The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1902-02-07
A Brave Coward.
BY Robert Louis Stevenson. @
By Robert Louis Stevenson.


liant repartee when my humorous darts
were leveled at herself.
This may all seem enigmatical to the
reader, but will assume an aspect Of
entire plausibility in the light of the
fact that she and l were telegraph op-
orators at widely-separated stations on
a western railway. She knew as little
OF the young man with whom she dali
ly chatted as I did of herself. We had
each drawn an ideal picture of the per-
sonal appearance Of the other, and in
our frequent conversations over the
wire, each had in mind a face and fig
ure to whom the remarks were ad-
dressed. / had pictured her as a
bright-eyed, laughing, jolly little crea-
ture, with golden curls and silvery
voice. I often wondered what sort of
a mortal picture she had drawn of N.Y.
self.
Red Rock, where l was located, was
a station on the Santa Fe railway, in
the Cherokeen strip Of Oklahoma, be-
fore that now famous stretch of land
was purchased by the government from
the Indians and thrown open for set
tlement. The population of the town
90 consisted of a burly section fore
man, OF Milesian extraction; his wife,
a red-faced, red-armed woman, who
had no aspirations outside the limits
of her not over-clean kitchen; four
section ohNrorc ovd roxyoalP %ho ,ro~%
n operator for the railway company.
The country was, at the time of which
I write, a wild one, inhabited only by
Indians, a few cattlemen who leased
grazing lands from the aboriginal own
ers, the cowboys who looked after the
scattered herds, and rowing bands Of
desperadoes under the leadership of the
Dalton brothers, the most famous of
whom, Bill Dalton, was p%unctured by a
well-directed bullet from the rifle Of a
deputy United States marshal but a
few days ago, and who died with pistol
in hand cursing the shot which had
laid him low.
Miss Rankin was my predecessor in
the position of agent and operator at
Red Rock. She learnt the art of tel
egraphy in the train dispatcher's Office
at Arkansas City, where her widowed
mother resided, and when competent
to assume charge OF a small station.
had asked for and been given a posi-
ton at Red Rock. She tired, of a
while, OF the lonely monotony OF that
obscure station, and asked to be sent
to n less isolated from mankind; and
when one day the operator at Ed
m0nd, further down the line, reported
that his fingers had been "pinched''
while e~ndeavoring to couple two cars
together, and that he must hasten to
| Arkansas City for surgical attention,
| the Red Rock agent was t~elegraphed
instructions to lock up her depot, leave
! the key in the care of the section fore
man, and proceed on q train then al
most due to Edmond, and assume
charge until the injured agent should
return. I was at the time an extra
operator" on a Kansas division, and
on the afternoon Of the day on which
Miss Rankin left Red Rock, I found
myself sitting in her recently vacated
chair for an indefinite stay at the lone
~ station.
My first train report had scarce an
nounced my presence to the operators
| up and down the line, ere Edmond
called me up. She expressed regret
that she had been denied the privi-
lege of extending to me a personal well
come to my new home, said she hoped
I would find the station a pleasant n
and asked me II / would not kindly
| collect a number of feminine trifles
which she had overlooked in packing
her trunk, and then send them down
to her. She would be ever SO much
| obliged, and should an opportunity pre-
! sent itself, would certainly r~eciprocate
my kindness. That was my first
meeting" with a lady who was soon
| destined to play a heroic part in a
| thrilling adventure in which / was a
prominent figure.
Little by little Miss Rankin and my
self became acquainted over the wire.
| We were oon holding daily converse
tions, then semi-daily, and her our
/ CQdJS UcCdu0 ~ lIcQucuI IudL NJ Times
jealous operators at other stations
would break in on our conversation
with hints that some one was mash
ed" on some one else, and that we had
better give the suffering wire q rest
and Do our spooning by mail. To these
ungentlsmanly Interruptions we paid
but little attention, but continued our
long-distance intercourse, as I be-
fore remarked, falling more hopelessly
in love with my new friend as the days
sped by, and often wondering il a reci-
predatory feeling was not growing In
warmth at the other end Of the wire.
| was a young man Of but 20, very
susceptible to female charms, and as
l was then denied even a look at a
pretty face. aside from fleeting glimps-
es Of female passengers on passing
trains, / came to regard Miss Rankin
as my best GIRL" and her personal
telegraphic signal, "Cr," became the
sweetest sound my instrument clicked
into my ear