Sarah Watson was a well-known doctor who often travelled about to (1)treat patients. One day she was leaving London to see a very sick person in Denton in the north of England. At the station she took her seat in an empty part of the train for Denton, and told the (2)conductor she would be glad to be alone if she could.

The train was already in motion when a young lady came running down the platform with a (3)porter carrying her luggage. The man just (4)managed to open the (5)carriage door, push the young lady in and throw her things in after her. Then the train was off. The young lady took the seat (6)opposite Dr Watson.

(7)After a while, Dr Watson asked (8)politely, “Are you travelling far?”

“Oh yes,” said the young lady, “I am going to Denton.”

“How strange!” said Dr Watson. “That’s where I’m going myself.”

There was (9)a moment’s pause, and then the young lady very (10)modestly said, “I’m going to be married there tomorrow.”

They went on talking and became (11)quite friendly. The train arrived at Rugby and they both got out (12)for a snack. They were in the carriage again, and the train was already moving, when the young lady called out excitedly, “Stop the train! Don’t you see, he’s (13)urging me to get out! There, that young man in the brown coat with the (14)beard, that’s the man I’m going to marry.” Of course it was impossible to get out, and the young lady grew very (15)upset. Dr Watson (16)assured her there was no one standing there, but she would not believe her. Thinking the young lady must (17)be unwell, Dr Watson (18)persuaded her to (19)take some medicine.

The train arrived at Stafford and (20)exactly the same thing (21)occurred. And again Dr Watson assured her there was no one there, and said, “I think you (22)had better let me give you some more medicine.” After this Dr Watson felt she could not (23)go on giving the young lady medicine at every station all the way to Denton. So she decided that if the same thing happened at Crewe, it (24)indicated either that the young woman really had had a vision of the future, or that she was not in a (25)state of health to be married the next day. Dr Watson (26)determined to act (27)accordingly.

At Crewe the same thing did happen again. “Don’t you see him? He’s urging me more than ever to get out,” cried the young lady.

“Very well,” said Dr Watson, “we will get out and go after him,” and together they (28)pursued the (29)imaginary (30)figure and of course did not find him. Dr Watson had decided to do something, so she took the young lady to the station hotel. (31)Handing over enough money for the (32)expenses, she left her in their care until the next day, when she would be returning that way after seeing her patient.

Dr Watson (33)settled in her seat again just as the train (34)departed. She was feeling sorry for the young lady, who now could not be married the next day, when suddenly the train (35)was involved in a (36)dreadful accident. Dr Watson was (37)fortunately (38)unhurt, but part of the carriage, (39)including the seat opposite her, was (40)totally destroyed. (41)It was a long time before the (42)railway line was cleared, and Dr Watson arrived at Denton, many hours late, by another train. There, waiting upon the platform, stood the young man with the beard and the brown coat exactly as he had been described. He had heard that there had been a (43)terrible (44)crash and was (45)prepared for his worst (46)fears to be (47)realized. Dr Watson (48)confirmed that an accident had occurred, but was able to (49)reassure him that his young lady was safe in the station hotel at Crewe.