The aegis & intelligencer., 1905-02-03

She had never been on train be
fore. never been out of New 0r'eGns.
but her father had been Il messenger.
and Ben had many times told her the
details Of his trip She must manipulate
the yCntiIatorS Of her twenty cars 50
us 10 have the heat just right TO bring
the bananas TO prime, marketable con
dition when she reached her destina-
tion. y few degrees t3O much either
Way might mean the loss Of gO9d
many thousand dollars to the company.
1t was hard trip, for the outside
thermometer rose from 81 degrees to
10 degrees in six hours, and the next
morning was back again 10 81 degrees
and falling. 1t meant constant shift
ing of the ventilatOrs. with an impos-
sibility Of keeping the car thermome-
tcrS from iluctuatin% uneasily. Zero
weather would have been infinitely
preferable for then the ventiIators
could have remained closed and the
fruit would generate enough heat Of
its own. That night and the next day
Della I'D not trust herself to sit down
once, for fear she might get drowsy
and momeutarily relax her vigilance.
800 much depended upon obtaining the
best results just now.
She was careful to keep herself out
of sight, and this she was able to do
the more readily on account of the
fruit train making few stops. At Mem
phiS the rear section was switched off
TO connect with a train west. and her
own was attached TO a train which had
lust pulled in from Galveston, the en-
sine returning 10 New Orleans with
lot Of empty ears.
y few hours later. at Il watering stop,
tie row conductor caught sight of her
Is he was hurrying along the train.
she was just sliding the door, but too
late
Hello" lie cried, pausins; "a woman
tramp
Della alid back the door.
NO, sir" she answered quietly, hold
ing up the papers she had taken from
Ben. Il am in charge of this section.
l haven't had a chance to see you be-
fore"
The conductor gave long whistle
which ended i'll an apologetic cough.
But his face heightened visibiy.
whats the company thinking off,"
he calculated hotly. Next we know
girls will be put in as conductors and
brakemen and engineers" And he
hurried away, still choking resentfully.
Seven days later Della entered the
conpany's office at New Orleans. The
manager himself happened to be in,
and he seemed to recognize her by the
papers she carried in her hand. He
came forward quickly. But at that
moment Il figure which had been loung-
ing about the street door-a white.
anxious faced man, who had been peer
ing into the office most of the time for
the last eight days-also saw her and
rushed in. She turned to him first.
How are you. Benz" she asked
eagerly. "-tlI right?'
Yes. yest But you? What have you
been up 10, grille: The office has been
full of talk
The manager was beside them now.
is this Miss Delia:' he inquired.
"Yes, sir Here are the receipts your
commission agents gave me. They
said the fruit was in prime condition"
The manager glanced over the pa
pers hurriedly.
Yes, yes; they're all right" he said.
But we knew that before. Our agents
wired us that the fruit was in the very
best condition-as good as they had
ever received. IL hardly know what
to do about this. It's n most untoward
thing and should receive our severcst
censure. and yet YOU did as well as our
very best messenger-better almost.
suppose we shall have to pass it over.
But such thing must never happen
again. No" as her gaze Went inquir-
ingly toward Ben, I'VE have not dis
charged him. He may go on the next
trip. And you-well. it was most un-
toward thing. but suppose you did the
best YOU could under such short no
tice. You may stop at the cashiers
window for your money, and yes.
there's little recognition for you there
also. You saved us from a possible
great loss. But remember the recog-
milton is accompanied by our most Sc
we're censure.'