The hut was a
new one and warm, with as much wood as he wanted. There was a little
vegetable garden, the legacy of former track-walkers, and there was
about half a dessiatin of ploughed land on either side of the railway
embankment. Semyon was rejoiced. He began to think of doing some
farming, of purchasing a cow and a horse.
He was given all necessary stores--a green flag, a red flag, lanterns,
a horn, hammer, screw-wrench for the nuts, a crow-bar, spade, broom,
bolts, and nails; they gave him two books of regulations and a
time-table of the train. At first Semyon could not sleep at night, and
learnt the whole time-table by heart. Two hours before a train was due
he would go over his section, sit on the bench at his hut, and look
and listen whether the rails were trembling or the rumble of the train
could be heard. He even learned the regulations by heart, although he
could only read by spelling out each word.
It was summer; the work was not heavy; there was no snow to clear
away, and the trains on that line were infrequent. Semyon used to go
over his verst twice a day, examine and screw up nuts here and there,
keep the bed level, look at the water-pipes, and then go home to his
own affairs.
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