OUR SERIAL STORY The Wind in the Willows

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 78, Issue 7017, 9 February 1949, Page 10

OUR SERIAL STORY The Wind in the Willows

CHAPTER VIII “They are gaining on us fast!” cried the engine-driver, “and the engine is crowded with the queerest, lot of people! Men like ancient warders, waving halberds; policemen in their helmets, waving truncheons; and shabbily-dressed men in pot-hats, obviously and unmistakable plainclothes detectives even at this distance, waving revolvers and walkingsticks; all waving, and all shouting the same thing—‘Stop! stop! stop!’ ” Then Toad fell on his knees among the coals and, raising his clasped paws in supplication, cried, “Save me, only save me, dear kind Mr Enginedriver, and I will confess everything! I am not the simple washerwoman I seem to be! I have no children waiting for me, innocent or otherwise! I am a toad—the well-known and popular Mr Toad, a landed .proprietor; I I have just escaped, by my great daring and cleverness, from a loathsome dungeon into which my enemies had flung me; and if those fellows on that i <*ngine recapture me, it will be chains 1 and bread-and-water and straw and misery once more for poor, unhappy, innocent Toad!” The engine-driver looked down on him very sternly, and said, “Now tell the truth; what were you put in prison for?” “It was nothing very much”, said • poor Toad, colouring deeply. “I only

borrowed a motor-car while the owners were at lunch; they had no need of it at the time. I didn’t mean to steal it, really; but people—especially magistrates—take sucn. harsh views of thoughtless and high-spirited actions.” The engine-driver looked very grave and said, “I fear that you have been indeed a wicked toad, and by riglht I ought to give you up to offended justice. But you are evidently in sore trouble and distress, so I will not desert you. I don’t hold with motor-cars, for one thing, and I don’t hold with being ordered about by policemen when. I’m on my own engine, for another. And the sight of an animal in tears always makes me feel queer and soft-hearted. So cheer up, Toad! I’ll do my best, and we may beat them yet!” They piled on more coal, shovelling furiously; the furnace roared, the sparks • flew,* the engine leapt and swung, but still their pursuers slowly gained. The engine-driver, with a sigh, wiped his brow with a handful of cotton-waste, and said, “I’m afraid it’s no good, Toad. You see, they are running light, and they have the better engine. There’s just one thing left for us to do, and it’s your only chance, so attend very carefully to what I tell you. A short way ahead of us’is a long tunnel, and on the other side of that the line passes through a thick wood. Now, I will put on all the speed I can while we are running through the tunnel, but the other fellows will slow down a bit, naturally, for fear of an accident. When we are through I will shut off speed ahead again, and they can chase I can, and the moment it’s safe to do so you must jump and hide in the wood, before they get through the tunnel and see you. Then I will go full speed ahead again, and they can chase me if they like, for as long as they like, and as far as they like. Now mind and be ready to jump when I tell you!”

They piled on more coals, and the train shot into the tunnel, and the engine rushed and roared and rattled, till at last they shot out at the other end into fresh air and the peaceful moonlight, and saw the wood lying dark and helpful upon either side of the line. The driver shut off steam and put on brakes, the Toad got down on the step, and as the train slowed down to almost a walking pace he heard the driver call out, “Now jump!” Toad jumped, rolled down a short embankment, picked’ himself up unhurt, scrambled into the wood and hid. Peeping out, he saw his train get up speed again and disappear at a great pace. Then out of the tunnel burst the pursuing engine, roaring and whistling, her motley crew waving their various weapons and shouting’, “Stop! stop! stop!” When they were past the Toad had a hearty laugh—for the first time since he was thrown into prison. (To be Continued!