"I am beginning to
think we are all too respectable. Are respectability and imbecility
nearly allied, I wonder? But don't tell me; I don't want to know. All
the trouble in the world comes from knowing too much. And then, I'm so
dreadfully clever! If people take the trouble to explain things to me,
I am sure to acquire some of the information they try to impart. I
heard of the block system the other day. It sounded mysterious. I like
mystery, and I went about in daily dread of having it all made plain to
me by some officious person. One day I was sitting on a rail above the
line watching the trains. A workman came and sat down near me. It is
very hard to have a workman sit down near you and not to talk to him,
so we talked. And before I knew what was coming, he had explained the
whole of that block system to me. Only fancy! and I may never forget
it! It is quite disheartening.
"He said he was a pointsman, and I asked him if he would send a train
down a wrong line for fifty pounds. He said fifty pounds was a large
sum, and he had a mother depending on him! The people here are
delicious.
Pages:
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218