a poor boy always hanging round the station joe had taught him how to operate just to help him along so he left him in the office and tore home for half an hour knowing he could get back before the eastern express came along he had n t been gone five minutes when a ran off the rails about a mile up the track it was a very still and the boy heard the and and knew something had happened he couldn t tell what it was but the minute he heard it he sent a message over the wires like a and caught the eastern express just as it was pulling out a cup of cold water of the station above if he d hesitated a second or made any mistake the express would have come on and the loss of life would have been fearful the next day the papers were full of s presence of mind they all said he d be promoted that was early in november and joe didn t hear an from the company till the first of january meanwhile the boy had gone home to his father s farm out in the country and before christmas he was dead well on new year s day joe got a notice from the company saying that his pay was to be raised and that he was to be promoted to a big near in recognition of his presence of mind in stopping the eastern express it was just what we d both been for and i was nearly wild with joy but i noticed joe did n t say much he just for leave and the next day he went right up to and told the there what had really happened when he came back he told us they d suspended him i cried every night for a week and even his mother said he was a fool after that we just lived on at and six months later the company took him back but i don t suppose they ll ever promote him now her voice again trembled with emotion was n t it beautiful of him ain t he a real hero she said and i m sure you d behave just like him s a cup of cold water jou d be just as gentle about little things and you d never move an inch about big ones you d never do a mean action but you d be sorry for people who did i can see it in your face that s why i trusted you right off s eyes were fixed on the window he hardly seemed to hear her at length he walked across the room and pulled up the shade the electric lights were in the gray of the dawn a rattled down the street and like a witch returning late from the sabbath a stray cat into an area so rose the appointed day turned back drawing from his pocket the roll of bills which he had thrust there with so different a purpose he counted them out and handed her fifteen dollars that will pay for your boards including your breakfast this morning he said we breakfast together presently if you like and meanwhile suppose we sit down and watch the sunrise i have n t seen it for years he pushed two chairs toward the window and they sat down side by side the light came gradually with the icy reluctance of winter at last a red pushed itself above the opposite house tops and a long cold gleam across their window did not talk much there was a awe in the spectacle presently rose and looked again at his watch a cup of cold water i must go and cover up my dress coat he said and u had better put on your hat and jacket we have to be starting in half an hour as he turned away she laid her hand on his arm you haven t even told me your name she said no he answered but if you get safely back to joe you can call me providence but how am i to send you the money oh � well i ll write you a line in a day or two and give you my address i don t know myself what it will be i m a wanderer on the face of the earth but you must have my name if you mean to write to me well what is your name and i think � i almost think you might send the letter right to joe s � send it to the station very well you promise of course i promise he went back into his room thinking how appropriate it was that she should have an absurd name like as he re entered the room where the gas in the daylight it seemed to him that he was returning to some forgotten land he had passed with the last few hours into a wholly new phase of consciousness he put on his fur coat turning up the a cup of cold water collar and crossing the to hide his white tie then he put his cigar case in his turned out the gas and picking up his hat and walked hack through the open doorway had prepared herself for departure and was standing before the mirror patting her curls into place her eyes were still red but she had the happy look of a child that has its grief on the floor he noticed the tattered fragments of the letter which a few hours earlier he had seen her place before the mirror shall we go down now he asked very well she assented then with a quick movement she stepped close to him and putting her hands on his shoulders lifted her face to his i believe you re the best man i ever knew 