Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-12-30
An OPER RATOR'S STORY.

stoppt,l OF here for little recreation.
One evening in the dining room. amid
the clattcr Of dishes and knives and forks,
my trained ear caught q meaning from
the idle drumming on the table OF knives
an the hands Of two well dressed men op-
nosite me. To the crowd, il noticed ut
NIL those sounds only indicated lmpa-
tienCe at the hurrying yet delayed walters
If il had been commonplace conversa-
tion | should not have needed their com
munication, except, perhaps, for sport 10
scali'' them. They licked off phrase or
two at intervals during their meal. once
the head waiter noticed the cliuklng OF
spoon upon a cup. and inquired II eitner
of them wanted anything For an IN
stant they were confused, then one said he
wanted more coffee. waiter repieh
isb,d his nearly full cup. After that the
ticks were less frequent. Otcourse II was
none OF my business, but | could not help
bearing the tick talk. and the converse
tion was so curious it greatly interested
me.
That very evening. while was reading
in tba Office the two conversers in light !
ming lingo at the table came i'll and ht !
fresh cigars Occasionally the hotel
s.sounder'' clicked tidings from the world
in the surrounding night The death ot
a man Of national prominence was her
aided bv the instrument. Before the
hotel oprrator informed the bystanders OF
that important news one OF the strange
onerafors said to the other: He dead al
last"
..Hushr' whispered the other.
Nobody seemed to notice the oetraylnS
observation or its rejoinder.
AsI wondered at the object IN view o!
that pair of mysterious conversers dld
not reveal my identity, but determined to
heed ANY signs Whenever they were IN
the dining room first thought best not
to sit near them, and, therefore, dld not
obtain any peculiar information.
After a steamboat ride on beautiful
Seneca visited Ithaca TO inspect Cornell
university. When I returned to Watkins
the landlord told ME he was sorry he
could not give me my former room De
cause of an extra large excursion party
He could, however, give me one as good,
which thankfully accepted
Thai night was far from being sorry
for the change of room, as | heard mys-
,ar;ous rams on the wall. Somebody was
siCnaIinr TO some one in another room.
II the Mesa re had been ordinary should
have signaIed that I was an uninten
tiOnal listener.
1t WAS the same old jsrgon Of unmean-
ing words and phrases. From the fire.
ouent repetition of some OF them few
had become familiar TO me. As COM
mercisl operator ! had handled many
ciuher messages. To amuse myself
tried 10 solve these. In them leading
| EXPRESSION had been: The soup is late.
! Now the raps said: The soup Is getting
hot /" | was more than ever convinced
there was plot somewhere about some
thing. These conversations, being dis
ruised. were in themselves suspicious.
| thought h,rd made out some OF the Key
TO the cipher
As the night was pleasant | went down
stairs and took stroll. \ few stars
peeped out The wind sighed through
the famous gorge close by. | saunfered
along cautiously. however, as the ad-
iscent chasm would have been g conTen-
lent place for a foOtpad to dispose OF his
victim without exciting alarm.
Suddenly | saw light flash ont and
disappear above the glen. Almost with
out any reason ] turned my head and saw
a light flash from the upper portion Of the
hotel The moonless night swallowed
up both lights. Perhaps the light in the
hotel was accidental May be my excited
senses were deceived about the CLEAN
over the glen. Nobody Of flesh and blood
could flash light $50 feet above the little
stream whose voice was lost in the hlaci
depths below. Perhaps it was frefI
flashing its tiny lamp out in the emph
) ness. nearly 800 feet from bank 10 bank a.
that point.
| stepped close to a large tree anC
Thought for some time about the un
known ingredients Of that soup"
. hugged the friendly pine tree as some
BODY walked cautiously past, going to
ward the hotel few minutes after
determined 20 investigate one theory.
Cautiously / sought the track OF tn
railway. Carefully crept along the tie
and went out over the abyss. estimated
the distance where the light flashed, an'
T earnestly groped for something, knew
not what. You may think was foolish
was about to go back to the hote
when nv right hand, beside a rail, touches
I a wire. | struck a match. and shielding
the blaze, perceived that the copper wir
, ran into a pasteboard cuff box tied secure
ly under a cross timber. The wire le
into the air toward the hotel
: The brief light WAS out. There clune
u held up by the structure which, for all II
stone. iron and wood. seemed to aimos
+ swsy in the gale sweeping down tn
: canyon. Taking out my pocket knife,
Crasped the wire on the outside OF the ra
/, with NV left hand and with my rtgb
+ closed over it the big knife blade. Tn
outer severed end | fastened around
l., rail.
n You NAV be sure carefully united this
box. was tempted TO heave it into tn
a gorge but recollected that such cours
:. would frustrate my plan 10 detect an
convict those dynamiters. ASH treadln
a path among eggs. | started to return
| left that mysterious box in summt
> house to guard against any spy noting
IN the hotel
By urgent request the night clerk cal
Z tiously admitted Inc TO the room OF II
y PROPRIETOR. With due, precaution l col
W fided In him. He went>out and gave u
. cl srk some instructions IN low tone an
A minded me a pass key. | slyly went TO m
" room.
: The house was still. Suddenly theI
rang out an alarm of fire. Soon conf
At sion reicned. Guests were rndely avail
40 ened. They hurried out Of windows {
" down the stairs. In a few minutes ever!
bodf returned. pale, trembling and ner'
II Jus The fire had been put out with M
v TeIy heavy damage, strange to sa,
: Nobody, fortunately, was hurt. Ever,
!" body congratulated everybody on narro
escapes. To this day there are. unde
stand only three persons who have know
nd the origin of that fire alarm.
G. TO any outsider would it not have bee
e surprising that the occupants OF room
he adjoining mine were more dressed ths
Iy any others Of the fleeing guests: furthe
st more, my neighbors had scarcely disa
as peared for downstairs till my pass Ike
n. furnished by the proprietor, was used.
he ever an intrusion was justiftable tn
:, was, for quick glance before has
Ii exit showed me lighted bulls eye la
st tern set on the carpet and near it an op'
It, yalise. That valise held An electric ba
nd terry. Its wires led to another vail
st which contained reel from which led
d. wire running through q space benea
he the partially raised lower sash out In
he the darkness toward the railway bridge
IL Scarcely had the fire alarm commoti'
eS "A tvhan fhere caua n RIM biiQ9 a.