The Washington herald., 1907-01-06


The feeling in Harleys voice wa
real, and the boy was thrilled by i
and the situation Every natural i'm
pulse in him responded. II was th'
chivalrOus thing for him 10 do, and an
easy one. lie could send a speech al
fast as the fastest man living could de
liver it. He rose without a word, hi
heart beating with thoughts Of th'
coming battle, in which he felt proudly
that he should be Il victor, and made
his way to the teIegraphers' box.
Mr.. Moore had lived in Pueblo. anC
nearly everybody i'm the audienc.
knew him. When they saw him take
his seat at one of the instruments
their quick Western minds OWNED
what he vas going 10 do, and tin,
roar OF applause that the had JUS
given to the candidate. who was now
on his feet was succeeded by another
out the second was for Charlie Moore
the telegraph operator.
The fledgling had no time TO think. lie
| had scarcely settled himself I'm his chain
| when the deep. fun voice Of Jimmy Gray
son filled the great hall. and he was
| launched upon q speech for which the
| whole Union was waiting. The short
hand man was already deep In his work
ana the copy hogan to come. But ths
/ boy felt no alarm. he was not even flut-
tered; the feel of the key was good, and
/ the atmosphere Of that box which in
| closed the telegraph apparatus was sweet
| IN his nostrils. He called up Denver
/ from which the speech would be repeated
! 10 the greater cities, and with a sigh OF
deep satisfaction settled TO his task
! They tell yet in Western telegraph
| circles Of Charlie Moores great exploit
/ The candidate was in grand form that
| night, and his speech came rushing forth
/ IN torrent. The missing Wymond was
| still missing and the luckless Barr was
/ still Ill, but the fledgIing sat alone I'm the
/ box. his face bent over the key. obliyioUs
/ of the world around him. and sent it al.
| Through him ran the fire Of battle and
great endeavor. He heard the call and
replied. tie never missed a word He
| sent them hot across the prairie, over the
/ slopes and ridges, and across the brown
| plains into Denver And there I'm the
general Office the manager muttered more
| than once. That fellow is doing great
work, How he saves time,'
The audience liked Jimmy Grayson $
speech. and again and again the applause
swelled and echoed Then they noticed
how the boy in the telegraphers' box
boy Of their oWu-Was working Mys-
/ terious voices, too, began 20 spread among
them the news how Charlie Moore had
saved the day-0r. rather. the highland
now and then in Jimmy Grays0n's pauses
cries of Good boy. Charlie,' arose.
Harley while doing his writing. never
theless kept keen eye upon all the
actors in the drama. He saw the light
Of hope appear more strongly upon old
man Moore face, and then turn into a
glow as he beheld his son doing so we'll
The candidate spoke on and on. He
had begun at $ O'Clock. but that was a
great and important speech. and no one
LEFT The hail. Eleven o'clock and then
midnight, and Jimmy GraysOn was still
speaking. But IL was not his night alone;
IL belonged TO two men. and the other
partner was Charlie Moore. who fulfilled
his task equally wen, and whom The
audience still observed
But the boy was thinking only Of his
duty that he was doing SO well. The
victory was his. as he knew that il would
be. He kept even with the speech. Hard
ly had the last word of the sentence left
Jimmy GraysOu's lips before the first Of
1t was on the way TO Denver. and in
newspaper offices two thousand miles
away they were putting every paragraph
in type before il was "a half-hOur old
The boy. by and by, as the words passed
before him on the written page began
70 notice what @ great speech IL was.
How the sentences cut To the heart Of
things. How luminous and striking was
the puraseoIogy, And around him he
heard. as n ln a dream, the liquid notes
OF that wonderful. golden voice. sud
denly. like a stroke of lightning. he real
lied how empty were his own Thoughts.
how bare and hard his speech. and how
thin and fat his voice His heart sank
with a plunge, and then rose again as
his finger touched the familiar key and
the answering touch thrilled back through
his body. Hc glanced az the audience.
and saw many faces looking up al him.
and on them was "a peculiar look. Again
the thrill ran through him. and. bending
his head lowel, be sent the words faster
than ever on their Eastern journey.
AT last Jimmy Grayson stopped. and
then the audience chcered its applause for
the speech. When the echoes died. some
one-it was Judge Basset-sprang up on a
chair and exclaimed:
Gentlemen, We have cheered Mr.. Gray
son, ana he deserves il; but there is. some
one else whom we ought to cheer. too
You have seen Charlie Moore. a Pueblo
boy. one of our own, there in the box
sending the speech 10 the world that was
waiting for f. Perhaps YOU do no. know
that If he had not helped us tonight The
world would have had to wait too long"
They dragged young Moore, amid the
cheers. upon the stage, and then. when
he hush came, the candidate said.
You seem TO know him already: but as
all the speaking of the evening is now
over. 1 wish 20 introduce to YOU again
Mr. Charlie Moore, the greatest telegraph
operator in the West. the genius Of the
key, a man destined 10 rise 10 the highest
place in his profession"
When the last echo Of the last cheer
died, there died with il the last ambition
Of Charlie Moore 20 be a spe1lbinder. and
straight before him. broad. smooth. and
aliuring, lay the road Tor which his feet
were fitted
But the words most grateful 20 Jimmy
Grayson were the thanks Of the fedgling's
father The little drama Of the side-box
and the teiegraph-key was known TO but
i've people-the candidate, Harley, the two
operators, and happy Mr.. Moore. The old
gentleman, indeed said something about
Mr.. Grays0n having helped him. but fl
was taken by the others 10 mean that a
mere chance, a lucky combination OF cir
had come 10 his aid. and they
failed to see in it anything Of prearrange-
ment or even intention. Hence there ap-
peared on the surface nothing to be crit
cised even by Churchill, ever on the look
out for an incident that seemed to him in
congruous or irrelevant
Harley made it an excuse for something
that he wished very much TO do. About
this time Mrs GTayson. returning from
salt Lake City, rejoined them. but she did |
not bring Sylvia with her, leaving her in |
The Mormon capital for a further stay
with relatives. But Harley wrote a long |
etter 10 Sylvia. beginning with the story
Of the spellbinder, and he told her that his |
admiration for the candidate steadily in
creased, because Mr.. GraysOn was able 4
u tins Il, lrc. - l.