, while

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we speak so low, and to
the wild harp it makes of the telegraph

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wires. That was all very well. He returned after we had sat listening

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for a while, and he ought
to know something of the wind and the

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wires, he who so often passed
long winter nights there alone and watching.

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But he would beg to remark that
he had not finished. I asked his

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pardon, and he slowly added these
words, touching my arm. Within six

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00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:56,519
hours after the appearance, the memorable
accident on this line happened, and within

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ten hours the dead and wounded brought
along the tunnel over the spot where the

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figure had stood. A disagreeable shudder
crept over me. But I did my

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best against it. It was not
to be denied. I rejoined that this

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00:16:11,399 --> 00:16:17,279
was a remarkable coincidence, calculated deeply
to impress his mind. But it was

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00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:22,320
unquestionable that remarkable coincidences did continually occur, and they must be taken into account

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in dealing with such a subject.
Though to be sure, I must admit,

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I added, for I thought I
saw that he was going to bring

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the objection to bear upon me.
Men of common sense did not allow much

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00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:38,639
for coincidence in making the ordinary calculations
of life. He again begged to remark

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00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,919
that he had not finished. I
again begged his pardon for being betrayed into

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interruptions. This he said, again, laying his hand upon my arm and

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glancing over his shoulder with hollow eyes, was just a year ago. Six

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or seven months passed, and I
had recovered from the surprise and shock.

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When one morning, as the day
was breaking. I standing at the door,

224
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looked towards the red light and saw
the specter again. He stopped with

225
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a fixed look at me. Did
it cry out, no, it was

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silent. Did it wave its arm
no. It leaned against the shaft of

227
00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:27,440
the light with both hands before the
face like this once more. I followed

228
00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:32,480
his actions with my eyes. It
was an action of mourning. I have

229
00:17:32,559 --> 00:17:37,359
seen such an attitude on stone figures, on tombs. Did you go up

230
00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:41,400
to it? I came in and
sat down, partly to collect my thoughts,

231
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partly because it had turned me faint. When I went to the door

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again, daylight was above me and
the ghost was gone. But nothing followed.

233
00:17:52,319 --> 00:17:56,599
Nothing came of this. He touched
me on the arm with his forefinger

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00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:03,000
twice or thrice, giving a ghastly
not each time. That very day,

235
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,440
as a train came out of the
tunnel, I noticed at a carriage window

236
00:18:07,519 --> 00:18:11,200
on my side what looked like a
confusion of hands and heads, and something

237
00:18:11,279 --> 00:18:15,920
waved. I saw it just in
time to signal the driver stop. He

238
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shut off and put his brake on, but the train drifted past here a

239
00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:25,680
hundred and fifty yards or more.
I ran after it, and as I

240
00:18:25,759 --> 00:18:30,319
went along, heard terrible screams and
cries. A beautiful young lady had died

241
00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:36,759
instantaneously in one of the compartments,
and was brought in here and laid down

242
00:18:36,759 --> 00:18:41,200
on this floor between us. Involuntarily, I pushed my chair back as I

243
00:18:41,279 --> 00:18:45,039
looked from the boards at which he
had pointed to himself. True, sir,

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00:18:45,759 --> 00:18:49,920
True, precisely as it happened,
So I tell it you. I

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00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,599
could think of nothing to say to
any purpose, and my mouth was very

246
00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:57,359
dry. The wind and the wires
took up the story with a long,

247
00:18:57,519 --> 00:19:04,119
lamenting wail, he resumed, Now, sir, mark this and judge how

248
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:11,000
my mind is troubled. The specter
came back a week ago. Ever since,

249
00:19:11,079 --> 00:19:15,319
it has been there now and again
by fits and starts at the light,

250
00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:22,359
at the danger light. What does
it seemed to do? He repeated,

251
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,759
if possible, with increased passion and
vehemence, that former gesticulation of for

252
00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:32,440
God's sake, clear the way.
Then he went on, I have no

253
00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:37,519
peace or rest for it. It
calls to me for many minutes together in

254
00:19:37,599 --> 00:19:42,000
an agonized manner. Below there,
look out, look out, It stands

255
00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:47,279
waving to me. It rings my
little bell. I caught at that.

256
00:19:47,839 --> 00:19:49,720
Did it ring your bell yesterday evening
when I was here and you went to

257
00:19:49,759 --> 00:19:56,440
the door twice? Why? See, said I, How your imagination misleads

258
00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,759
you. My eyes were on the
bell, and my ears were open to

259
00:19:59,759 --> 00:20:02,960
the bell, And if I am
a living man, it did not ring

260
00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:07,119
at those times. No, not
at any other time, except when it

261
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,200
was rung in the natural course of
physical things by the station communicating with you,

262
00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:15,880
He shook his head. I have
never made a mistake as to that

263
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:19,359
yet, sir, I have never
confused the specter's ring with the man's.

264
00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:25,759
The ghost's ring is a strange vibration
in the bell that it derives from nothing

265
00:20:25,839 --> 00:20:29,960
else. And I have not asserted
that the bell stirs to the eye.

266
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,839
I don't wonder that you failed to
hear it. But I heard it,

267
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:38,920
and did the specter seem to be
there? When you looked out? It

268
00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:48,119
was there both times, he repeated, firmly, both times. Will you

269
00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:51,359
come to the door with me and
look for it? Now? He bit

270
00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:55,960
his under lip, as though he
were somewhat unwilling, but arose. I

271
00:20:56,079 --> 00:20:59,559
opened the door and stood on the
step. While he stood in the doorway,

272
00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,000
there was the danger light there was
the dismal mouth of the tunnel.

273
00:21:03,759 --> 00:21:07,920
There were the high wet stone walls
of the cutting. There were the stars

274
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:12,440
above them. Do you see it? I asked him, taking particular note

275
00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:18,079
of his face. His eyes were
prominent and strained, but not very much

276
00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:21,960
more so, perhaps than my own
had been when I had directed them earnestly

277
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,599
towards the same spot. No,
he answered, it is not there.

278
00:21:27,559 --> 00:21:32,920
Agreed, said I. We went
in again, shut the door, and

279
00:21:33,039 --> 00:21:37,680
resumed our seats. I was thinking
how best to improve this advantage, if

280
00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,920
it might be called one, when
he took up the conversation in such a

281
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:44,920
matter of coarse way, so assuming
that there could be no serious question of

282
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,920
fact between us, that I felt
myself placed in the weakest of positions.

283
00:21:48,839 --> 00:21:53,240
By this time. You will fully
understand, sir, He said that what

284
00:21:53,440 --> 00:22:00,559
troubles me so dreadfully is the question
what does the specter mean? I was

285
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:04,160
not sure. I told him that
I did fully understand. What is its

286
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:10,279
warning against? He said, ruminating
with his eyes on the fire, and

287
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:15,920
only by times turning them on me. What is the danger? Where is

288
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:22,279
the danger? There is danger overhanging
somewhere on the line, some dreadful calamity

289
00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:26,640
will happen. It is not to
be doubted this third time, after what

290
00:22:26,759 --> 00:22:32,440
has gone before. But surely this
is a cruel haunting of me. What

291
00:22:32,599 --> 00:22:37,079
can I do? He pulled out
his handkerchief and wiped the drops from his

292
00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:41,559
heated forehead. If I telegraphed danger
on either side of me, or on

293
00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,599
both, I can give no reason
for it. He went on, wiping

294
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:49,880
the palms of his hands. I
should get into trouble and do no good.

295
00:22:51,519 --> 00:22:55,000
They would think I was mad.
This is the way it would work.

296
00:22:55,599 --> 00:23:03,480
Message danger, take care, answer
danger where message don't know, But

297
00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:10,680
for God's sake, take care.
They would displace me. What else could

298
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:15,559
they do? His pain of mind
was most pitiable to see. It was

299
00:23:15,559 --> 00:23:19,799
the mental torture of a conscientious man, or pressed beyond endurance by an unintelligible

300
00:23:19,799 --> 00:23:26,240
responsibility involving life when it first stood
under the danger light. He went on,

301
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,839
putting his dark hair back from his
head and drawing his hands outward,

302
00:23:30,839 --> 00:23:37,160
across and across his temples, in
an extremity of feverish distress. Why not

303
00:23:37,319 --> 00:23:41,960
tell me where that accident was to
happen? If it must happen, why

304
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,160
not tell me how it could be
averted. If it could have been averted,

305
00:23:47,079 --> 00:23:51,079
when on its second coming it hid
its face, why not tell me

306
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:55,160
instead, she is going to die. Let them keep her at home.

307
00:23:55,839 --> 00:24:00,400
If it came on those two occasions
only to show me that its warnings were

308
00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,519
true, and so to prepare me
for the third, why not warn me

309
00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:11,599
plainly now? And I Lord help
me a mere poor signal man on this

310
00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,920
solitary station, Why not go to
somebody with credit to be believed and power

311
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:21,440
to act. When I saw him
in this state, I saw that for

312
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:25,519
the poor man's sake as well as
for the public safety, what I had

313
00:24:25,519 --> 00:24:29,839
to do for the time was to
compose his mind. Therefore, setting aside

314
00:24:29,839 --> 00:24:34,519
all question of reality or unreality between
us, I represented to him that whoever

315
00:24:34,599 --> 00:24:38,680
thoroughly discharged his duty must do well, and that at least it was his

316
00:24:38,759 --> 00:24:44,839
comfort that he understood his duty,
though he did not understand these confounding appearances.

317
00:24:45,519 --> 00:24:48,519
In this effort I succeeded far better
than in the attempt to reason him

318
00:24:48,519 --> 00:24:55,240
out of his conviction. He became
calm the occupations incidental to his post.

319
00:24:55,279 --> 00:24:59,240
As the Knight advanced began to make
larger demands on his attention, and I

320
00:24:59,319 --> 00:25:02,599
left him it too. In the
morning. I had offered to stay through

321
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,119
the night, but he would not
hear of it. That I more than

322
00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:10,039
once looked back at the red light
as I ascended the pathway, that I

323
00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:12,599
did not like the red light,
and that I should have slept but poorly

324
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:17,039
if my bed had been under it. I see no reason to conceal,

325
00:25:17,759 --> 00:25:21,240
nor did I like the two sequences
of the accident and the dead girl.

326
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,960
I see no reason to conceal that
either. But what read most in my

327
00:25:26,079 --> 00:25:30,720
thoughts was the consideration, how ought
I to act? Having become the recipient

328
00:25:30,759 --> 00:25:34,119
of this disclosure. I had proved
the man to be intelligent, vigilant,

329
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:38,680
painstaking and exact, But how long
might he remain so? In his state

330
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:44,480
of mind? Though in a subordinate
position, still he held a most important

331
00:25:44,519 --> 00:25:48,480
trust, And would I, for
instance, like to stake my own life

332
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:52,640
on the chances of his continuing to
execute it with precision? Unable to overcome

333
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,440
a feeling that there would be something
treacherous in my communicating what he had told

334
00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:00,839
me to his superiors in the company
without first being plain with himself and proposing

335
00:26:00,839 --> 00:26:06,240
a middle course to him, I
ultimately resolved to offer to accompany him,

336
00:26:06,559 --> 00:26:11,240
otherwise keeping his secret for the present
to the wisest medical practitioner we could hear

337
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:15,200
of in those parts, and to
take his opinion. A change of time

338
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:18,200
in his duty would not come round
next night, he had apprised me,

339
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,960
and he would be off an hour
or two after sunrise, and on again

340
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:26,680
soon after sunset. I had appointed
to return accordingly. Next evening was a

341
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:32,079
lovely evening, and I walked out
early to enjoy it. The sun was

342
00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:34,440
not yet quite down when I traversed
the field path near the top of the

343
00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:38,119
deep cutting. I would extend my
walk for an hour, I said to

344
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:42,599
myself, half an hour on and
half an hour back, and it would

345
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:48,119
then be time to go to my
signal man's box. Before pursuing my stroll,

346
00:26:48,279 --> 00:26:52,440
I stepped to the brink and mechanically
looked down from the point from which

347
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,680
I had first seen him. I
cannot describe the thrill that seized upon me

348
00:26:56,079 --> 00:27:00,319
when close at the mouth of the
tunnel I saw the appearance of a man

349
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:06,480
with his left sleeve across his eyes, passionately waving his right arm. The

350
00:27:06,599 --> 00:27:10,319
nameless horror that oppressed me past in
a moment. For in a moment I

351
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:14,359
saw that this appearance of a man
was a man indeed, and that there

352
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:18,039
was a little group of other men
standing at a short distance, to whom

353
00:27:18,039 --> 00:27:21,880
he seemed to be rehearsing the gesture
he made. The danger light was not

354
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:26,680
yet lighted against its shaft. A
little low hut entirely new to me had

355
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:30,559
been made of some wooden supports in
top paullen. It looked no bigger than

356
00:27:30,599 --> 00:27:34,000
a bed. With an irresistible sense
that something was wrong, with a flashing

357
00:27:34,039 --> 00:27:38,000
self reproachful fear that fatal mischief had
come of my leaving the man there and

358
00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:41,359
causing no one to be sent to
overlook or correct what he did, I

359
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:45,000
descended the notched path with all the
speed I could make. What is the

360
00:27:45,039 --> 00:27:49,759
matter? I asked the man,
schegelman killed this morning, sir, Not

361
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,480
the man belonging to that box.
Yes, sir, not the man I

362
00:27:53,599 --> 00:27:56,880
know. You will recognize him,
sir, if you knew him, said

363
00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,680
the man who spoke for the others, solemn, uncovering his own head and

364
00:28:00,839 --> 00:28:06,559
raising an end of the top pollen
for his face is quite composed. Oh,

365
00:28:06,559 --> 00:28:10,359
how did this happen? How did
this happen, I asked, turning

366
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:12,880
from one to another. As the
hut closed in again, he was cut

367
00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:17,440
down by an engine. Sir,
No man in England knew his work better,

368
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,359
but somehow he was not clear of
the outer rail. It was just

369
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:23,799
a broad day. He had stuck
the light and had the lamp in his

370
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,160
hand. As the engine came out
of the tunnel. His back was the

371
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:32,519
water and she cut him down.
That man drove her and was showing how

372
00:28:32,559 --> 00:28:37,160
it happened. Show the gentleman Tom, the man who wore a rough dark

373
00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:40,119
dress, stepped back to his former
place at the mouth of the tunnel.

374
00:28:40,759 --> 00:28:44,640
Woman round the curve in the tunnel, Sir, he said, we saw

375
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:48,279
him at the end, like as
if I saw him down a perspective glass.

376
00:28:48,799 --> 00:28:51,480
There was no time to check speed, you know. He knew him

377
00:28:51,519 --> 00:28:55,279
to be very careful, as he
didn't seem to take heed of the whistle

378
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:57,759
or we shut it off when we
were running down upon him and called to

379
00:28:57,839 --> 00:29:02,920
him as loud as I could call. What did you say, bo?

380
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:07,279
He said, be low there,
look out, look out, for God's

381
00:29:07,279 --> 00:29:12,400
sake, clear the way I started. Ah, It was a dreadful to

382
00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:15,599
him, sir, or he never
left off calling to him, or he

383
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,839
put this arm before my ease not
to see, and or he weaved this

384
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:25,119
arm to the last. But it
was no use, without prolonging the narrative,

385
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:29,119
to dwell on any one of its
curious circumstances, more than on any

386
00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:33,039
other. I may, in closing
it, point out the coincidence that the

387
00:29:33,119 --> 00:29:38,519
warning of the engine driver included not
only the words which the unfortunate signal man

388
00:29:38,559 --> 00:29:42,359
had repeated to me as haunting him, but also the words which I,

389
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:48,039
myself not he had attached, and
that only in my own mind, to

390
00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:55,240
the gesticulation he had imitated. And
of the signal man