The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1893-04-12
OVER THE WIRES.

alighted at the little station of D., where
/ must wait five hours for the train to take
me to the city. There was no one in the
station but the station master, and as misery
loves company we were soon on friendly
terms.
AS the evening wore on l occupied my
self in examining the railway maps and i'll
finishing a novel which purchased that
afternoon OH the train. At about II o'clock
I heard the dull and laborious puff Of a
freight engine approaching in the distance.
Louder and louder the noise became, until
suddenly with glare from the headlight
the great locomotive thundered by the lit
tie window, and in a moment the heavy
train rolled away in the direction from
which had come a few hours before.
Silence again fell upon us. Wecontinued
our talk, interspersed now and then with
moments Of quietness, broken only by the
frequent clicking Of the telegraph instrr1-
ment on the table under the window. At
last finished my novel and once more sat
idly tossing about my watch charm. The
station master was sitting oppositeme, with
his feet on the edge of the telegraph table,
while he carelessly ran over the columns of
anewspaper. was On the point OF making
some remark, when suddenly there came 81
sharp clicking of the instrument My COM
panion sprang to the table and answered the
call. Instantly I saw that something I'M
usual had happened. AS the little brass
key clicked off the message I saw the sta
ton masters face grow white, then livid.
He rose quickly from the chair, placed his
hands over his eyes and almost shOuted
My God! What have done?"
Isprang to his side, asking him what
was the trouble. He rudely pushed me
away, and with a look which l shall nepEr
forget fairly yelled: Don't speak to M!
Don't speak to mep' Then he sank into the
chair with his hands cOnyulaively grasping
the arms. But it was only for a moment
Quickly gathering himself, he drew up TO
the table, and then followed some of the
most exciting moments that have ever ex-
perienced.
Wondering what it all meant yet realiz-
ing that something must have occurred in
which he was an important actor, closely
fixed my eyes upon him. No sound save
the spasmodic ticking Of the machine and
the heavy breathing Of its operator was
audible. He sat bolt upright in his chair,
his left hand on the arm, his right busy
with the key. His eyes were riveted on
the table before him. For minute he was
busy with his message, and then silence.
And what q silence! Not q muscle moved;
not sound could lie heard. Even The
agents breathing had stopped. He Watche
his machine with the gaze OF 81 lynx. l
stood behind him, my heart throbbing with
anxiety and fear
At last after a silence which seemed ages
the machine began to click. watched him
while the message came forth from the
wires. TWAS evidently a satisfactory reply,
for he did not appear more agitated Then
the machine stopped. He rose from his
chair and came toward L.. 1t needed no
words to tell me that he had suffered dur
ing those five minutes. Great drops Of
sweat rolled down his cheeks. His hands
shook through anxiety. Placing them both
on my shoulders, he addressed me thus in q
hurried and impassiOned voice:
II don't wonder that you're surprised.
Heaven knows that | was aWfully fright
ened-but listen. got orders this after
noon to stop the freight train which just
went by here OH our turnout. | was to de
rive and then allow ~ to go on, but some
how Or other l forgot the order, as you
know, and didn't think about it till few
minutes ago.
''Soon after it went / heard from B,
two stations above here, saying that the OK
press had just left there Tor this station.
You see it doesn't stop at A, the one
between here and b. That message re-
minded me Of my mistake and now the eX-
press and freight had both been running
toward the same station. If the express
had arrived there first and left before the
freight got there or they had not received
my message, then-then'-