Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-07-03
From the Cincinnati Times-Star.
IN THE NICK OF TlME.


before her table on which the tele-
graph instrument clicked busily, q
thoughtful expression on her face.
A face whose expression was its charm,
that never could be called pretty, but
that, nevertheless, suggested POSSIBLE
ity- only possibillty-of being hand
some. For there is a vast difference be-
tween pretty and handsome. Pretty
people seldom know very much; but to
be handsome person must have
brains, an inner rs we'll as an outer
beauty.
Floodwood was forlornly desolate
spot, and where any woman, except
Lily. would have been afraid to come,
much less stay alone all nig t with
through the wires overhead and the
shrill shrieks of the wild cats away up
on the mountain side to keep her COM
pany through her nightly vigils. But
to her there was something fascinating
in the very desolation of the place.
From early childhood she had been &C.
customed to commune with nature in
her wilder scenes, and played and wan
dered at will in the mountain glens and
canons. With no foolish old woman or
silly nurse girl to frighten her childish
senses with stories of hideous ghosts
and monstrous COLLINS, she had grown
to womanhood naturally brave and fear
less. In truth, she did not yet under
stand the meaning of the word fear.
Her office was nothing more than
roughly built shanty. seven to eight feet
square, with small window IN each
end, and one in the door which faced
the railroad track. 1t had been hurried.
ly put together with green lumber while
the road was in course of construction,
with the intention of only using it tenn
porarily until a better one could be
built, but as usual in such cases, 1t had
done duty for its original purpose ever
since.
The rough, implanted boards were
now badly warped and shrunken by
long exposure to the elements, and in
many places large knots had fallen COM
pletely out.
No doubt in the winter time the bleak
mounta wind cheerily whisted
through these many apertures, and
while one side Of the unhappy operator
was being nicely Drowned like a piece
of toast by the red hot stove the other
side would be refrigerated like frozen
rabbit.
1t was about o'clock in the morning
when Lily received an order from the
train dispatcher which read as follows:
No. % arrives. E. k. C.
On receipt of this order she immedi-
ately displayed the red signal light,
which is furnished all telegraph sta
tons for this purpose, IN conspicu
GUS place, in plain sight of passing
trains, and also where it could be seen
from the office window.
The necessity for this order and posi-
ton of the two trains, briefly stated are
as follows:
No. 22 had arrived at Silver Creek,
ten miles west of Floodwood, few
minutes after No. 81 had passed Red
Floodwood. As No. 81 was late and
could go no further on the schedule, ac-
cording to the rules of the road, they
would be compelled to lay at Silver
Creek until No. q arrived there, unless
they could get orders by telegraph to
meet them at some other station.
Floodwood being the only intervening
telegraph office between the two trains,
the dispatcher gave the above order to
that station, and as soon as it was prop
erlv acknowledged by Lily he sent an
other order to No. %, at Silver Creek,
which read in this manner:
To CONDUCTOR AND ENGINEER No. 22:-Meet
No. 81 at Floodwood. Approach carefully.
The intelligent reader will readily un-
derstand that by means OF these orders
the two trains would meet each other at
Floodwood in perfect safety, notwith-
standing that one of them knew moth
ing of the arrangement.
To explain: IF No. 81 should arrive
first, they would be stopped by the red
light, which showed that there were or
ders for them at this station. The con-
ductor and engineer would Immediately
proceed to the telegraph Office, where
the operator would deliver them copy
OF the order to hold them tor No..22.
This would be sufficient and they would
wait until No. ~ arrived. If No. %
should arrive first the execution of the
order would be yet more simple. No.
% having arrived. the object of the or
der was already fulfilled. If both trains
should happen to arrive at the same
time, the red signal would stop No. 81,
and as No. % had instructions to sap
proach carefully" they would do so,
expecting to find No. q occupying the
main track.
Lily perfectly understood the import
ance OF the order she had just received,
and during the long hour which wore
slowly away she kept careful watch of
the signal light which. however, con-
tinued to burn as brightly as ever. At
last she heard rumbling noise away in
the west which gradually became loud
er and louder and more distinct. By
this time she knew that No. % was
coming and would probably get in on the
siding before No. q should arrive.
The rumbling became louder and
louder each moment; the earth began
to trembe and the peculiar vibration in
the air which gives warning of rapidly
approaching train hummed loudly in
her ears.
She began to feel anxious as they
were evidently coming at high speed
and not approaching as carefully as
their order had instructed them; she
also had not heard the whistle which is
always sounded by trains when an
preaching station. and this omission