第27章

"Yes。Fathernevergivesup，youknowthat。ButhewasveryanxiousthattheConsolidatedPacificpeopleshouldthinkhehad。

Andnow——now，whenheissoill——comesthis！Mr。Davistelephonedthat——Yes，whatisit？"

Therehadbeenaknockatthedoor。Itopenedandthebutlerappeared。

"AtelegramforMr。Colton，MissMabel，"hesaid。

"Giveittome。Tellthemantowait，Johnson。ItisfromMr。

Davis，"sheexclaimed，turningtome。"Iamsureitis。Yes。

See！"

Shehandedmetheyellowtelegram。Ireadthefollowingaloud：

"JamesW。Colton，"Denboro，Mass。

"Galileopotatosoapcurrencytomatodeedscommandarmyalcoholthiefweatherfamily——"

"Whatonearth——！"Iexclaimed。

"Thatisinthecode，Father’sprivatecode。Don’tyousee？Thecodebookisheresomewhere。Imustfindit。"

Shewasrummaginginthedrawerofthedesk。Withasighofreliefsheproducedalittleblueleather—coveredbook。

"Hereitis，"shesaid。"NowreadmethetelegramandIwillwritethetranslation。Hurry！"

Ireadagain：

"’Galileo’——"

"Thatmeans’ConsolidatedPacific’。Goon。"

Ittookusfiveminutestotranslatethetelegram。Whenwehadfinishedtheresultwas：

"ConsolidatedPacificcrowdwisesituation。Strongbuyingclosemarketto—day。Expectworseto—morrow。Wearebadshape。Candeliveronlypart。Surebigadvanceopeningandmorefollow。WhatshallIdo？Whydonotyouanswerprivatetelegraphline？

Telephoneoutorder。Wireinstructionsimmediately。Betterstillcomeyourself。Davis。"

"Isthatall？"askedMissColton。"Whatanswershallwemake？"

"Wait。Wait，please，untilIdigsomesortofsenseoutofallthis。’Wisesituation’——"

"WiseTOsituation，Ipresumethatmeans。TheConsolidatedPacificiswisetothesituation。’Wise’isslang，isn’tit？Itusedtobeatcollege。"

"Itisyet，eveninDenboro。Humph！letmethink。’Surebigadvanceopening。’IsupposethatmeansthemarketwillopenwithLouisvilleandTranscontinentalatahigherfigureandthatthepriceissuretoadvanceduringtheday。"

"Yes。Yes，itmustmeanthat。ButwhyshouldMr。Davisbesoexcitedaboutit？Hesaidsomethingabout’ruin’overthe’phone。

Whatdoes’Wearebadshape’mean？And’Candeliveronlypart’？"

"Idon’tknow……unless……Humph！Ifwehadsomeparticulars。

Whydon’tyouanswerontheprivatetelegraph，ashesays？"

"BecauseIcan’t。Don’tyousee？Ican’t。Thereisnotelegraphoperatorinthehouse。WhenwefirstcameFatherhadasecretary，whocouldusethetelegraph；buthesenthimbacktoNewYork。

Saidhewassickofthesightofhim。Theydidnotgetonwelltogether。"

"Butyourfathermusthaveusedthetelegraphsince。"

"Yes。Fatherusedithimself。Hewasatelegraphoperatorwhenhewasayoungman。Oh，youdon’tknowwhatawonderfulmanmyfatheris！Hisstoryislikesomethinginabook。He——Butnevermindthat。Hark！thereistheinstrumentgoingagain。Itmustbedreadfullyimportant。Mr。Davisissoworried。"

"Heseemstobe，certainly。"

"Butwhatshallwedo？"

"IwishIknew，butIdon’t。Youknownothingoftheparticulars？"

"No。NothingmorethanIhavetoldyou。Oh，CAN’Tyouhelpme？I

feelsomehowasifFatherhadleftmeinchargeofhisaffairsandasifImustnotfail。Now，whenheishelpless！whenheis……

Oh，can’tYOUdosomething，Mr。Paine？Ithoughtyoumight。Youareabanker。"

"Apoorimitationonly，Iamafraid。Letmethink。DidyoutellthismanDavisofyourfather’sillness？"

"No。IthoughtperhapsFatherwouldnotwishit。AndIhadnoopportunity……Oh，dear！thereissomeoneatthedooragain！

Whoisit？"

Johnson’svoicereplied。"Itisme，MissMabel，"hesaid。"Thetelegraphpersonsayshecan’twaitanylonger。He’asn’t’adhissupper。Andthereisatwenty—five—centchargeforbringingthemessage，Miss。"

"Tellhimhemustwaitaminutelonger，"Ianswered，forher。

"MissColton，itseemstomethat，whetherwecandoanythingornot，weshouldknowtheparticulars。Tellthatman——PhineasCahoon，thedepotmaster，Isupposeitis——thatthereisananswerandhemustwaitforit。Nowlet’sconsultthatcode。"

ShetookthecodebookandIpickedupasheetofpaperandapencilfromthetable。

"Wemustaskhimtosendalltheparticulars，"Ideclared。"Lookup’send’inthecode，MissColton。"

Shewasturningthepagesofthelittlebookwhenthebutlerknockedoncemore。

"Hesayshecan’tsendanymessageuntilmorning，MissMabel。Thetelegraphofficeclosesateighto’clock。"

Thecodebookfelltothetable。MissColtonstaredhelplesslyatme。

"WhatSHALLwedo？"shebreathed。

Irosetomyfeet。"Wait，Johnson，"Icalled。"Makethatmanwaitamomentlonger。MissColton，Ihaveanidea。Wouldyourfatherbewillingto——but，thatissilly！Ofcoursehewould！I’llseeCahoonmyself。"

IfoundPhineas，long—leggedandgaunt，sittingonthefrontstepofthecolonialportico。Hehadbeeninvitedintothehall，buthadrefusedtheinvitation。"Ihadonmyworkin’duds，"heexplainedlater。"Afellerthat’sbeenhandlin’freightalltheafternoonain’tfittosetongold—platedfurniture。"HelookedupinsurpriseasIcameout。

"Well，forthundersakes！"heexclaimed，inastonishment。"It’sRosPaine！Whatinthenationareyoudoin’inhere，Ros？Ain’tmarriedintothefamily，haveye？Haw，haw！"

Icouldhavekickedhimforthatpleasantry——ifhehadnotbeenjustthentooimportantapersonagetokick。Asitwas，hischanceremarkknockedmyerrandoutofmyhead，momentarily。

"How’stheoldman，Ros？"hewhispered。"Theytellmeit’sbroughtonbyhighlivin’，champagnewineandsuch。Isit？"

"Phin，"saidI，ignoringthequestion，"wouldyoustayupallnightfortwentydollars？"

Hestaredatme。

"Whatkindofconundrum’sthat？"hedemanded。"’WouldIsetupallnightfortwentydollars？’Thatmaybeajoke，but——"

"Wouldyou？Imeanit。Mr。Coltonissickandhisdaughterneedssomeonetosendandreceivemessagesovertheirprivatetelegraphwire。Shewillpayyoutwentydollars——orIwill，ifshedoesn’t——

ifyouwillstayhereanddothatforher。Willyou？"

Foraminutehesattherestaringatme。

"Youmeanit，Ros？"heasked，slowly。"Youdo，hey！Ithoughtp’raps——butno，it’slongpastAprilFoolday。WILLIdoit？Showmethetelegraphplacequick，aforeIwakeupandcomeoutoftheether。Twentydollars！Consarnit，Isendmessagesalltheweekfortwelve，andhustlefreightandsellticketsintothebargain。

Iain’thadnosupper，butnevermind。Makeittwenty—fiveandI’llstayalldayto—morrer。"

IledhimintothelibraryandexplainedhispresencetoMissColton。Shewasdelighted。

"ItisSOgoodofyou，Mr。Cahoon，"sheexclaimed。"Andyoushan’tstarve，either。Iwillhavesomesuppersentintoyouatonce。

Youcaneatitwhileyouareatwork，can’tyou？"

Shehurriedouttoorderthesupper。Phineas，inaccordancewithmyrequest，seatedhimselfinthelittleroomadjoiningthelibrary，beforethetelegraphinstrument。

"Thunder！"heobserved，lookingabouthim。"IneverexpectedtosendmessagesforKingSolomoninallhisglory，butIcal’lateI

canstanditifSolcan。S’posethere’dbeanyobjectiontomytakin’offmycoat？Comesmorenat’raltoworkinmyshirtsleeves。"

Ibadehimtakeitoffandhedidso。

"Thisfeller’sinsomehurry，"hesaid，noddingtowardtheclickinginstrument。"ShallItellhimwe’reondeckandreadyforbusiness？"

"Yes，tellhim。

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