The Railway Children

Fiction | Book | Middle Grade | Published in 1906

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapters 13-14

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 10 Summary

Chapter 10 opens with an acknowledgement that it is now obvious to the children that there is something amiss in Father’s absence. The children asked many questions about their father at the beginning of their countryside stay, but now understand that “for some strange miserable reason these questions [about Father] hurt Mother and made her sad” (243). For this reason they gradually begin to speak less of him. Although this silence is meant to spare Mother’s feelings, she starts to worry that Peter and Phyllis especially might be starting to forget their father. To combat this, Mother tells the children stories about their father as a young boy with his brothers, and how she and their father knew one another as children.

Although they try to be good for the sake of Mother, the children end up arguing in the garden, and Peter injures his foot with a rake. Dr. Forrest assures them that the injury will heal, but that Peter should stay off of his foot for two weeks. When Peter grows bored and longs for something new to read, Bobbie goes to Mr. Perks in search of something for Peter. Mr. Perks gives Bobbie a large parcel of “illustrated papers” (263) to take to her brother. While glancing through the papers, Bobbie notices a news item that catches her attention: it is about her father’s own trial and imprisonment for treason. He was sentenced to “five years’ Penal Servitude” (264). Bobbie is horrified by the discovery, although she tries to hide her feelings from her siblings.

Chapter 11 Summary

Bobbie reveals to her mother that she knows the truth. Mother assures Bobbie that her father is innocent, and that there has been a miscarriage of justice. Mother urges Bobbie to remain calm and “to be brave, and patient […] and to pray” (272). Bobbie agrees, but secretly writes another letter to the old gentleman telling him about her father’s situation and asking him to intervene.

The children set out to watch a steeplechase event, involving young boys from the village. During the event, they notice that one of the boys has gone missing. Peter assumes that the boy had an accident and persuades his sisters to journey into the railway tunnel with him in search of the boy. They find the injured boy and revive him by splashing milk on his face.

Chapter 12 Summary

The boy—Jim—is revived, and grateful for their help. His leg is broken and he cannot walk. Peter and Phyllis leave Bobbie with Jim while they set off back out of the railway tunnel in search of adult help. While they are gone, Bobbie and Jim have a conversation and begin to feel friendship for one another. Peter and Phyllis find a sleeping signalman in the signal box, and wake him up, which leaves the signalman feeling very panicked at the realization he was sleeping on the job. He offers them money to remain silent about what has happened, which offends the children. They find farm workers nearby, who follow them into the tunnel and rescue Jim. They take Jim back to the children’s house and send for Dr. Forrest.

Chapters 10-12 Analysis

Bobbie has always been the most sensitive and emotionally astute of the children, and it is therefore fitting that she should be the first one to learn the truth of her father’s whereabouts. Her stoicism and enduring belief in her father’s innocence mirror her mother’s behavior, further deepening the bond between the two of them. Bobbie, however, still decides to act behind her mother’s back in seeking the assistance of the old gentleman. Her decision will yield fruitful results and make the family reunion at the novel’s end possible, but her private schemes also show that Bobbie is becoming more independent as the novel progresses. Bobbie wishes to always honor her mother’s wishes, but she will nevertheless still do what she thinks is right when left to her own devices.

Meanwhile, Mother’s fears that Peter and Phyllis might be forgetting Father allude to the passage of time. Her decision to tell them stories about their father in place of the usual bedtime fairytales marks a shift in the nature of her storytelling. Storytelling is no longer a form of amusement or escapism the way it was before, but is instead now a vital way of keeping the past and the memory of their absent parent alive for them.

The children’s rescue of the injured Jim during the steeplechase is their third act of heroism in the novel, after their prevention of the train accident and their saving of Bill’s barge and baby. In taking the risk of entering the dark tunnel, the children once again show their determination to face difficulties head-on and to overcome all the challenges that they face. The exchange between Peter and Phyllis as they slowly make their way out of the tunnel is highly significant: when Phyllis complains that the tunnel appears to have “no end,” Peter replies that “everything has an end, and you get to it if you only keep all on” (305). Peter’s response sums up the novel’s thematic preoccupation with adversity and how to overcome it: one must endure, and if one is patient and good, troubles will eventually end. Peter’s reassurance foreshadows the fact that the family’s hardships will also soon come to an end, as their reunion with Father draws ever closer.