e care of their own lamps and fires, sweep out, handle baggage, and,
in short, be porter as well as operator, and for the privilege of being
allowed to stay about I used to do this work for the night man at the
office in question. His name was Harry Burgess and he was as good a man
as ever sat in front of a key. Some few weeks after this he was
transferred to a day office up the road and by his help I was made
night operator in his stead. Need I say how proud I felt when I received
a message from the Chief Despatcher telling me to report for duty that
night? I think I was the proudest man, or boy rather, on this earth.
Just think! Night operator, porter and baggageman, working from seven
o'clock in the evening until seven o'clock in the morning, and receiving
the magnificent sum of forty dollars per month! It was enough to make my
bosom swell with pride and it's a wonder I didn't burst.

Heretofore, I had had Burgess to fall back upon when I was copying
messages or orders, but now I was alone and the responsibility was all
mine. I managed to get through the first night very well, because all I
had to do was to take a few "red" commercial messages, "O. S." the
trains and load ten big sample trunks on No. 2. The trains were all on
time and consequently there were no orders. I was proud of my success
and went off duty at seven o'clock in the morning with a feeling that my
services were well nigh indispensable to the road, and if anything were
to happen to me, receivers would surely have to be appointed.

The second night everything went smoothly until towards eleven o'clock,
when the despatcher began to call "MN," and gave the signal "9." Now
the signal "9" means "Train Orders," and takes precedence over
everything else on the wire. The situation was anything but pleasant for
me, because I had never yet, on my own responsibility, taken a train
order, and I stood in a wholesome fear of the results that might accrue
from any error of mine. So I didn't answer the despatcher at once as I
should have done because I hoped he would get tired of calling me and
would tackle "OG," and give him the order. But he didn't. He just kept
on calling me, increasing his speed all the time. In sheer desperation,
I went out on the platform for five minutes and stamped around to keep
warm, hoping all the time he would stop when he found I did not answer.
But when I returned instead of calling me on one wire, he had his
operator calling me on th