Summary

In “The Signal-Man” by Charles Dickens, the narrator approaches a railway signalman who is working in a solitary cabin next to a tunnel which the man has to monitor. At first, the man does not seem to answer, but soon he indicates a path to the narrator that he can follow and reach his cabin. 

That night, the narrator observes the man at work, communicating with other signalmen and making sure the trains pass the tunnel without incident. The man also tells the narrator that he is troubled, but he does not tell him the reason. The narrator promises to return the next night so he can find out what troubles the signalman. The railway worker asks the narrator not to call him the next night, but only follow the light of his lamp.

The next night, the signalman confesses that he has been having some visions of a ghost or a spectre. The apparition ...