"How do you know there isn"t?" said Julian. "Good heavens, Jock, don"t make such a row with your feet!"
They stood there, debating what was the best thing to do. "We"d better walk right round the edge of the yard," said Julian at last. "As far as I remember, the gra.s.s has grown there. We"ll walk on that."
So they made their way to the edge of the yard. Sure enough, there was gra.s.s there, and they walked on it without a sound. They went slowly and softly to where the light shone dimly in Sam"s little hut.
The window was high and small. It was just about at the level of their heads, and the three boys cautiously eased themselves along to it and looked in.
Wooden-Leg Sam was there. He sat sprawled in a chair, smoking a pipe. He was reading a newspaper, squinting painfully as he did so. He obviously had not had his broken gla.s.ses mended yet. On a chair beside him was his wooden leg. He had unstrapped it, and there it lay.
"He"s not expecting the spook-train tonight, or he wouldn"t have taken off his wooden leg," whispered d.i.c.k.
The candlelight flickered and shadows jumped about the tiny hut. It was a poor, ill-furnished little place, dirty and untidy. A cup without saucer or handle stood on the table, and a tin kettle boiled on a rusty stove.
Sam put down his paper and rubbed his eyes. He muttered something. The boys could not hear it, but they felt certain it was something about his broken gla.s.ses.
"Are there many lines in this yard?" whispered Jock, tired of looking in at old Sam. "Where do they go to?"
"About half a mile or so up there is a tunnel," said Julian, pointing past Jock. "The lines come from there and run here, where they break up in many pairs - for shunting and so on, in the old days, I suppose, when this place was used."
"Let"s go up the lines to the tunnel," said Jock. "Come on. There"s nothing to be seen here. Let"s walk up to the tunnel."
"All right," said Julian. "We may as well. I don"t expect we"ll see much up there either! I think these spook-trains are all a tall story of old Sam"s!"
They left the little hut with its forlorn candlelight, and made their way round the yard again. Then they followed the single-track line away from the yard and up towards the tunnel. It didn"t seem to matter walking on cinders now, and making a noise. They walked along, talking in low voices.
And then things began to happen! A far-off m.u.f.fled noise came rumbling out of the tunnel, which was now so near that the boys could see its black mouth. Julian heard it first. He stood still and clutched d.i.c.k.
"I say! Listen! Can you hear that?"
The others listened. "Yes," said d.i.c.k. "But it"s only a train going through one of the underground tunnels -the noise is echoing out through this one."
"It isn"t. That noise is made by a train coming through this tunnel"" said Julian. The noise grew louder and louder. A clanking made itself heard too. The boys stepped off the lines and crouched together by the side, waiting, hardly daring to breathe.
Could it be the spook-train? They watched for the light of an engine-lamp to appear like a fiery eye in the tunnel. But none came. It was darker than night in there! But the noise came nearer and nearer and nearer. Could there be the, noise of a train without a train? Julian"s heart began to beat twice as fast, and d.i.c.k and Jock found themselves clutching one another without knowing it.
The noise grew thunderous, and then out from the tunnel came something long and black, with a dull glow in front that pa.s.sed quickly and was gone. The noise deafened the boys, and then the clanking and rumbling grew less as the train, or whatever it was, pa.s.sed by. The ground trembled and then was still.
"Well, there you are," said Julian, in a rather trembly voice. "The spook-train - without a light or a signal! Where"s it gone? To the yard, do you think?"
"Shall we go and see?" asked d.i.c.k. "I didn"t see anyone in the cab, even in the glow of what must have been the fire there - but there must be someone driving it! I say, what a weird thing, isn"t it? It sounded real enough, anyway."
"We"ll go to the yard," said Jock, who, of the three, seemed the least affected. "Come on."
They made their way very slowly - and then d.i.c.k gave a sharp cry. "Blow! I"ve twisted my ankle. Haifa minute!"
He sank down to the ground in great pain. It was only a sharp twist, not a sprain, but for a few minutes d.i.c.k could, do nothing but groan. The others dared not /eave him. /u/ian knelt by him, offering to rub the ankle, but d.i.c.k wouldn"t let him touch it. Jock stood by anxiously.
It took about twenty minutes for d.i.c.k"s ankle to be strong enough for him to stand on again. With the help of the others he got to his feet and tested his ankle. "It"s all right, I think. I can walk on it - slowly. Now we"ll go to the yard and see what"s happening!"
But even as they started to walk slowly back, they heard a noise coming up the lines from the far-away yard, "Rumble, rumble, rumble, jangle, clank!"
"It"s coming back again!" said Julian. "Stand still. Watch! It"ll be going back into the tunnel!"
They stood still and watched and listened. Again the noise came nearer and grew thunderous. They saw the glow of what might be the fire in the cab, and then it pa.s.sed. The train disappeared into the blackness of the tunnel mouth and they heard the echo of its rumblings for some time.
"Well, there you are! There is a spook-train!" said Julian, trying to laugh, though he felt a good deal shaken. "It came and it went - where from or where to, n.o.body knows! But we"ve heard it and seen it, in the darkness of the night. And jolly creepy it was, too!"
11
Mostly about Jock
The three boys stood rather close together, glad to feel each other in the darkness. They couldn"t believe that they had found what they had come looking for so doubtfully! What kind of a train was this that had come rumbling out of the tunnel so mysteriously, and then, after a pause at the yard, had gone just as mysteriously back again?
"If only I hadn"t twisted my ankle, we could have followed the train down the lines to the yard, and have gone quite close to it there," groaned d.i.c.k. "What an a.s.s I am, messing things up at the most exciting moment!"
"You couldn"t help it," said Jock. "I say We"ve seen the spook-train! I can hardly believe it. Does it go all by itself, with n.o.body to drive it? Is it a real train?"
"Judging by the noise it made, it"s real all right," said Julian. "And it shot out smoke, too. All the same, it"s jolly strange. I can"t say I like it much."
"Let"s go and see what"s happened to Wooden-Leg Sam," said d.i.c.k. "I bet he"s under his bed!"
They made their way slowly back to the yard, d.i.c.k limping a little, though his ankle was practically all right again. When they came to the yard they looked towards Sam"s hut. The light was there no longer.
"He"s blown it out and got under the bed!" said d.i.c.k. "Poor Sam! It really must be terrifying for him. Let"s go and peep into his hut."
They went over to it and tried to see in at the window. But there was nothing to be seen. The hut was in complete darkness. Then suddenly a little flare flashed out somewhere near the floor.
"Look - there"s Sam! He"s lighting a match," said Julian. "See - he"s peeping out from under the bed. He looks scared stiff. Let"s tap on the window and ask him if he"s all right."
But that was quite the wrong thing to do! As soon as Julian tapped sharply on the window, Sam gave an anguished yell and retired hurriedly under the bed again, his wavering match-light going out.
"It"s come for to take me!" they heard him wailing. "It"s come for to take me! And me with my wooden leg off too."
"We"re only frightening the poor old fellow," said d.i.c.k. "Come on. Let"s leave him. He"ll have a fit or something if we call out to him. He honestly thinks the spook-train"s come to get him."
They wandered round the dark yard for a few minutes, but there was nothing to find out in the darkness. No more rumbling came to their ears. The spook-train was evidently not going to run again that night.
"Let"s go back," said Julian. "That really was exciting! Honestly, my hair stood on end when that train came puffing out of the tunnel. Where on earth did it come from? And what"s the reason for it?"
They gave it up, and began to walk back to the camp. The"y scrambled through the heather, tired but excited. "Shall we tell the girls we"ve seen the train?" said d.i.c.k.
"No," said Julian. "It would only scare Anne, and George would be furious if she knew we"d gone without her. We"ll wait and see if we discover any- thing more before we say anything, either to the girls ortooldLuffy."
"Right," said d.i.c.k. "You"ll hold your tongue, too, won"t you, Jock?"
"Course," said Jock, scornfully. "Who would I tell? My stepfather? Not likely! How furious he"d be if he knew we"d all pooh-poohed his warnings and gone down to see the spook-train after all!"
He suddenly felt something warm against his legs, and gave a startled cry: "What"s this? Get away!"
But the warm thing turned out to be Timmy, who had come to meet the three boys. He pressed against each of them in turn and whined a little.
"He says, "Why didn"t you take me with you?"" said d.i.c.k. "Sorry, old thing, but we couldn"t. George would never have spoken to us again if we"d taken you, and left her behind! How would you have liked spook-trains, Timmy? Would you have run into a corner somewhere and hidden?"
"Woof," said Timmy, scornfully. As if he would be afraid of anything!
They reached their camping-place and began to speak in whispers. "Good-bye, Jock. Come up tomorrow if you can. Hope you don"t have that Cecil boy to cope with!"
"Good-bye! See you soon," whispered Jock, and disappeared into the darkness, with Timmy at his heels. Another chance of a midnight walk? Good, thought Timmy, just what he"d like! It was hot in the tent, and a scamper in the cool night air would be fine.
Timmy growled softly when they came near to Olly"s Farm, and stood still, the hackles on his neck rising up a little. Jock put his hand on the dog"s head and stopped.
"What"s the matter, old boy? Burglars or something?"
He strained his eyes in the darkness. Big clouds now covered the stars and there was no light at all to see by. Jock made out a dim light in one of the barns. He crept over to it to see what it was. It went" out as he came near, and then he heard the sound of footsteps, the quiet closing of the barn door, and the click of a padlock as it was locked.
Jock crept nearer - too near, for whoever it was must have heard him and swung round, lashing out with his arm. He caught Jock on the shoulder, and the boy overbalanced. He almost fell, and the man who had struck him clutched hold of him. A flash-light was put on and he blinked in the sudden light.
"It"s you, Jock!" said an astonished voice, rough and impatient. "What are you doing out here at this time of night?"
"Well, what are you doing?" demanded Jock, wriggling free. He switched on his own torch and let the light fall on the man who had caught him. It was Peters, one of the farm men, the one in whose lorry he had ridden that very day.
"What"s it to do with you?" said Peters, angrily. "I had a breakdown, and I"ve only just got back. Look here - you"re fully dressed! Where have you been at this time of night? Did you hear me come in and get up to see what was happening?"
"You never know!" said Jock cheekily. He wasn"t going to say anything that might make Peters suspicious of him. "You just never know!"
"Is that Biddy?" said Peters, seeing a dark shadow slinking away. "Do you mean to say you"ve been out with Biddy? What in the world have you been doing?"
Jock thanked his lucky stars that Peters hadn"t spotted it was Timmy, not Biddy. He moved off without saying another word. Let Peters think what he liked! It was bad luck, though, that Peters had had a breakdown and come in late. If the man told his stepfather he"d seen Jock, fully dressed in the middle of the night, there"d be questions asked by both his mother and his stepfather, and Jock, who was a truthful boy, would find things very difficult to explain.
He scuttled off to bed, climbing up the pear-tree outside his window, and dropping quietly into his room. He opened his door softly to hear if anyone was awake in the house, but all was dark and silent.
"Blow Peters!" thought Jock. "If he splits on me, I"m for it!"
He got into bed, pondered over the curious happenings of the night for a few minutes, and then slid into an uneasy sleep, in which spook-trains, Peters, and Timmy kept doing most peculiar things. He was glad to awake in the bright, sunny morning and find his mother shaking him.
"Get up, Jock! You"re very late. Whatever"s made you so sleepy? We"re half-way through breakfast!"
Peters, apparently, didn"t say anything to Jock"s stepfather about seeing Jock in the night. Jock was very thankful. He began to plan how to slip off to the others at the camp. He"d take them some food! That would be a fine excuse.
"Mum, can I take a basket of stuff to the campers?" he said, after breakfast. They must be running short now."
"Well, that boy is coming," said his mother. "What"s his name - Cecil something? Your stepfather says he"s such a nice boy. You did enjoy your day with him yesterday, didn"t you?"
Jock would have said quite a lot of uncomplimentary things about dear Cecil if his stepfather had not been there, sitting by the window reading the paper. As it was, he shrugged his shoulders and made a face, hoping that his mother would understand his feelings. She did.
"What time is Cecil coming?" she said. "Perhaps there"s time for you to run to the camp with a basket."
"I don"t want him running off up there," said Mr Andrews, suddenly b.u.t.ting into the conversation, and putting down his newspaper. "Cecil may be here at any minute- and I know what Jock is! He"d start talking to those kids and forget all about coming back. Cecil"s father is a great friend of mine, and Jock"s got to be polite to him, and be here to welcome him. There"s to be no running off to that camp today."
Jock looked sulky. Why must his stepfather suddenly interfere in his plans like this? Rushing him off to the town, making him take Cecil for a friend! Just when some other children had come into his rather lonely life and livened it up, too! It was maddening.
"Perhaps I can go up to the camp myself with some food," said his mother, comfortingly. "Or maybe the children will come down for some."
Jock was still sulky. He stalked out into the yard and went to look for Biddy. She was with her pups who were now trying to crawl round the shed after her. Jock hoped the campers would come to fetch food themselves that day. Then at least he would get a word with them.
Cecil arrived by car. He was about the same age as Jock, though he was small for twelve years old. He had curly hair which was too long, and his grey flannel suit was very, very clean and well-pressed.
"Hallo!" he called to Jock. "I"ve come. What shall we play at? Soldiers?"
"No. Red Indians," said Jock, who had suddenly remembered his old Red Indian head-dress with ma.s.ses of feathers round it, and a trail of them falling down the back. He rushed indoors, grinning. He changed into the whole suit, and put on his head-dress. He took his paint-box and hurriedly painted a frightful pattern of red, blue and green on his face. He found his tomahawk and went downstairs. He would play at Red Indians, and scalp that annoying Pale-Face!
Cecil was wandering round by himself. To his enormous horror, as he turned a corner, a most terrifying figure rose up from behind a wall, gave a horrible yell and pounced on him, waving what looked like a dangerous chopper.
Cecil turned and fled, howling loudly, with Jock leaping madly after him, whooping for all he was worth, and thoroughly enjoying himself. He had had to play at soldiers all the day before with dear Cecil. He didn"t see why Cecil shouldn"t play Red Indians all day with him today!
Just at that moment, the four campers arrived to fetch food, with Timmy running beside them. They stopped in amazement at the sight of Cecil running like the wind, howling dismally, and a fully-dressed and painted Red Indian leaping fiercely after him.
Jock saw them, did a comical war-dance all round them, much to Timmy"s amazement, yelled dramatically, pretended to cut off Timmy"s tail and then tore after the vanishing Cecil.
The children began to laugh helplessly. "Oh dear!" said Anne, with tears of laughter in her eyes, "that must be Cecil he"s after. I suppose this is Jock"s revenge for having to play soldiers all day with him yesterday.
Look, there they go round the pig-sty. Poor Cecil. He really thinks he"s going to be scalped!"
Cecil disappeared into the farm kitchen, sobbing, and Mrs Andrews ran to comfort him. Jock made off back to the others, grinning all over his war-painted face.
"Hallo," he said. "I"m just having a nice quiet time with dear Cecil. I"m so glad to see you. I wanted to come over, but my stepfather said I wasn"t to -1 must play with Cecil. Isn"t he frightful?"
"Awful," everyone agreed.
"I say, will your mother be furious with you for frightening Cecil like that? Perhaps we"d better not ask her for any food yet?" said Julian.
"Yes, you"d better wait a bit," said Jock, leading them to the sunny side of the haystack they had rested by before. "Hallo, Timmy! Did you get back all right last night?"
Jock had completely forgotten that the girls didn"t know of the happenings of the night before. Both Anne and George at once p.r.i.c.ked up their ears. Julian frowned at Jock, and d.i.c.k gave him a secret nudge.
"What"s up?" said George, seeing all this by-play. "What happened last night?"