The King of the Trains
The King of the Trains
Malcolm had a big red engine for his birthday.
You should have seen it! It was the biggest toy engine he had ever seen, so big that Malcolm and his sister Janet could easily get into the back of it and sit there together!
Malcolm had a rope tied round the red funnel and he used to pull Janet round the garden engine. Then he would have his turn at riding and Janet would pull. It was great fun.
One day a very strange thing happened. The children were in the garden and had squeezed themselves into the engine together. 'I wish the engine would go off by itself and take us along,' said Malcolm.
Just as he said that the children heard a sound in the distance like the loud whistle of an engine. At once their own engine gave a start as though it had heard. Then,, to the children's enormous surprise, it began to puff away down the garden path!
Yes! It ready puffed! Smoke came out of the funnel, and it went faster and faster down the path! It was a very strange and peculiar thing! 'Goodness!' said Malcolm in astonishment. 'Whatever's happening?'
'Hadn't we better get out?' asked Janet, but the engine was now going much too fast for them to get out. It puffed and puffed, and rattled along out of the gate and down the lane as fast as ever it could.
As it went it seemed to puff a sort of song, and Malcolm listened to see if he could hear what the word were. It seemed to him as if the engine were singing again and again: 'I might be King, yes I might be King, I might be King, yes I might be King!'
'How funny,' said Malcolm. ' Whatever does it mean, Janet? I say, isn't this an adventure!'
The engine tore on down the lane and the two children clung tightly to the sides. At the bottom of the lane they came to a small turning to the right and the engine puffed up this. Janet and Malcolm were astonished.
'I never knew there was a turning here before!' said Janet. ' Did you, Malcolm?'
Malcolm didn't either. But there certainly was, for the engine tore on down the little path, rocking from side to side when stones came in its way. It went on and on and at last came to a steep hill that rose up to a point. The children thought the engine was going to puff right up the hill but it didn't. It ran up to a doorway set deep into the hill and whistled loudly three times.
the two children with it. As it went in Malcolm heard a noise behind them and he turned round. To his surprise he saw three more engines behind him, one nearly as big as his own, and the others smaller.
They all went down a long passage, chuffing and puffing. At last they came to an enormous cave and there, to the children's great astonish- ment, they saw hundreds of wooden engines, some painted red, some yellow, some blue and some green. Some were small and some were very big. Malcolm thought his engine must be the biggest of all.
A large red engine whistled for silence, and all the engines stopped chuffing and were still. Then, with a good deal of puffing and blowing, the big engine shouted to the others.
'The King of the wooden Engines is dead,' he puffed. ' He was broken to pieces yesterday. Who is to be our King now?'
At once all the engines puffed and snorted in excitement, and Malcolm's engine and two other very big once made their way to the front.
"We are the biggest!' they chuffed. 'One of us must be King!'
Then all the smaller engines rushed round them and whistled excitedly. Malcolm and Janet sat still in the cab of their engine and listened. It was all most exciting. They did hope their engine would be chosen for King!
'This one shall be our King!' puffed the small engines, and they surrounded Malcolm's engine. 'It is the biggest and brightest of all! Where is the paint-pot?'
The big red engine whistled loudly, and a small brownie man rushed in with a pot of bright gold paint. It a flash he had painted a little golden crown round the funnel of mall-colm's engine. Then all the engines whistled at the same time and puffed: 'We greet you, King! Long life to you!'
Malcolm's engine whistled back so loudly that the two children were nearly deafened. Then it put itself at the head of all the engines and began to make its way back to the door in the hillside. Out they all went, the big engine leading the way, puffing and panting a happy little song as it went:; 'I'm the king of the Wooden Engines!'
You should have seen the sight as all the brightly brightly painted engines would their way down the path to the lane. They whistled in them except Malcolm's engine, and Malcolm couldn't help thinking how lucky it was that he and Janet had happened to be riding in his engine just when it had rushed off to be made king.
At the end of the path Malcolm's engine turned down the land that led to their house.
The other engines whistled goodbye and went the other way. Malcolm's engine rushed back to the garden and put itself in the very place from where it had stared.
'Well!' said Malcolm, as he helped Janet out.
'That was an adventure! Fancy, Janet, we've got the King of all the Engines! Aren't we grand?'
They still have that engine. You will Know it by the little golden crown painted round the funnel.
