There was once a big turntable
bridge, which spanned a large river.During most of the day, the bridge sat with
the length running up and down the river parallel with the banks allowing ships
to pass freely on both sides of the bridge.
But, at certain times of the day, a certain train would come along and the
bridge would be turned sideways across the river allowing the train to cross. A
switchman sat in a small shack on one side of the river, where he operated the
controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place when the train crossed.
One evening, when the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to
come, he looked off into the distance, through the dimming twilight, and caught
sight of the train's light.
He stepped to the controls and waited until the train was at a prescribed
distance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but
to his horror, he found that the locking control didn't work. If the bridge was
not locked securely into position, it would wobble back and forth at the ends
when the train came to it, causing the train to jump the track and go crashing
into the river.
This would be a passenger train with many people aboard. He left the shack with
the bridge turned across the river, and hurried to the other side of the river,
where there was a lever, which he could use to operate the lock manually. He
could hear the rumble of the train now, and leaned backwards to apply his weight
to it, locking the bridge. Many lives depended upon this man's strength.
Then, coming across the bridge from the other direction, he heard a sound that
made his blood run cold. "Daddy, where are you?" His four-year-old son was
crossing the bridge to look for him. His first instinct was to cry out to the
child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close.
The tiny feet would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost left
the lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety, but he realized
he could not get back to the lever in time. Either the people on the train, or
his son, must die.
He took just a moment to make his decision.
The train sped swiftly and safely on its way, and no one on board was even aware
of the tiny, broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the rushing train.
Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of a sobbing man, still clinging
tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They didn't see
him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked to tell his wife how he had
sacrificed their son.