Suddenly there was the railroad track crossing the road almost under their feet.
“Now I know where we are,” Pee-wee shouted in an inspired burst of wisdom. “We’re at the railroad!”
There was no denying this and Simon was silent. He was doubtless struck speechless by Pee-wee’s power of deduction.
“It’s the railroad, it’s the railroad!” he shouted, “and this is the cross-road that goes up to the house. Gee whiz, we had a lot of fun, didn’t we?” So far as he was concerned they were home already. It was all over but the shouting. And the shouting had already begun. “Safety first,” he vociferated; “wait a minute, I can tell if there’s a train coming; I know a way.”
“The train must have gone by two hours ago,” Simon said.
“I don’t care, I can tell if there’s one coming,” Pee-wee said. “Don’t cross the tracks yet!”
He climbed down and went and held his ear to one of the rails. “There is, there is!” he shouted. “It’s about five miles away!”
Simon went and listened and sure enough, there was a faint, metallic rumble.
“That’s a scout trick,” Pee-wee shouted.
“It must be two hours past train time,” Simon said.