"My trains are
going in the schoolroom, and I want a driver for an accident. We'll
put the Smiler in the luggage van, and he'll get smashed in the
collision, and _all_ the wheels will go over his head. Then he'll find
out how old you really are. We'll fairly smash him."
They disappeared. Judy, who was reading a book on the Apocalypse, in a
corner of the room, looked up a moment as they entered.
"What's up?" she asked, her mind a little dazed by the change of focus
from stars, scarlet women, white horses, and mysterious "Voices," to
dull practical details of everyday existence. "What's on?" she
repeated.
"Trains," replied Tim. "We're going to have an accident and kill a man
dead."
"What's he done?" she inquired.
"Humbugged Maria with a lot of stuff--and gave her nothing--and didn't
believe a single word she told him."
Judy glanced without much interest at the railway laid out upon the
floor, murmured "Oh, I see," and resumed her reading of the wonderful
book she had purloined from the top shelf of a neglected bookcase
outside the gun-room. It absorbed her. She loved the tremendous words,
the atmosphere of marvel and disaster, and especially the constant
suggestion that the end of the world was near.
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