THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - The Beginning Of Things Roberta, Peter and Phyllis lived with their father and

mother in London. Their parents were very loving and caring towards them. Their father was a very jovial man and never got angry. The children had everything they needed.Their mother was a housewife while their father was a government servant. One night, two unexpected gentlemen came to the house.The two men and their father went into a room to talk. They talked for a long time and their father's voice became louder and louder. He sounded angry. Soon after, their father left the house with the two men.The children were worried if there was any bad news. Their mother informed them that their father had to go away on some urgent business. Everything was horried after their father left them. After a few weeks they moved to the country side. They lived in a little house near a railway line.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - Peter And The Coal Their new house stood in a field near the top of a hill. There was a railway line and a tunnel at the bottom of the hill.They had breakfast together and helped their mother to unpack and arrange everything in the rooms.Late in the afternoon,Bobbie,Peter and Phyllis decided to go and see the railway. The railway was situated at the bottom of the hill. There was a wooden fence there. The children climbed on top of it to watch the train. They were excited when they saw a train going by them.They went down to the station and saw the potter half asleep. There were many railway lines at the station.There was a large heap of coal at the station yard and a white line on the wall. Peter asked the potter what the white line meant. The potter told him that it indicated how much coal there was in the heap and if anyone steals some the potter would know about it. The children stopped going to school. Their mother wrote stories to provide food on the table. During rainy days, the house was very cold. They couldn't have fires because coal was very expensive. Peter decided to take some coal from the station yard. Bobbie and Phyllis joined in to help Peter to carry the coal up to the house.The children told nobody.

One night, the station master caught Peter stealing coal at the station. Bobbie and Phyllis also admitted helping Peter to take the coal. Peter reasoned that he was only taking them and not stealing. The station master pitied Bobbie,Peter and Phyllis and let them go with a reminder not to repeat their act again. Thechildren realized that what they did was wrong and did not steal again.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - The Old Gentleman

The children loved the railway. They knew all the trains that passed by; particularly the 9.15 train. The chlidren liked to wave at one particular old gentleman who travelled on the 9.15 train every day. One day, their mother was not feeling well.Dr Forrest confirmed that their mother was sick and had to stay in bed. He told Bobbie that he will give her mother some medicine and she also needs fruit and milk,and some other special things to help her recover. He wrote the things down on a piece of paper and gave it to Bobbie. Later,Bobbie showed her mother the piece of paper. She told Bobbie that they are poor and simply can't afford to buy all those things. Bobbie was determined to get those things for her mother. She, Peter and Phyllis sat and talked together on how to get those things. They decided to make a big banner using a white sheet. They painted the words "LOOK OUT AT THE STATION" on it. The next morning, Peter fixed it on to the fence and waited for the 9.15 train. The old gentleman saw the sign.When the train stopped at the station,Phyllis managed to push a letter into his hand. The old gentleman read their letter and was moved by their plea to help their mother. The same evening, the old gentleman sent all the things they had asked for and something extra in a large box. Perks the friendly potter sent the box to them.The children were very happy but they weren't very sure how their mother would react to their plan.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - Bobbie's Ride About two weeks later as their mother was getting well. The children put up a big banner "SHE IS NEARLY WELL. THANK YOU." on to the fence to thank the old gentleman for helping them.They decided it was time to tell her what they had done. Thier mother was very angry with them. She rebuked them and told them never to tell anyone that they were poor. She also sternly reminded them never to ask anything from strangers.Nevertheless, she wrote a letter to the old gentleman to thank him. The following day was Bobbie's birthday, she was now 12 years old. Her mother, Phyllis,and Peter prepared a surprise birthday party for her.Bobbie received some very nice presents from them and from Mrs Viney. Peter gave her half of his toy steam engine. Bobbie took the broken half of the steam engine. She wanted to get it mended. The next day, Bobbie went down to the railway alone. She wanted to ask the driver of the train to help her fix Peter's broken toy train.When the train came , she went and stood beside the train.Bobbie had never been close to a train's engine before.Bobbie saw the driver and the fireman talking to Perks, the Porter.She called unto them but they could not hear her. The noise from the train's steam engine drowned her voice. Bobbie climbed on to the step of the engine.The train started to move and she fell on to a heap of coal. She cried for help but the driver and the fireman did not see nor hear her. She put out her hand and touched the driver's arm. He was shocked to see her. He shouted at her demanding to know what was she doing there. Bobbie started to cry and the men were worried. They took several minutes to calm her down. Later, they asked her gently what was she doing there. Bobbie took out the the toy engine and asked if they could help her fix it. The men agreed to help her. Bobbie was very happy and thanked them. She stayed on the train until Stackpoole Junction. She learned many things about the steam engine from the two railwaymen. At Stackpoole Junction they put her on another train and sent her home. She reached home in the evening. She did not tell anyone about her train ride.After some weeks, Bobbie took Peter and Phyllis to meet the friendly engine driver and fireman. Peter was very excited when he saw his mended toy engine which looked as good as new.As they were walking home, Bobbie told them about her advetures on the engine of the steam train. THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - Saving The Train One day, Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis saw a land slide happen right in front of their eyes. The land slide blocked the railway line below. It was already past 11 o'clock and the 11.29 train hadn't passed by yet. They wanted to alert the station but there wasn't enough time. So, they quickly came up with a plan to alert the train driver. The girls took off their red petticoats and cut them into six pieces. They put them on to sticks. They had six red flags. They pushed two of the flags into heaps of stones between the lines. Bobbie and Phyllis each took one.Peter took the other two.They stood beside the railway line ready to wave. After a long time they heard the train coming. The children waved thier flags frantically. The train came very,very fast. Suddenly, Bobbie ran on to the line. Peter shouted at her to get back but she did not move from the line. She waved and waved her

flags, shouting 'Stop, stop!' as the big black engine came towards her. Finally, the train stopped twenty metres from Bobbie. Peter and Phyllis quickly ran and told the train driver about the landslide.Bobbie froze on the tracks because of fright and just sat down on the ground. At last the children managed to save the train from meeting with an accident.The eventful day was known as the 'red-petticoat day'. A few weeks later, they were presented with a beautiful gold watch each by the Northern and Southern Railway Company at the station. Many people were there including the people who had been on the train on the 'red-petticoat day'. The watches were as a gesture of thanks for their brave and sensible deed on the 'red-petticoat day'. THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - Birthday For Perks

Bobbie,Peter and Phyllis wanted to give Perks a nice birthday surprise. First, they wanted to make him some cakes. Later, Peter came up with a special idea to celebrate Perks's birthday. They went around the village to ask people if they wanted to give Perk's presents for his birthday. Some people were happy to give while some were not. People gave things like - a pipe, a tin of tea, a walking stick and some gave some small presents.The old gentleman gave a pound.Even grudgy old Mrs Ransome gave some red apples and a pram. The children were happy and put all the presents in the pram and pushed it to Perks's house.

Mrs Perks was really surprised with all the presents people had given Perks. The children hid in a room and wanted to surprise Perks.But to their surprise Perks was not happy but felt offended. Perks was a proud man. He didn't want people to laugh at him. He did not want people in the village to think that he can't take care of his family and they had to give him things. Bobbie explained to Perks their reason for celebrating his birthday. She told him all the good things people thought about him. At the end, Perks finally realised his mistake and celebrated his birthday with his wife, his children, Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - The Terrible Secret The children never really forgot their father. They only stopped asking about him because it made their mother unhappy. But, Bobbie thought about him quite often. Her mind was filled with questions which was screaming for an answer.

The answer finally came one day in a very unexpected way. Bobbie went down to the station to pick up the magazines which Perks gave to them. Perks wrapped some old newspaper round the magazines to keep them together. Bobbie happily received the magazines and went back home. On the way home she stopped to rest for a while as the magazines were quite heavy to carry.She looked at the newspaper and read some words on the page. The words impacted her terribly. She hurried back home. She went straight to her room and locked her room. She looked at the newspaper again.The words 'FIVE YEARS IN PRISON FOR SPY!' and her father's name caught her attention. She was in a daze as the whole thing seemed like a teribble dream. Bobbie showed her mother the newspaper. She was speechless for a while but later explained to Bobbie how her father was framed as being a spy by a man who works with him. Her mother also told Bobbie how she had tried to prove her father's innocence but to no avail. Her mother advised Bobbie to be strong and patient and not to think about it.But, Bobbie was determined to prove her father's innocence. Secretly she wrote a letter to her friend - the old gentleman asking him to help her prove her father's innocence.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - The Boy In The Red Shirt One day the children went down to the railway line to watch the paper chase. The boys from Maidbridge were having the paper chase.Paper chase involves the "Hare" and the "Hounds".One boy (Hare) will drop pieces of paper behind him for the other boys (Hounds) to follow. The children watched from the top of the hill, the boys ran into the black mouth of the tunnel. The last boy was wearing a red shirt.

The children eagerly waited for the boys to come out at the other end of the tunnel.All of them came out slowly ,looking rather tired. But,the boy in the red shirt was nowhere to be seen. They waited for a long time for the boy but he still didn't come out from the tunnel.So, they decided to go and look for him inside the tunnel. The tunnel was dark inside.As they were slowly walking beside the line, suddenly a train passed by them. They quickly pushed themselves against the tunnel wall.The children were really shaken up by the experience.But it did not stop them from continuing their search for the boy in the red shirt. Peter lit a candle and they continued to search for the boy deeper inside the tunnel. Finally, they saw him lying on the ground,beside the railway line.He was concious but his leg was broken. The boy tried to stand but his leg hurt teribbly. He just sat down and went to sleep.Bobbie stayed with him while Peter and Phyllis went to get help. Bobbie asked Peter to lend her his knife. She used the knife to cut off the boy's boot, she could see his broken leg. She felt pity for him and took off her petticoat and put it under the boy's leg.After a while the boy woke up. His introduced himself as Jim.They sat together in the dark tunnel and waited for help to arrive.Finally, Peter,Phyllis and two men arrived. The two men carried Jim on a piece of flat wood. They took him to Bobbie's house. The children and their mother nursed and took care of Jim. Their mother wrote a letter to Jim's grandfather to inform him on what had happened to Jim.The next day, Jim's grandfather came to visit him. The children were surprised and happy when they saw Jim's grandfather, it was their good friend - the old gentleman.The old gentleman was pleased to let Mother take care of Jim. Before he left, he promised to help Bobbie clear her father's name. He was optimistic that Bobbies father is innocent.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - The Man At The Station

It's been a while since the children went to the railway. They missed waving at the train, particularly the 91.5 train. One morning, the children went down the hill to wave at the passing 9.15 train. They waved their handkerchiefs but this time something unexpected happened. Not only the old gentleman waved back but all the other passengers also waved back at the children. The children didn't know what to expect but Bobbie had an inkling that something was about to happen. Later at home, Bobbie was restless and couldn't concentrate on her lessons. She excused herself and went down to the station.She wanted to meet and talk to Perks.At the station,people who had never waved or smiled at her before, now waved and smiled as she passed by.Everbody seemed so kind and friendly. When Bobbie met Perks, he told her how pleased he was about the news he had read in the newspaper. As she was trying to figure out what was going on, the 11.54 train arrived. Only three people got down from the train, the last was her father. Bobbie was overjoyed when she saw her father. She ran and hugged him tightly. Boobie and her father walked back home to meet the rest of the family.It was trully a happy ending for all.