【荆棘鸟】第三章 17

and they told me we'd suffer a lot more traveling that way than if we make the effort to catch tonight's express."

  "I'll manage, Paddy," Fee repeated. "I've got Frank and Meggie; I'll be all right." Her eyes were on Frank, pleading for his silence. "Then I'll send Mary a telegram now, telling her to expect us tomorrow night."

  Central Station was bigger than any building the Clearys had ever been inside, a vast glass cylinder² which seemed simultaneously³ to echo and absorb the din¹ of thousands of people waiting beside battered⁴, strapped⁵ suitcases and fixedly⁶ watching a giant indicator⁷ board which men with long poles altered by hand. In the gathering⁸ evening darkness they found themselves a part of the throng⁹, their eyes on the steel concertina gates of platform five; though shut, they bore a large hand- painted sign saying GILLANBONE MAIL. On platform one and platform two a terrific activity heralded¹⁰ the imminent¹¹ departure of the Brisbane and Melbourne night expresses, passengers crowding through the barriers. Soon it was their turn, as the gates of platform five squashed themselves open and the people began eagerly to move.

  Paddy found them an empty second-class compartment¹², put the older boys by the windows and Fee, Meggie and the baby by the sliding doors which led into the long corridor connecting compartments¹³. Faces would peer in hopefully in sight of a spare seat, to vanish horrified¹⁴ at the sight of so many young children. Sometimes being a large family was an advantage. The night was cold enough to warrant unstrapping of the big tartan traveling rugs all the suitcases bore on their outsides; though the carnage was not heated, steel boxes full of hot ashes lay along the floor radiating warmth, and no one had expected heating anyway because nothing in Australia or New Zealand was ever heated.

  "How far is it, Daddy?" Meggie asked as the train drew out, clanking and rocking gently across an eternity¹⁵ of points.

  "A long way further than it looked on our atlas¹⁶, Meggie. Six hundred and ten miles. We'll be there late tomorrow afternoon."

  The boys gasped¹⁷, but forgot it at the blossoming of a fairyland of lights outside; everyone clustered at the windows and watched while the first miles flew by and still the houses did not diminish. The speed increased, the lights grew scattered¹⁸ and finally went out, replaced by a constant flurry of sparks streaming past in a howling wind.