said he spoke his mind too freely--a bad trait in a railroad man; others
said he could not hold down the job. All they knew in the mountains was
that as a snow fighter he could wear out all the plows on the division,
and that if a branch line were needed in haste Glover would have the
rails down before an ordinary man could get his bids in.

Ordinarily these things are expected from a mountain constructionist and
elicit no comment from headquarters, but the matter at the Spider was one
that could hardly pass unnoticed. For a year Glover had been begging for
a stenographer. Writing, to him, was as distasteful as soda-water, and
one morning soon after his return from the valley flood a letter came
with the news that a competent stenographer had been assigned to him and
would report at once for duty at Medicine Bend.

Glover emerged from his hall-office in great spirits and showed the
letter to Callahan, the general superintendent, for congratulations.
"That is right," commented Callahan cynically. "You saved them a hundred
thousand dollars last month--they are going to blow ten a week on you.
By the way, your stenographer is here."

"He is?"

"She is. Your stenographer, a very dignified young lady, came in on
Number One. You had better go and get shaved. She has been in to
inquire for you and has gone to look up a boarding-place. Get her
started as soon as you can--I want to see your figures on the Rat Canyon
work."

A helper now would be a boon from heaven. "But she won't stay long after
she sees this office," Glover reflected ruefully as he returned to it.
He knew from experience that stenographers were hard to hold at Medicine
Bend. They usually came out for their health and left at the slightest
symptoms of improvement. He worried as to whether he might possibly have
been unlucky enough to draw another invalid. And at the very moment he
had determined he would not lose his new assistant if good treatment
would keep her he saw a trainman far down the gloomy hall pointing a
finger in his direction--saw a young lady coming toward him and realized
he ought to have taken time that morning to get shaved.

There was nothing to do but make the best of it; dismissing his
embarrassment he rose to greet the newcomer. His first reflection was
that he had not drawn an invalid, for he had never seen a fresher face in
his life, and her bearing had the confidence of health itself.

"I heard you had been here," h