This young man, dressed in olden clothes, with a hole through his hat and a watch that has stopped with the hands on 10 past two, appeals to Martin. Of course for the reader, this character adds a sense of mystery. Gilbert's wonderful stories about all the things that happened and the people he knew when he was a railway man and a soldier are fascinating. It is not long before the threesome discover they share a love of trains. Even though I'm not a train enthusiast, I still enjoyed reading about these trains.
Time passes quickly and every day Dally seems to get a little paler and weaker.
The only thing that brings a smile to his face is Gilbert's stories. These stories made me laugh, these stories made me cry. Mystery and intrigue deepen in the story when Martin finds himself getting suspicious about Gilbert. After doing some asking around, Martin discovers that a Gilbert Cutler did work on the railways and also went off to war. However that was over 75 years ago.