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Speaker 1: The signal man by Charles Dickens Hollo below there when

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he heard a voice thus calling to him. He was

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standing at the door of his box with a flag

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

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have thought, considering the nature of the ground, that he

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could not have doubted from what quarter the voice came.

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But instead of looking up to where I stood at

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the top of the steep cutting nearly over his head,

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he turned himself about and looked down the line. There

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was something remarkable in his manner of doing so, though

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I could not have said, for the life of me what,

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

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even though his figure was foreshortened and shadowed down in

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the deep trench, and mine was high above him, so

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steeped in the glow of an angry sunset, that I

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had shaded my eyes with my hand before I saw

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him at all hullo below. From looking down the line,

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he turned himself up again, and, raising his eyes, saw

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my figure high above him. Is there any path by

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which I can come down and speak to you? He

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looked up at me without replying, and I looked down

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at him without pressing him too soon with a repetition

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of my idle question. Just then there came a vague

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vibration in the earth and air, quickly changing into a

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violent pulsation and an oncoming rush that caused me to

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start back, as though it had forced to draw me down.

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When such vapor as rose to my height from this

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rapid train had passed me and was skimming away over

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the landscape, I looked down again and saw him refurling

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the flag he had shown while the train went by.

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I repeated my inquiry. After a pause during which he

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seemed to regard me with fixed attention, he motioned with

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his rolled up flag towards a point on my level,

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some two or three hundred yards distant. I called down

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

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By dint of looking closely upuput me, I found a

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rough zigzag descending path notched out which I followed. The

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cutting was extremely deep and unusually precipitate. It was made

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through a clammy stone that became oozier and wet as

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I went down. For these reasons, I found the way

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long enough to give me time to recall a singular

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air of reluctance or compulsion, with which he had pointed

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out the path. When I came down low enough upon

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the zigzag descent to see him again, I saw that

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he was standing between the rails on the way by

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which the train had lately passed, in in attitude as

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if he were waiting for me to appear. He had

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his left hand at his chin, and that left elbow

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rested on his right hand crossed over his breast. His

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attitude was one of such expectation and watchfulness that I

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stopped a moment wondering at it. I resumed my downward way, and,

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stepping out upon the level of the railroad, and drawing

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near to him, saw that he was a dark, sallow man,

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with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows. His host

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was in as solitary and as dismal a place as ever.

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I saw on either side a dripping, wet wall of

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jagged stone, excluding all view but a strip of sky.

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The perspective one way only a crooked prolongation of this

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

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in a gloomy red light, and the gloomier entrance to

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a black tunnel, in whose massive architecture there was a barbarous, depressing,

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and forbidding air. So little sunlight ever found its way

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to this spot that it had an earthy, deadly smell,

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and so much cold wind rushed through it that it

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struck chill to me, as if I had left the

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natural world before he stirred. I was near enough to

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

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eyes from mine, he stepped back one step and lifted

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his hand. This was a lonesome post to occupy, I said,

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and it had riveted my attention. When I looked down

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from up yonder. A visitor was a rarity, I should suppose,

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not an unwelcome rarity, I hoped in me. He merely

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saw a man who had been shut up within narrow

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limits all his life, and who, being at last set free,

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had a newly awakened interest in these great works. To

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such purpose, I spoke to him, But I am far

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from sure of the terms I used, for besides that,

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I am not happy in opening any conversation. There was

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something in the man that daunted me. He directed a

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most curious look towards the red light near the tunnel's mouth,

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and looked all about it as if something were missing.

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

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part of his charge? Was it not, he answered, in

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a low voice, don't you know it is? The monstrous

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thought came into my mind as I perused the fixed

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eyes and the saturnine face, that this was a spirit,

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not a man. I've speculated since whether there may have

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been infection in his mind. In my turn, I stepped back,

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But in making the action I detected in his eyes

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some latent fear of me. This put the monstrous thought

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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,

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he returned. Whether I had seen you before? Where? He

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pointed to the red light he had looked at there,

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I said, intently, watchful of me, he replied, but without sound, Yes,

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my good fellow, What should I do there? However, be

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that as it may, I never was there? You may

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swear I think I may, he rejoined. Yes, I am

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sure I may. His manner cleared like my own, he

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

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Had he much to do there? Yes, that was to

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say he had enough responsibility to bear, But exactness and

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watchfulness were what was required in him, and of actual work,

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manual labor, he had next to none. To change that signal,

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to trim those lights, and to turn this iron handle

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now and then was all he had to do under

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that head. Regarding those many long and lonely hours of

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which I seemed to make so much, he would only

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say that the routine of his life had shaped itself

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into that form, and he had grown used to it.

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He had taught himself a language down here, if only

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to know it by sight, and to have formed his

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own crude ideas of its pronunciation, could be called learning it.

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He had also worked at fractions and decimals, and tried

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a little algebra, but he was, and had been, as

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a boy, a poor hand at figures. Was it necessary

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for him, when on duty, always to remain in that

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channel of damp air? And could he never rise into

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the sunshine from between those high stone walls? Why that

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depended upon times and circumstances. Under some conditions there would

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be less upon the line than under others, and the

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same good as to certain hours of the day and

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night in bright weather, he did choose occasions for getting

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a little above these lower shadows but being at all

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times liable to be called by his electric bell, and

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at such times listening for it with redoubled anxiety, the

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relief was less than I would suppose. He took me

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into his box, where there was a fire, a desk

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for an official book in which he had to make

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certain entries, a telegraphic instrument with its dial face and needles,

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and the little bell of which he had spoken on

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my trusting that he would excuse the remark that he

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had been well educated, and I hoped, I might say,

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without offense, perhaps educated above that station, he observed that

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instances of slight incongruity in such wise would rarely be

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found wanting among large bodies of men. That he had

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

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even in that last desperate resource, the army, and that

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he knew it was so more or less in any

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great railway staff. He had been when young, if I

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could believe it. Sitting in that hut, he scarcely could

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a student of natural philosophy, and had attended lectures, but

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he had run wild, misused his opportunities, gone down, and

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never risen again. He had no complaint to offer about that.

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He had made his bed, and he lay upon it.

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It was far too late to make another. All that

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I have here condensed, he said, in a quiet manner,

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with his grave, dark regards divided between me and the fire.

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He threw in the word sir from time to time,

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and especially when he referred to his youth, as though

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to request me to understand that he claimed to be

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nothing but what I found him. He was several times

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interrupted by the little bell, and had to read off

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messages and send replies. Once he had to stand without

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the door and display a flag as a train passed,

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and make some verbal communication to the driver. In the

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discharge of his duejees I observed him to be remarkably

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exact and vigilant, breaking off his discourse at a syllable

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and remaining silent until what he had to do was done.

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In a word, I would have set this man down

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as one of the safest of men to be employed

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in that capacity, but for the circumstances that while he

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was speaking to me he twice broke off with a

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fallen color, turned his face toward the little bell when

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it did not ring, opened the door of the hut,

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which was kept shut to exclude the unhealthy damp and

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looked out towards the red light near the mouth of

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the tunnel. On both of those occasions he came back

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to the fire with the inexplicable air upon him which

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I had remarked without being able to define when we

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were so far asunder, said I, when I rose to

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leave him. You almost make me think that I have

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met with a contented man. I am afraid I must

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acknowledge that I said it to lead him on. I

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believe I used to be so. He rejoined in the

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low voice in which he had first spoken. But I

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am troubled, sir, I am troubled. He would have recalled

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the words if he could. He had said them, however,

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and I took them up quickly with what what is

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

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is very very difficult to speak of. If ever you

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make me another visit, I will try to tell you.

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But I expressly intend to make you another visit. Say

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when shall it be? I go off early in the morning,

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and I shall be on again until ten tomorrow night, Sir,

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I will come at eleven. He thanked me and went

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out at the door with me I'll show you my

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white light, sir, he said, in his peculiar low voice,

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till you have found the way up. When you have

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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

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the place strike colder to me. But I said no

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more then, very well, And when you come down to

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morrow night, don't call out. Let me ask you a

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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.

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Not to that effect, sir, Those were the very words.

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I know them well, admit, those were the very words

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I said them, no doubt, because I saw you below

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for no other reason. What other reason could I possibly have?

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You had no feeling that they would convey to you

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in any supernatural way. No. He wished me good night

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and held up his light. I walked by the side

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of the down line of rails with a very disagreeable

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sensation of a train coming behind me, until I found

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the path. It was easier to mount than to descend,

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and I got back to my inn without any adventure.

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Punctual to my appointment. I placed my foot on the

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first notch of the zigzag. Next night, as the distant

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clocks were striking eleven, he was waiting for me at

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the bottom with his white light on. I have not

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called out, I said, when we came close together. May

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I speak now by all means, sir? Good night then,

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and here's my hand, good night, sir, and here's mine.

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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.

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I have made up my mind, sir, he began bending

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forward as soon as we were seated, and speaking in

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a tone but a little above a whisper, that you

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

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I took you for some one else yesterday evening. That

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troubles me. That mistake. No, that's some one else. Who

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is it? I don't know, Like me, I don't know.

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I never saw the face. The left eye across the face,

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and the right arm is waved violently waved this way.

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I followed his action with my eyes, and it was

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the action of an arm gesticulating with the utmost passionate

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and vehemence for God's sake, clear the way one moonlight night,

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said the man, I was sitting here when I heard

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a voice cry, hallo below there. I started up, looked

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from that door and saw this some one else standing

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by the red light near the tunnel, waving as I

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just now showed you. The voice seemed hoarse with shouting,

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and he cried, look out, look out, and then again

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hallo below there, look out. I caught up my lamp,

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turned it on red, and ran towards the figure, calling

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what's wrong? What has happened? Where it stood just outside

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the blackness of the tunnel. I advanced so close upon

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it that I wondered at its keep, being the sleeve

240
00:14:00,759 --> 00:14:03,799
across its eyes. I ran right up at it and

241
00:14:03,879 --> 00:14:06,320
had my hand stretched out to pull the sleeve away.

242
00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:12,360
When it was gone into the tunnel, said I no.

243
00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:17,159
I ran on into the tunnel five hundred yards. I

244
00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,279
stopped and held my lamp above my head, and saw

245
00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,120
the figures of the measured distance, and saw the wet

246
00:14:23,159 --> 00:14:26,519
stains stealing down the walls and trickling through the arch.

247
00:14:27,159 --> 00:14:29,559
I ran out again, faster than I had run in,

248
00:14:30,039 --> 00:14:32,519
for I had a mortal abhorrence of the place upon me.

249
00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:35,399
And I looked all round the red light with my

250
00:14:35,519 --> 00:14:38,720
own red light, and I went up the iron ladder

251
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,639
to the gallery atop of it, and I came down

252
00:14:41,679 --> 00:14:46,200
again and ran back here. I telegraphed both ways an

253
00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:50,639
alarm has been given, Is anything wrong? The answer came

254
00:14:50,679 --> 00:14:55,679
back both ways all well. Resisting the slow touch of

255
00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,039
a frozen finger tracing out my spine. I showed him

256
00:14:59,039 --> 00:15:01,080
how that this figure it must be a deception of

257
00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,799
his sense of sight, and how that figures originating in

258
00:15:04,879 --> 00:15:07,919
disease of the delicate nerves that minister to the functions

259
00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,279
of the eye, were known to have often troubled patients,

260
00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:13,639
some of whom had become conscious of the nature of

261
00:15:13,639 --> 00:15:17,360
their affliction, and had even proved it by experiments upon themselves.

262
00:15:18,039 --> 00:15:21,320
As to an imaginary cry, said, I do but listen

263
00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,679
for a moment to the wind in this unnatural valley,

264
00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,120
while we speak so low, and to the wild harp

265
00:15:26,159 --> 00:15:29,519
it makes of the telegraph wires. That was all very well.

266
00:15:29,559 --> 00:15:32,399
He returned after we had sat listening for a while,

267
00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:34,679
and he ought to know something of the wind and

268
00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,000
the wires, he who so often passed long winter nights

269
00:15:38,039 --> 00:15:40,960
there alone and watching. But he would beg to remark

270
00:15:41,039 --> 00:15:44,279
that he had not finished. I asked his pardon, and

271
00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:49,039
he slowly added these words, touching my arm. Within six

272
00:15:49,279 --> 00:15:55,000
hours after the appearance, the memorable accident on this line happened,

273
00:15:56,039 --> 00:16:00,399
and within ten hours the dead and wounded were brought

274
00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:03,919
along the tunnel over the spot where the figure had stood.

275
00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,799
A disagreeable shudder crept over me. But I did my

276
00:16:07,919 --> 00:16:11,080
best against it. It was not to be denied. I

277
00:16:11,159 --> 00:16:15,320
rejoined that this was a remarkable coincidence, calculated deeply to

278
00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:20,000
impress his mind. But it was unquestionable that remarkable coincidences

279
00:16:20,039 --> 00:16:23,360
did continually occur, and they must be taken into account

280
00:16:23,399 --> 00:16:26,200
in dealing with such a subject. Though to be sure,

281
00:16:26,279 --> 00:16:29,000
I must admit, I added, for I thought I saw

282
00:16:29,039 --> 00:16:31,039
that he was going to bring the objection to bear

283
00:16:31,159 --> 00:16:34,080
upon me. Men of common sense did not allow much

284
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:38,480
for coincidence in making the ordinary calculations of life. He

285
00:16:38,519 --> 00:16:41,559
again begged to remark that he had not finished. I

286
00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:46,000
again begged his pardon for being betrayed into interruptions. This

287
00:16:46,799 --> 00:16:49,720
he said, again, laying his hand upon my arm and

288
00:16:49,759 --> 00:16:53,159
glancing over his shoulder with hollow eyes, was just a

289
00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:57,279
year ago. Six or seven months passed, and I had

290
00:16:57,279 --> 00:17:01,120
recovered from the surprise and shock when one morning, as

291
00:17:01,159 --> 00:17:05,640
the day was breaking. I standing at the door, looked

292
00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,960
towards the red light and saw the specter again. He

293
00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:14,400
stopped with a fixed look at me. Did it cry out, no,

294
00:17:15,559 --> 00:17:21,319
it was silent. Did it wave its arm no. It

295
00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,160
leaned against the shaft of the light with both hands

296
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:28,559
before the face like this once more. I followed his

297
00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,839
actions with my eyes. It was an action of mourning.

298
00:17:32,319 --> 00:17:35,960
I have seen such an attitude on stone figures, on tombs.

299
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:39,519
Did you go up to it? I came in and

300
00:17:39,599 --> 00:17:44,079
sat down, partly to collect my thoughts, partly because it

301
00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:47,559
had turned me faint. When I went to the door again,

302
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:52,119
daylight was above me and the ghost was gone. But

303
00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:56,319
nothing followed. Nothing came of this. He touched me on

304
00:17:56,359 --> 00:17:59,440
the arm with his forefinger twice or thrice, giving a

305
00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:04,119
ghastly not each time. That very day, as a train

306
00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,200
came out of the tunnel, I noticed at a carriage

307
00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,359
window on my side what looked like a confusion of

308
00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,160
hands and heads, and something waved. I sow it just

309
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:17,680
in time to signal the driver stop. He shut off

310
00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:20,680
and put his brake on, but the train drifted past

311
00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:24,240
here a hundred and fifty yards or more. I ran

312
00:18:24,319 --> 00:18:28,119
after it, and as I went along heard terrible screams

313
00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:32,640
and cries. A beautiful young lady had died instantaneously in

314
00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:36,079
one of the compartments, and was brought in here and

315
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:40,160
laid down on this floor between us. Involuntarily, I pushed

316
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:42,319
my chair back as I looked from the boards at

317
00:18:42,319 --> 00:18:47,599
which he had pointed to himself. True, sir, True, precisely

318
00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:51,200
as it happened, So I tell it you. I could

319
00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:53,759
think of nothing to say to any purpose, and my

320
00:18:53,839 --> 00:18:57,079
mouth was very dry. The wind and the wires took

321
00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:02,400
up the story with a long, lamenting wail, he resumed, Now, sir,

322
00:19:03,279 --> 00:19:07,119
mark this and judge how my mind is troubled. The

323
00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:11,480
specter came back a week ago. Ever since, it has

324
00:19:11,519 --> 00:19:16,000
been there now and again by fits and starts at

325
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:20,559
the light, at the danger light. What does it seemed

326
00:19:20,599 --> 00:19:25,279
to do? He repeated, if possible, with increased passion and vehemence,

327
00:19:25,599 --> 00:19:29,480
that former gesticulation of for God's sake, clear the way.

328
00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,559
Then he went on, I have no peace or rest

329
00:19:33,599 --> 00:19:37,200
for it. It calls to me for many minutes together

330
00:19:37,519 --> 00:19:41,920
in an agonized manner. Below there, look out, look out,

331
00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:45,839
It stands waving to me. It rings my little bell

332
00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,200
I caught at that. Did it ring your bell yesterday

333
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:50,880
evening when I was here and you went to the

334
00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:56,599
door twice? Why? See, said I, How your imagination misleads you.

335
00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:59,359
My eyes were on the bell, and my ears were

336
00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,079
open to the and if I am a living man,

337
00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,279
it did not ring at those times. No, not at

338
00:20:05,319 --> 00:20:07,799
any other time, except when it was rung in the

339
00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:11,279
natural course of physical things by the station communicating with you,

340
00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,319
He shook his head. I have never made a mistake

341
00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,720
as to that yet, sir, I have never confused the

342
00:20:18,759 --> 00:20:22,400
specter's ring with the man's. The ghost's ring is a

343
00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,240
strange vibration in the bell that it derives from nothing else.

344
00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,440
And I have not asserted that the bell stirs to

345
00:20:29,519 --> 00:20:32,599
the eye. I don't wonder that you failed to hear it.

346
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,480
But I heard it, and did the specter seem to

347
00:20:37,519 --> 00:20:42,759
be there? When you looked out? It was there both times,

348
00:20:43,839 --> 00:20:48,559
he repeated, firmly, both times. Will you come to the

349
00:20:48,599 --> 00:20:51,400
door with me and look for it? Now? He bit

350
00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:55,200
his under lip, as though he were somewhat unwilling, but arose.

351
00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,440
I opened the door and stood on the step. While

352
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,519
he stood in the doorway, there was the danger light

353
00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:05,119
there was the dismal mouth of the tunnel. There were

354
00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:08,359
the high wet stone walls of the cutting. There were

355
00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,000
the stars above them. Do you see it? I asked him,

356
00:21:12,319 --> 00:21:15,920
taking particular note of his face. His eyes were prominent

357
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,400
and strained, but not very much more so, perhaps than

358
00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:21,960
my own had been when I had directed them earnestly

359
00:21:22,039 --> 00:21:29,119
towards the same spot. No, he answered, it is not there. Agreed,

360
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:33,000
said I. We went in again, shut the door, and

361
00:21:33,079 --> 00:21:36,440
resumed our seats. I was thinking how best to improve

362
00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,359
this advantage, if it might be called one, when he

363
00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:41,960
took up the conversation in such a matter of coarse way,

364
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:44,960
so assuming that there could be no serious question of

365
00:21:45,039 --> 00:21:47,799
fact between us, that I felt myself placed in the

366
00:21:47,839 --> 00:21:52,480
weakest of positions. By this time. You will fully understand, sir,

367
00:21:53,079 --> 00:21:56,200
He said that what troubles me so dreadfully is the

368
00:21:56,279 --> 00:22:01,200
question what does the specter mean? I was not sure.

369
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,960
I told him that I did fully understand. What is

370
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,200
its warning against? He said, ruminating with his eyes on

371
00:22:09,279 --> 00:22:12,200
the fire, and only by times turning them on me.

372
00:22:13,279 --> 00:22:17,880
What is the danger? Where is the danger? There is

373
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:23,119
danger overhanging somewhere on the line, some dreadful calamity will happen.

374
00:22:23,799 --> 00:22:26,559
It is not to be doubted this third time, after

375
00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:30,240
what has gone before. But surely this is a cruel

376
00:22:30,319 --> 00:22:35,000
haunting of me. What can I do? He pulled out

377
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,000
his handkerchief and wiped the drops from his heated forehead.

378
00:22:39,079 --> 00:22:42,440
If I telegraphed danger on either side of me, or

379
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,400
on both, I can give no reason for it. He

380
00:22:45,519 --> 00:22:48,799
went on, wiping the palms of his hands. I should

381
00:22:48,839 --> 00:22:52,119
get into trouble and do no good. They would think

382
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,079
I was mad. This is the way it would work.

383
00:22:55,640 --> 00:23:04,400
Message danger, take care? Answer where message don't know, But

384
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:10,079
for God's sake, take care. They would displace me. What

385
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,559
else could they do? His pain of mind was most

386
00:23:13,599 --> 00:23:16,680
pitiable to see. It was the mental torture of a

387
00:23:16,759 --> 00:23:21,799
conscientious man, or pressed beyond endurance by an unintelligible responsibility

388
00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:26,240
involving life when it first stood under the danger light.

389
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,400
He went on, putting his dark hair back from his

390
00:23:29,519 --> 00:23:33,599
head and drawing his hands outward, across and across his temples,

391
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:37,759
in an extremity of feverish distress. Why not tell me

392
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,000
where that accident was to happen? If it must happen,

393
00:23:41,759 --> 00:23:44,720
why not tell me how it could? Be averted. If

394
00:23:44,759 --> 00:23:48,519
it could have been averted when on its second coming

395
00:23:48,759 --> 00:23:52,079
it hid its face, why not tell me instead, she

396
00:23:52,279 --> 00:23:55,200
is going to die? Let them keep her at home.

397
00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,240
If it came on those two occasions only to show

398
00:23:59,279 --> 00:24:02,000
me that its warm were true, and so to prepare

399
00:24:02,039 --> 00:24:05,599
me for the third, why not warn me plainly now?

400
00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:11,400
And I, Lord help me a mere poor signal man

401
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,960
on this solitary station, why not go to somebody with

402
00:24:15,079 --> 00:24:19,039
credit to be believed and power to act? When I

403
00:24:19,079 --> 00:24:21,640
saw him in this state, I saw that for the

404
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,319
poor man's sake as well as for the public safety,

405
00:24:25,039 --> 00:24:26,799
what I had to do for the time was to

406
00:24:26,799 --> 00:24:31,160
compose his mind. Therefore, setting aside all question of reality

407
00:24:31,279 --> 00:24:35,559
or unreality between us, I represented to him that whoever

408
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,960
thoroughly discharged his duty must do well, and that at

409
00:24:39,039 --> 00:24:41,839
least it was his comfort that he understood his duty,

410
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:45,839
though he did not understand these confounding appearances. In this

411
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,920
effort I succeeded far better than in the attempt to

412
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:53,279
reason him out of his conviction. He became calm. The

413
00:24:53,319 --> 00:24:56,720
occupations incidental to his post. As the night advanced began

414
00:24:56,759 --> 00:24:59,519
to make larger demands on his attention, and I left

415
00:24:59,559 --> 00:25:02,160
him at too in the morning. I had offered to

416
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,440
stay through the night, but he would not hear of it.

417
00:25:05,519 --> 00:25:07,559
That I more than once looked back at the red

418
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,400
light as I ascended the pathway, that I did not

419
00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,039
like the red light, and that I should have slept

420
00:25:13,039 --> 00:25:15,599
but poorly if my bed had been under it. I

421
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:18,680
see no reason to conceal, nor did I like the

422
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:22,079
two sequences of the accident and the dead girl. I

423
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,519
see no reason to conceal that either. But what read

424
00:25:25,559 --> 00:25:28,519
most in my thoughts was the consideration how ought I

425
00:25:28,599 --> 00:25:32,480
to act? Having become the recipient of this disclosure? I

426
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,799
had proved the man to be intelligent, vigilant, painstaking and exact,

427
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:39,720
But how long might he remain so? In his state

428
00:25:39,759 --> 00:25:43,519
of mind? Though in a subordinate position, still he held

429
00:25:43,519 --> 00:25:47,240
a most important trust, And would I, for instance, like

430
00:25:47,319 --> 00:25:49,440
to stake my own life on the chances of his

431
00:25:49,559 --> 00:25:53,759
continuing to execute it with precision? Unable to overcome a

432
00:25:53,799 --> 00:25:56,759
feeling that there would be something treacherous in my communicating

433
00:25:56,839 --> 00:25:58,759
what he had told me to his superiors in the

434
00:25:58,799 --> 00:26:02,000
company without first being plain with himself and proposing a

435
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,400
middle course to him, I ultimately resolved to offer to

436
00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,960
accompany him, otherwise keeping his secret for the present to

437
00:26:09,039 --> 00:26:12,240
the wisest medical practitioner we could hear of in those parts,

438
00:26:12,599 --> 00:26:15,279
and to take his opinion. A change of time and

439
00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:17,599
his duty would not come round next night, he had

440
00:26:17,599 --> 00:26:19,960
apprised me, and he would be off an hour or

441
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:23,880
two after sunrise, and on again soon after sunset. I

442
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:28,680
had appointed to return accordingly. Next evening was a lovely evening,

443
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:31,960
and I walked out early to enjoy it. The sun

444
00:26:32,079 --> 00:26:34,359
was not yet quite down when I traversed the field

445
00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,079
path near the top of the deep cutting. I would

446
00:26:37,079 --> 00:26:39,720
extend my walk for an hour, I said to myself.

447
00:26:40,279 --> 00:26:43,200
Half an hour on and half an hour back, and

448
00:26:43,319 --> 00:26:45,319
it would then be time to go to my signal

449
00:26:45,319 --> 00:26:49,079
man's box. Before pursuing my stroll, I stepped to the

450
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:52,480
brink and mechanically looked down from the point from which

451
00:26:52,519 --> 00:26:55,680
I had first seen him. I cannot describe the thrill

452
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,599
that seized upon me when close at the mouth of

453
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,799
the tunnel I saw the appearance of a man with

454
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:05,519
his left sleeve across his eyes, passionately waving his right arm.

455
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:08,960
The nameless horror that oppressed me pasted in a moment,

456
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,880
for in a moment I saw that this appearance of

457
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,519
a man was a man indeed, and that there was

458
00:27:14,559 --> 00:27:17,000
a little group of other men standing at a short

459
00:27:17,039 --> 00:27:19,720
distance to whom he seemed to be rehearsing the gesture

460
00:27:19,759 --> 00:27:23,960
he made. The dangerlike was not yet lighted against its shaft,

461
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,920
A little low hut entirely new to me had been

462
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,039
made of some wooden supports in tarp paulin it looked

463
00:27:30,039 --> 00:27:33,119
no bigger than a bed. With an irresistible sense that

464
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:36,359
something was wrong, with a flashing self reproachful fear that

465
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:38,880
fatal mischief had come of my leaving the man there

466
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,079
and causing no one to be sent to overlook or

467
00:27:41,079 --> 00:27:43,759
correct what he did. I descended the notched path with

468
00:27:43,839 --> 00:27:46,359
all the speed I could make. What is the matter?

469
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:50,000
I asked? The man single man killed this morning, sir,

470
00:27:50,759 --> 00:27:53,960
Not the man belonging to that box, Yes, sir, not

471
00:27:54,079 --> 00:27:56,920
the man I know. You will recognize him, sir, if

472
00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,000
you knew him, said the man who spoke for the others, solemnly,

473
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:02,680
uncovering his own head and raising an end of the

474
00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,839
top pollen for his face is quite composed. Oh, how

475
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:10,400
did this happen? How did this happen? I asked, turning

476
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:12,720
from one to another. As the hut closed in again,

477
00:28:13,279 --> 00:28:16,119
he was cut down by an injune. Sir, no man

478
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,160
in England know his work better, But somehow he was

479
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,559
not clear of the outer rail. It was just a

480
00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,319
broad day. He had struck the light and had the

481
00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:26,839
lamp in his hand. As the injune came out of

482
00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,319
the tunnel. His back was the water and she cut

483
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,559
him down. That man drove her and was showing how

484
00:28:32,599 --> 00:28:36,559
it happened. Show the gentleman Tom, the man who wore

485
00:28:36,559 --> 00:28:39,119
a rough dark dress, stepped back to his former place

486
00:28:39,119 --> 00:28:42,000
at the mouth of the tunnel, coming round the curve

487
00:28:42,039 --> 00:28:45,039
in the tunnel, Sir, he said, I saw him at

488
00:28:45,039 --> 00:28:47,200
the end, like as if I saw him down a

489
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,839
perspective glass. There was no time to chick speed, and

490
00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:53,559
though he knew him to be very careful, as he

491
00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:55,839
didn't seem to take eid of the whistle or he

492
00:28:55,839 --> 00:28:58,079
shut it off when we were running down upon him

493
00:28:58,319 --> 00:29:00,000
and called to him as loud as I could call.

494
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:05,480
What did you say? Oi said, below there, look out,

495
00:29:05,799 --> 00:29:12,160
look out, for God's sake, clear the way I started. Ah,

496
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:15,319
it was a dreadful time, Sir. Oi never left off

497
00:29:15,319 --> 00:29:18,160
calling to him. HY put this arm before my oys

498
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:20,799
not to see, and I waved this arm to the last.

499
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:25,319
But it was no use, without prolonging the narrative to

500
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:28,640
dwell on any one of its curious circumstances, more than

501
00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,599
on any other. I may, in closing it, point out

502
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,319
the coincidence that the warning of the engine driver included

503
00:29:36,799 --> 00:29:39,759
not only the words which the unfortunate signal man had

504
00:29:39,799 --> 00:29:43,000
repeated to me as haunting him, but also the words

505
00:29:43,039 --> 00:29:47,440
which I, myself not he had attached, and that only

506
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:51,400
in my own mind, to the gesticulation he had imitated.

507
00:29:53,279 --> 00:29:55,279
And of the signalman