(After a moment stop the children)
That’s the way the new engine sounded when he started on his first ride and didn’t know how to do things very well. But that’s not the way he sounded when he had learned to go really smooth and fast. Then it was that he learned really to sing “The Knowing Song of the Engine.” He sang it better than any one else for he became the fastest, the steadiest, the most knowing of all express engines. And this is the song he sang. You could hear it humming on the rails long before he came and hear it humming on the rails long after he had passed. Now listen to the song.
(Begin very softly rising to a climax with “I’m here” and gradually dying to a faint whisper)
“I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming,
I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming,
I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming,
I’m Coming, I’m Coming, I’m Coming, I’m Coming.
I’M HERE, I’M HERE, I’M HERE, I’M HERE,
I’M HERE, I’M HERE, I’M HERE, I’M HERE.
I’m Going, I’m Going, I’m Going, I’m Going,
I’m going, I’m going, I’m going, I’m going,
I’m going, I’m going, I’m going, I’m going,
I’m going, I’m going, I’m going, I’m going.”
THE FOG BOAT STORY
The refrains must be intoned if not sung to get the proper effect. Most of the informational parts of the original story have been cut out. The story grew out of questions asked before breakfast on foggy days, and was originally told to the sound of the distant fog horns.