She heard the whistle of a train far off in the distance and as it came closer she thought of how mournful a train whistle late at night can sound. Then a light appeared, at first no bigger than a pinpoint, and she watched it advance closer and closer until it was just a few hundred yards from the car.

It was the headlight on the engine and she could now see the engine and the coaches quite clearly. The train had begun to cross the bridge and had just reached the center when she was aghast to see the engine, cab and coaches give a convulsive lurch, leave the track and hurtle through the air, plunging off the bridge down into the darkness and out of sight. There were crashing, wrenching sounds of metal and wood tore asunder and cars smashed against each other.

This was followed by the most frightful screams, men's and women's voices intermingled, pleading for help. Horror-stricken, Pat jumped out of the car and began running in the direction from which the screams came. When she reached the bank of the stream and looked down below her, it was a sickening sight. The engine, tender, coaches and pullman cars were a huge pile of debris, jutting out in every direction and completely damming up the creek.

People were climbing through broken windows, some being pulled through by those who had crawled out first and there were yet others who had fallen into the stream and were trying to swim to the bank. Adding to the danger and perilous situation of survivors was the fact that, dammed up by the wreckage, the water in the stream was rising and entering the railroad cars.

In the midst of all the cries and groans Pat became aware that there was a man standing next to her. He was dressed in what must have been a railroad uniform and beneath the visor of his hat she could see that his face looked extremely white. No wonder, after what this poor man had just gone through.

"Can you give me the time, Ma'am? I would like to check my watch and see if it is running properly," said the trainman. He was gazing down at a large gold watch which she noticed with surprise looked just like the old-fashioned watch her grandfather used to show her when she was a child. But no doubt, railroad men still carried watches like this.

"It is five minutes past three," she replied. "I wish I could go for help, but we just had a blowout and I will have to wait until my husband comes back." The man looked at her strangely and did not answer. She began to feel very much afraid. Then his face started to blur and she thought, I must be going to faint, that is why his face seems to be fading away like this.

At that moment she heard the slam of a car door and voices behind her. There was Larry and someone was with him. She ran toward them.

"Larry, there's been a terrible train wreck!" she cried out. Larry and the stranger held a flashlight before them and the three made their way as quickly as possible in the direction she led them over at the side of the bridge. They looked down.

"Where? What in the world are you talking about? There's no train wreck down there," said Larry, the beam of his flashlight probing the stream and the banks.

"For heaven's sake, honey, you've just had some kind of nightmare. This is Mr. Bradley. He's come to help me fix the tire. Come on now, let's go back to the car. You probably fell asleep and when you woke up your dream was real to you."

Dazed, Pat got into the car, and checked the children. They were still sleeping, completely unaware that anything unusual had happened.

On the way to her mother's home, Pat told Larry about seeing the train approach, the horrifying wreck and the trainman who had come up to the car. He promised to go by the railroad station the next morning and, if she wished, even back to where she was so certain she had seen the wreck. Larry was still convinced, however, that she had fallen asleep and dreamed about the wreck and the trainman who had asked what time it was.

The next day they went by the railroad station. The old man at the counter listened while Pat told him about the train going off the track.