The Signalman

Charles Dickens

(Retold by Kieran McGovern)

Smashwords Edition

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PUBLISHED BY:

Kieran McGovern on Smashwords

The Signalman

Copyright: Text © 2010 by Kieran McGovern

Copyright: Illustrations © 2010 by Kieran McGovern

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for review purposes only. This book may not be sold, reproduced, copied or distributed without the author’s permission.

Teachers wishing to use ‘The Signalman’ with their students in the classroom should make a prior arrangement by contacting the author by email : kieran@eslreading.org.

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The Signalman

‘Hello! You down there!’

The signalman was standing at the door of his box, directly below me. I was sure he could hear my voice but he did not look up. Instead, he looked in the opposite direction down the railway line.

There was something strange about the way he did this, something I could not explain. I looked again, using my hands to protect my eyes from the bright sunset.

‘Hello! I am up here!’

This time he turned around. He looked up to where I was standing, high above him.

‘Is there a path? I want to come down and speak to you.’

He did not answer. Just then, a train came past, forcing me to move back. When I looked again he was refolding the flag he was carrying.

I repeated my question. He looked at me for some moments, without speaking. Then he pointed with his flag towards a point in the distance.

I walked over to that point and looked closely around me. There was a very rough path, and I followed it.

The cutting was deep and unusually steep. It took me a few minutes to climb down low enough to see the signalman again.

He was standing between the rails, waiting for me to appear. He had his left hand at his chin, and his right elbow rested on his right hand.

A dark and lonely place

I walked down on to the level of the railway. As I came nearer, I saw that he had a dark beard, heavy eyebrows and bad skin. His signal box was in a dark and lonely place.

On either side, there were high wet walls, shutting out almost all natural light. In one direction the line seemed to stretch without end. In the other there was a gloomy red light at the entry to a dark tunnel. Very little sunlight ever reached this place.

It had a strange, dead smell. I felt its cold wind in my bones. I felt I had left the natural world.

The signalman watched me come towards him. When I was near enough to touch him, he took a step back and lifted his hand.

‘This is a very lonely place,’ I said. ‘I don’t expect you have many visitors.’

He did not answer. Instead, he looked in a very strange way at the red light at the tunnel’s mouth.

I looked at his staring eyes and gloomy face. A terrible thought came into my mind. Perhaps this was a ghost, not a man! Then I noticed the fear in his eyes.

‘Why are you looking at me in that way?’ I asked, forcing a smile,