The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-03-16
IN THE NICK Oh TIME.
A TRUE STORY.

Miss Lily somers, night telegraph
operator at the Floodwood station, 50
before her table on which the telegraph
instrument clicked busily, a thoughtful
expression on her face.
A face whose expression waists charm
that never could BIO called pretty but tina
nevertheless suggested q possibility
only possibility OF being handsome
For there Is vast difference between
pretty and handsome. Pretty people
seldom know very much; but TO bt
handsome, person must have brains
an inner as well as an outer beauty.
Floodwood was forlornly desolatt
spot, aud one where any woman, except
Lily, would have been afraid to come
much less to stay alone all night with
nothing but the wind sadly signing
through the wires overhead, and the
shrill shrieks OF the wild cats away VI
on the mountain side to keep her com
pany through her nightly vigils. But h
her there was something fascinating in
the very desolatlon OF the place. From
early childhood she had been accustom'
ed 10 commune with nature In her wild.
est scenes, and played and wandered al
will in the mountain glens and Canons,
With no foolish old woman or silly nurse
girl to frighten her childish senses with
with stories OF hideous ghosts aud mon.
strous goblins, she had grown to woman.
hood naturally brave and fearless. In
truth she did not yet understand the
meaning OF the word fear.
Her office was nothing more than a
roughly built shanty, seven or eight feet
square, with a small window In each
end, and ono in the door which faced
tho 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 1t tenn
porarily until a better ono could be built,
but rs 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, aud in
many places large knots had fallen COM
pletely out.
No doubt in the winter time, the
bleak mountain wind cheerily whistled
through these many apertures, and while
one side OF the operator was being nice.
ly Drowned like a piece Of toast by the
red hot stove, the other side would BIO
refrigerated like q frozen rabbit.
1t was about o'clock In the morning
when Lily received an order from the
train dispatcher which read as follows:
"To OPERATOR, FLooDwooD: Hold No.
q until No, % arrives, E.K.c."
On receipt Of this order she immediate.
ly displayed the red signal light, which
is furnished all telegraph stations for
this purpose, in u conspicuous place,
in plain sight Of passing trains, and also
where 1t could be seen from the office
window.
The necessity OF this order and posi-.
ton OF the two trains, briefly stated, was
as follows:
No. % had arrived at Silver Creek ten
miles west Of Floodwood, q few minutes
after No. q had passed Redwood, which
was thirteen miles east OF FloOdwood.
AS No. 90 was late and could 90 no
further on the schedule, according 10
the rules ofthc road, they would be COM
PEELED to lay at Silver Greek until No. 81
arrived there, unless they could get
orders by telegraph to meet them at
some other station. Floodwood being
the only intervening telegraph Office be.
tween the two trains, the dispatcher gave
the above order 10 that station, and as
soon as 1t was properly acknowledged by
Lily he sent another order to No. %
at Silver Greek, which read in this man
rer:
40 Conductor and Engineer No, %:
"Meet No. 81 at Floodwood. Approach
carefully. Elk. &C."
The Intelligent reader will readily uu-
derstand that by means Of these orders
the two trains would meet each other ut
at Floodwood in perfect safety, notwith-
standing that one of them knew nothing