IT he Irish Mail rushed through the night. Or, more correctly, through the darkness of the early morning hours.
At intervals1 the diesel2 engine gave its weird3 banshee warning cry. It was travelling at well over eighty miles anhour. It was on time.
Then, with some suddenness, the pace slackened as the brakes came on. The wheels screamed as they gripped themetals. Slower…slower…The guard put his head out of the window noting the red signal ahead as the train came to afinal halt. Some of the passengers woke up. Most did not.
One elderly lady, alarmed by the suddenness of the deceleration, opened the door and looked out along thecorridor. A little way along one of the doors to the line was open. An elderly cleric with a thatch4 of thick white hairwas climbing up from the permanent way. She presumed he had previously5 climbed down to the line to investigate.
The morning air was distinctly chilly6. Someone at the end of the corridor said: “Only a signal.” The elderly ladywithdrew into her compartment7 and tried to go to sleep again.
Farther up the line, a man waving a lantern was running towards the train from a signal box. The fireman climbeddown from the engine. The guard who had descended8 from the train came along to join him. The man with the lanternarrived, rather short of breath and spoke9 in a series of gasps10.
“Bad crash ahead…Goods train derailed….”
The engine driver looked out of his cab, then climbed down also to join the others.
At the rear of the train, six men who had just climbed up the embankment boarded the train through a door leftopen for them in the last coach. Six passengers from different coaches met them. With well-rehearsed speed, theyproceeded to take charge of the postal11 van, isolating12 it from the rest of the train. Two men in Balaclava helmets atfront and rear of the compartment stood on guard, coshes in hand.
A man in railway uniform went forward along the corridor of the stationary13 train, uttering explanations to such asdemanded them.
“Block on the line ahead. Ten minutes’ delay, maybe, not much more….” It sounded friendly and reassuring14.
By the engine, the driver and the fireman lay neatly15 gagged and trussed up. The man with the lantern called out:
“Everything OK here.”
The guard lay by the embankment, similarly gagged and tied.
The expert cracksmen in the postal van had done their work. Two more neatly trussed bodies lay on the floor. Thespecial mailbags sailed out to where other men on the embankment awaited them.
In their compartments16, passengers grumbled17 to each other that the railways were not what they used to be.
Then, as they settled themselves to sleep again, there came through the darkness the roar of an exhaust.
“Goodness,” murmured a woman. “Is that a jet plane?”
“Racing18 car, I should say.”
The roar died away….
II
On the Bedhampton Motorway19, nine miles away, a steady stream of night lorries was grinding its way north. A bigwhite racing car flashed past them.
Ten minutes later, it turned off the motorway.
The garage on the corner of the B road bore the sign CLOSED. But the big doors swung open and the white car wasdriven straight in, the doors closing again behind it. Three men worked at lightning speed. A fresh set of number plateswere attached. The driver changed his coat and cap. He had worn white sheepskin before. Now he wore black leather.
He drove out again. Three minutes after his departure, an old Morris Oxford20, driven by a clergyman, chugged out ontothe road and proceeded to take a route through various turning and twisting country lanes.
A station wagon21, driven along a country road, slowed up as it came upon an old Morris Oxford stationary by thehedge, with an elderly man standing22 over it.
The driver of the station wagon put out a head.
“Having trouble? Can I help?”
“Very good of you. It’s my lights.”
The two drivers approached each other—listened. “All clear.”
Various expensive American-style cases were transferred from the Morris Oxford to the station wagon.
A mile or two farther on, the station wagon turned off on what looked like a rough track but which presently turnedout to be the back way to a large and opulent mansion23. In what had been a stableyard, a big white Mercedes car wasstanding. The driver of the station wagon opened its boot with a key, transferred the cases to the boot, and drove awayagain in the station wagon.
In a nearby farmyard a cock crowed noisily.
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1
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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2
diesel
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| n.柴油发动机，内燃机 | |
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3
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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4
thatch
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| vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋) | |
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5
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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7
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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8
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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9
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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10
gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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11
postal
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| adj.邮政的，邮局的 | |
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12
isolating
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| adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析 | |
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13
stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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14
reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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15
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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16
compartments
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| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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17
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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18
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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motorway
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| n.高速公路，快车道 | |
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20
Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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21
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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22
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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23
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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