Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1875-03-19

| untrue am not brave man. and my
4 present situation, alone in the depot with
/ hunted murderer, was by no means reas-
surfing. MY heart beat violently. but from
mere force of-habit arose and asked MN
to be seated. While he turned to comply
I succeeded in conquering my agitation TO
some extent. He drew chair noisily for
ward, and sitting down threw open his
coat, displaying by so doing heavy navy
revolver stuck in his belt Then he freed
his mouth of quantity Of tobacco juice.
and spoke:
ssYoung Teller" he said, motioning with
his head toward the battery, that thar
macheen is what yer call telegram,
s'pose?"
| stWell,S' answered., with faint smlile,
astended to be conciliatory,. s:that's what
We send kilograms by"
ssWal, want you to send a MESA ge to
friend O. mine out in Cohoe. I tell yer
aforehand hain't got no collateral. But
kinder guess you'd better trust me, young
Teller Here he laid his hand significantly
on his betty "I'll fetch it in ter morrow
ef it's convenient
| I fastened to say that the charge could
just as we'll be paid at the other end by his
friend. 81
''Umph! Plaguey little you'll get o. Jim,
1 reckon. Howsumdever, perceed.''
s.What is the message, and to whom is
it to go?"
II want you to tell Jim Fellers, Of Co
hoe, that the bull quit here las night, and
their sheep'll be close On his heels"
AS he delivered this sentence he looked
on me as if he expected me to be mystiied.
But L thought it best not to appear so, and
] said carelessly:
II suppose you are dealer in stock, and
this is your partner. All, sir, the tele-
graph helps you fellows out of many
sharp bargain"
ssYa'as,'' he answered slowly, evidently
pleased with the way l took it. ''Ya'as,
that's 'um. Pm sendin' down a lot O.
stock. Bought it dog cheap over in Gen.
nessee yesterday. Purity lot as ever you
See.''
I turned to my instrument. What was
to be done? Though ours was railroad
office, we often sent business messages;
and if did as us ual now | should proba-
bly, get rid of my unwelcome visitor with
out further trouble. But in the short
conversation with him I had somewhat
recovered from my first alarm, and now
conceived the idea Of attempting the cap
ture of Tim Lynch. W
I was only poor salaried operator, try
ing to save enough to marry in the spring.
Five hundred dollars would do me great
deal of good just now--to say nothing of
|. of tie eclat OF the thing. But how was it
to b accomplished? Here was alone in
Athe depotewith q imam big enough to- whip
his weight in such little men as was sew
eral times over. Any attempt to secure
him single-handed was not to be thought !
of.-But could l not excuse myself, ands
going out fasten him in? No; we'll knew
from the distrustful look in his face that.
any proposal of mine to leave the room
would be peremptorily objected to by him.
What then?
Why, simply this, / would telegraph to
the down town station. But alas! That
very day the connections between the two
offices had been cut for repairs. 1t was
seldom used at any time OF course. But
what of that? 1t was only question OF
a few seconds more time.
All these thoughts went through my
mind with the rapidity of lightning as |
went to the battery. Lynch regarded me
from the corner of his uncovered eye with
a suspicion that made me shake in my
shoes. AS sat down he arose and came
to my side.
ssLook a here, young fellow he Missed in
my ear, and his breath was sickening with
the fumes of liquor, 'sperhaps you mean
fair enough hope ye do, for yer own
sake. But 1 don't UNDERSTAND nothin'
bout them telgrams, and I jist want to tell
We that yer'd be squar'-for by the Eternal
God! if you go back on me, I'll stretch you
on this we're floor as stiff as ever L did
man yitp' and felt the Geld muzzle OF his
revolver on my cheek. Perhaps my voice
trembled little, but I was still unmoved
in my resolution, as | replied:
'sNever fear, sir: I'll tell him all about
the stock. "He muttered something to HIM
self, and still remained standing over me-.
You have heard perhaps how much char
acter and expression telegraph operator
can put into his touch. Why, there were
dozens of different operators communlcat-
ing with our office, aud could tell at the
| instant, without ever making mistake,
who it was signalling. You could tell if
a man was nervous from his telegraphing
iiAs,st as well It's you could from his hand
| writing. The call that | sent hurrying
across the State to Council Bluff, musthave
| rung out upon the ears OF the operator like
shrek.
&c. B. Are you THEREOF was what / ask
ed. and almost Instantly came back a re-
| Div in the affirmative. Then with tremb-
ling hand. ratified off my message; "For
tile love of God, telegraph to the down
town Office at once. Tell them that Tim
Lynch is within two feet of me, and they
must send help"
A short pause, as though my message oc-
casioned some surprise, and then came the
response, Gail right, which assured me
that need not repeat.
| s-ssWal,'' growled the deep voice of Lynch,
.sare you going to send my message?"
ST have sent it, sir"
.sWhat! does all that tickin' mean what
/ told you?''
eyes, and if you will wait fifteen OF
twenty minutes, you'll get an answer"
ssWal, l dunno as want an answer,
Jim. he'll understan' its all right"
.sBut I'll tell you soon whether he's there
or not. Sit down."
| So Lynch reluctantly took his seat, look
ing around at the doors and windows once
in while in an uneasy way. l was deter