For many nights after the children saved the train, Bobbie woke up screaming with nightmares.
One morning a letter arrived.
It was addressed to Peter, Bobbie, and Phyllis.
Curious, they opened the letter quickly. It said:
Dear Sir and Ladies,
Thank you for saving the train and stopping a very bad accident.
Please come to the station at three o'clock, on the 30th of the month.
Yours faithfully, J. Inglewood
Secretary of the Great Northern and Southern Railway Company
It was to be a special day indeed.
The children went to the station at three o'clock, dressed in their best clothes.
The stationmaster came to meet them.
"Come into the waiting room," he said.
The waiting room looked very different today.
There was a carpet on the floor and roses on the windowsills.
Green branches hung from the wall.
Perks, the porter, was there, as well as several men with tall hats.
There were ladies in expensive dresses too.
Best of all, the old gentleman from the train was there.
He came across the room to shake the children's hands.
Then an important-looking man stood up.
He spoke about how bravely the children had acted.
Next the old gentleman got up and said nice things about the children too.
Then he called the children one by one, and gave each of them a beautiful gold watch and chain.
Inside the watches there was a message.
You were very brave.
Thank you for stopping a train accident.
From the Directors of the Railway Company.
The stationmaster whispered to Bobbie, "Now you must make a speech and thank everyone," and he gently pushed Bobbie forward.
"Oh dear," said Bobbie.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she began, "thank you for these lovely watches.
We really don't deserve them, because what we did wasn't anything really.
Well, it was exciting and frightening . . . Oh, thank you all very much!"
The people clapped, and then everybody shook hands with the three children.
It was a wonderful day.
Afterward the old gentleman walked with them to their little white house.
"I want to meet the mother of these brave and clever children," he said.
Mother was surprised to see their visitor.
She thanked the old man again for the things he had sent when she was ill.
While they had tea and buns, the children told Mother about the people at the station.
Mother and the old gentleman chatted in French and English.
When it was time for the old gentleman to leave, Mother said,
"Lovely to meet you.
I want to thank you for everything."
Then the children waved good-bye to the old gentleman.
It was just as they did every morning when his train passed by.