, who appeared to be the leader, "go on
and take the order, and then take a drink with us."

By the dim light of only that lantern, with my order pad on a table
covered with broken glass, and smattered with pie, I finally copied the
order, but it was about the worst attempt I had ever made; and the
conductor remarked when he signed it, that it would take a Philadelphia
lawyer to read it. The cow-punchers, however, from that time on were
very good friends of mine, and many a pleasant Sunday did I spend on
their ranches. They afterwards told me that Bob Wolfe had put them up to
their midnight visit in order to frighten me. They certainly succeeded.
My service at Herron was not very profitable, the road being in the
hands of receivers, and for four months none of us received a cent of
wages. The road was called the "International & Great Northern," but we
facetiously dubbed it the "Independent & Got Nothing."

Some months after this I was transferred down to the southern division,
and made night operator at Mankato. This was really about the best
position I had yet struck: good hours, plenty of work and a fine office
to do it in, and eighty dollars a month. The agent and day man were both
fine fellows, and there was no chore work around the station--a baggage
smasher did that. The despatchers up in "DS" office were pleasant to
work with and as competent a lot of men as ever touched a key. I had
never met any of them when I first took the office, though of course I
soon knew their names, and the following incident will disclose how and
under what unusual circumstances I formed the acquaintance of one of
them, Fred De Armand, the second trick man.

About four weeks after I took the Mankato office, engine 333, pulling a
through livestock freight north, broke a parallel rod, and besides
cutting the engineer into mince-meat, caused a great wreck. This took
place about two miles and a half north of Mankato. The hind man came
back and reported it, and being off duty, I caught up a pocket
instrument and some wire, and jumping on a velocipede, was soon at the
wreck. I cut in an office in short order, and "DS" soon knew exactly
how matters stood. One passenger train south was tied up just beyond the
wreck, and in about an hour and a half the wrecker appeared in charge of
the trainmaster. I observed a young man twenty-eight or thirty years of
age standing around looking on, and once when I was near him I noticed
that he stammered v