Connecticut western news., 1889-06-05
IN THE NICK OF TIME

Miss Lily Somers, night telegraph operator at the Floodwood station, sat before her table on which the telegraph instrument clicked busily, thoughtful expression on her face.
 A face whose expression was its charm, that never could be called pret- ty, but that, nevertheless, suggested a possibility-only possibility-of being handsome. For there is vast differ ence between pretty and handsome. Pretty people seldom know very much; but to be handsome person must have brains, an inner as we'll as an outer beauty.
 Floodwood was a forlornly desolate spot, and 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 up on the mountain side to keep her company through her nightly vigils. But to her there was something fascinating in the very desolation of the place. From ear ly childhood she had been accustomed to commune with nature in her wilder scenes, and played and wandered at will in the mountain glens and canons. With no foolish old woman or silly nurse girl to frighten her childish senses with sto- ries of hideous ghosts and monstrous goblins, she had grown to womanhood naturally brave and fearless. In truth she did not understand the meaning of the word fear. Her office was nothing more than a roughly built shanty, seven or eight feet square, with small window in each end and one in the door which faced the railroad track. It had been hurriedly put together with green lumber while the road was in course of construction, with the intention of only using it temporarily until better one could be built, but, as usual in such cases, it had done duty for its original purpose ever since.
 The rough, unpainted boards were badly warped and shrunken by long ex
 posture to the elements, and in many
 places large knots had fallen completely
 out.
 No doubt in the winter time the bleak mountain wind cheerily whistled through
 these many apertures, and while on,
 side of the unhappy operator was being
 nicely Drowned like piece of toast b,
 the red-hot stove the other side would
 be refrigerated like frozen rabbit.
 It was about l clock in the morning
 when Lily received an order from tn
 train dispatcher, which read as follows
 To OPERATOR, FLooDwooD:-Hold No. 9
 until No. g arrives. E. K. c.
 On receipt of this order she immedi
 ately displayed the red signal light
 which is furnished all telegraph station
 for this purpose, in a conspicuous place in plain sight of passing trains, and als
 where it could be seen from the offic
 window.
 The necessity for this order and posi-
 tion of the two trains, briefly stated, ar as follows:
 No. 9 had arrived at Silver Creek ten miles west of Floodwood, Q fe' minutes after No. 21 had passed Red wood, which was thirteen miles east C Floodwood. As No. 9 was late an could go no luther on the schedule, at . cording to the rules of the road, the
 would be compelled to lay at Silve
 Creek until No. 21 arrived there, unle. they could get orders by telegraph meet them at some other station. FlooC wood being the only intervening tel, !. graph office between the two trains, u dispatcher gave the above order to thi r station, and as soon as it was properl J acknowledged by Lily he sent anoth' D order to Mo- 9 at Silver Creek, whie ) read in this manner:
 To CONDUCTOR AND ENGINEER No. 22: Meet No. 21 at Floodwood. Approach car $ fully. E. K. c. ( The intelligent reader will readily u D derstand that by means of these orde the two trains would meet each other !. Floodwood in perfect safety, notwitl s standing that one of them knew not ing of the arrangement.
 b To explain: If No. 21 should arri s first, they would be stopped by the rt n light which showed that there were o , ders for them at this station. The CO q ductor and engineer would immediate |. rsea1eA h tAA telegraph office, whs II ]