THE SIGNAL MAN. short story by Charles Dicken Interesting moral !! here it is..... In a railway cutting, a solitary figure of a signalman is observed from above standing by the track by a man (referred to as The Traveller in the cast list) who, shielding the sun from his face with one arm, waves the other and calls down Hallo, Below There. The signalman seems fearful and makes no attempt to speak to the traveller. Observing the signalmans demeanour towards him, the traveller states that the signalman appears to be afraid of him. To put him at ease, he reassures the signalman that there is nothing to fear about him. Reassured, the Signalman welcomes the Traveller into his lonely signal box . In front of a fireplace, the two men speak of the signalmans work. His labour consists of a dull, monotonous routine, but the signalman feels he deserves nothing better, as he wasted his academic opportunities when he was young. During their conversation the Signalman is repeatedly distracted by a ghostly vibration on his signal bell that only he can hear. The Traveller remarks on the bell and the red light at the entrance to the tunnel before changing the subject to how an accident in the tunnel must be a terrible thing, the Signalman looking slightly wide-eyed at this tells him that a tunnel collision is the worst to be feared. To comfort the disturbed man, the Traveller states that he almost believes he has met a contented man at peace as the Signalman does his duty no matter what and that he has no desire to be anywhere but his signal box. The Traveller agrees to meet the man the next night when the Signalman starts his next shift. Holding his light so that The Traveller can find his way back up the path The Signalman asks him not to call out. At the inn later that night the Traveller hears the faint whistle and chuffing of a passing train before retiring to bed, and in his sleep dreams of The Signalman telling him not to call out and, even though he could not hear it as the time, of the bell bathed in the red light of the tunnel making its vibrating ring. The next evening as the fog settles in, the Traveller returns to find The Signalman waiting for him. The signalman imparts the reasons for his initial fear of him; his waving action and word action mimicked a ghostly spectre which rings his bell and appears to him at the red tunnel light just before a series of accidents. The spectre has appeared to him twice; first before a tunnel disaster, the second before a young bride fell to her death from a passing train. The signalman continues to tell the traveller that the spectre came back a week ago and has appeared in fits and starts always by the light at the tunnel and always gesturing with one arm across its face and the other waved in warning. Now frustrated the signalman states that he has no rest or peace for it and that it calls him for minutes together in an agonized shout of Below There, Look Out, Look Out as well a standing there waving and ringing his bell. The Signalman imparts his dilemma; if he was to telegraph danger he would be able to give no reason why and if he should do this that he would surely be displaced or fired. He conveys his powerlessness to act to prevent a predicted calamity. The traveller assures the signalman he must remain calm and that there is nothing more that the signalman can do than discharge his duty. The reassured Signalman states that he is thankful for the advice and agrees to meet the traveller again. After a troubled sleep the traveller journeys to meet with the signalman the following morning, but as he approaches, a train approaches through the tunnel and he realises he can also hear the ghostly bell ringing. Running towards the cutting, he attempts to warn the signalman, standing transfixed on the line by the red light at the entrance to the tunnel. As the spectre reappears, the signalman is struck by the on-coming train. The engine driver tells the traveller that as they came around the bend he saw the signalman standing on the line, when he did not heed the whistle the driver shut it off and called out to him. The traveller gravely asks what the driver said. Turning around standing in front of the red light the driver tells him that he called Hallo, Below There, Look Out and that he waved to him, one hand covering his face and the other waved in warning, all the while shouting Look Out, Look Out, For God Sake Clear Ther Way. The Traveller looks horrified, as the actions of the driver are exactly the same as what the Signalman himself has told of the spectres actions. He watches the crew carry the Signalmans body away before turning and heading back over the countryside in the thickening winter fog.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 14:47:48 +0000
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