A little while before, an engine had passed, drawing a large number of empty trucks. These would, I knew, be put upon a siding at the next station, until the express should have gone by. The hindermost empty truck had plainly broken loose from its couplings, and, after coming to a standstill, had begun to run gently down the slope.
There had been worse than carelessness for such a thing to come about. A guard's van has to be always at the end of a train; and for it not to be there is against the law. But in those days folks weren't so careful nor particular as in these; and accidents from carelessness do sometimes happen even now.
If the guard's van had been in its right place, such an accident could never have happened unknown to the guard. The fact was, they had put on two or three empty trucks at the last station before ours, behind the guard's van, in a hurry, thinking it would not matter for just two stations, after which they had to shunt. And here was the consequence!
Nobody had found out yet what had happened. In another half-minute or less it would come within sight of the men, but that would be too late. I knew that the express was close upon due, and it was always punctual. If I ran down to the station to give warning, it would be of no use. All this flashed upon me in a moment. I felt half wild with the awful horror of what was coming. For the express at full speed to dash into the truck must mean death to many.
For one instant I had a frightened childish impulse to drop down and hide my face, and not see nor hear anything. But I did not give in to the wish.
Something had to be done! The question was—what? I looked at the signal-post—yes, the arm was down! The express was coming!
Almost like a voice from heaven, the thought came spinning through my brain of mother's old red shawl.
That was enough! A danger-flag was ready to hand, and I waited for no more. Mother's voice called out to me from the cottage; she said after that she saw me standing and staring, and so white, that she thought me struck for illness, and she was frightened.
But I could not answer or look at her. I rushed headlong through the little gate, and along the path at the top of the embankment, my feet hardly touching the ground. I had been a fast runner at school, and now it seemed as if I were flying. I got farther in those few seconds than I would have thought possible; and I was sobbing for breath, yet still I ran. In those days trains could not be brought to a standstill so quick as they are with the brakes now in use; and all the while the truck was drawing nearer.
There was the train! It seemed to burst upon me all at once, thundering along at an awful pace. And lying a little way ahead was the thing in its path, which meant danger to so many.